So as I have said before we live up here in Canada where the winters are very cold, now this never bothered me before. I just bundle up, make sure the reptiles heat lamps are keeping them warm and happy and then go along with my day, wither it be outside or inside. Well since having a dog, and a short legged one at that, I've had to re-think this whole winter thing.
He needed a jacket last year for when it got cold, but not cold enough that he couldn't go for a walk. Having a doxie makes this a very hard item to find unless I ordered one from the Internet which I didn't want to do. I wanted to be able to touch and feel his jacket to make sure it was warm enough for him. Well my mother and I finally found something for my little boy. Yes! ...... This year Wilson has gotten a bit bigger then what he was last winter, both in size and weight (hahaha..my bad..)and the jacket doesn't cover his back well and fits rather snug. Sigh..... If anyone knows a great place to order a coat online for dachshunds feel free to suggest it to me please.
The next hurtle that I had to deal with is the amount of snow we get. Most times it gets over his head, which makes bathroom breaks a fun adventure for him. Winter is the only time both Wilson and me wished that he was taught to use pee pads. Siiggh. So now my shoving duties include the sidewalk and a large area of the yard so my poochie can pick the perfect spot to do his thing and not get stuck and lost in the snow.
Next problem was some kind of protection for his feet. Some days when I let him out to go its really cold and I worry about how his feet feel. One time I sat there and watch him searching around for the best spot to go, too stubborn in that dachshund fashion to let the cold stop his hunt. I got to watch as he started to feel the cold and would lift one paw off the ground as high as he could, then the other then he would try to lift as many paws off the ground as he could, he then gave up and went to the bathroom on that spot. He didn't look very please about it as I came out to rescue him. My fears were confirmed, I had to get him booties. Now all those readers out there with dachshunds know that finding booties is a little bit hard. See doxies have large front paws made to shovel as much dirt out of the way as possible and their back paws are smaller then their front. All the boots I have found to this day come in sets of four... Two would fit his front paws and be to big for his back or vise versa. So now on the colder days I stick two pairs of baby socks on his paws and hope he doesn't try to take them off before he can get inside. He hates them but seems to understand that they keep his feet warmer.
As much as I may gripe about winter and all the problems it causes us, winter still happens to be mine and Wilsons favorite holiday. He gets so much joy running through the snow (I have a video of him somewhere 'dashing' through snow drifts with my mom singing 'Dashing through the snow..' haha and yes this video IS the reason why his blog is called a Dashing Dachshund blog), snow is something he can roll all over, or he can make sure that almost every where in the backyard has his foot prints on it, and to Wilson snow is one of the best gifts ever! To him snow is an endless material that he can dig in and not get in trouble. What more can a dachshund want? Well besides food. Winter means more cuddling time with everyone in the family, just sitting around watching TV or reading: adsorbing each others heat. Wilson makes winter even more special to me.
A few days before I went outside to do some shovelling, I bundled both me and Wilson up and went out since it was one of the warmers days. As I'm tossing snow about Wilson seemed to think he should help and jumped right in my way to dig the snow away from the sidewalk. Of course this didn't help much, in-fact he was kind of making more work for me so I thanked him and tossed my scarf off to the side and told him to find it so I could continue. He did so and I got to finish and then snap some great winter pictures of him sitting on my scarf waiting for me to get done.
This last picture is Wilson showing me that, yup, fun was had but he was doooonnneee. Time to go back in~!
Anyways, thats his jacket from last year, I'm thinking I'll donate it to one of the local rescue since he hardly ever used it last winter. And notice how puffy his fur is? Wilson seems to do this thing with his fur around winter where his under coat grows in and gets longer then his top coat making him look a lighter color then he is and a lot more poofie. This summer he took a Furminator to him so he wouldn't over heat and he went back to being a darker shade of red. Even his old trainer is surprised by how much his coat seems to change due to the sessions.
Anyways, hope your winters are going fun!
Later Anipals!
9 comments:
Yep, winter is hard on our short legged friends! go to www.noodleandfriends.com to find coats made just for doxies!
No coats needed down here. If you don't find a coat, come on down to Florida... You'll think you're in the middle of winter. Be sure to post pictures when you get your new coat... Have a great day...
pawhugs, Max
he he- Wilson is so cute out in the snow all bundled. We live in WI, so we know all about winters too. It's a good thing you both enjoy winter cuz you get plenty of it.
I got Scraps one of these from the hug-a-dog people two years ago. It's very warm and made to his measurements, about the only coat he's actually liked. It was pricey but I took a pattern off of it after ordering one. They have water resistant options also. http://www.shop.dachshunddelights.com/products/Hug_A_Dog_CoverUp-143-9.html
Wilson you looked so cute in your winter jacket! Awesome to hear about your "winter fur" look. Alven has been getting the same puffy look and I didn't know what was going on. He was starting to look all scraggly which is funny. It makes sense now. In Florida he never grew this puffy look, but now that we live in a winter state it makes sense that his fur would change. You learn something every day. Hehe
Sandra and Alven
Merci pour le post utile! Je n'aurais pas eu ce le contraire!
Wilson looks great in that jacket! I know exactly what you mean about wanting to be able to touch and feel and fit just the right dog coat for your pooch. I have my own qualms about buying clothing for myself online -- nothing ever fits right! How am I supposed to expect clothes for ah, "specially"-shaped dogs to fit right, you know?
I imagine there are a lot of good online stores that sell Dachshund-specific clothes though. No idea about the snow... I myself haven't seen snow in about 7 years now, and I don't miss it a bit. =)
Thank you, nice job! This was the stuff I had to have..
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