In just a few days, the weather went from -10°C-ish to -40°C-ish. Tinky-Winky's feet didn't adapt. She always gets cold feet at the beginning of winter, and she refuses to wear boots, so she has to live with it.
Except... I can't very well let her sit on the -40°C snow and cry until she accepts the consequences of her choice not to wear boots. So, for the last few days, I've been carrying her instead of walking her. We start out walking, then her feet get cold and she cries, and I pick her up and carry her. Every once in a while I put her back down and see if she'll walk.
Of course it would be easier to stay home, except, she won't relieve herself anywhere close to the house. I kinda think the physical act of walking helps her move her bowel, but she also has a mental block about going close to home. So, for days, I've been carrying her ten minutes from the house, setting her down so she can poop, and carrying her back to the house. I'm not sure she understands that she has to go before I'll carry her back home. Some times she just starts crying again every time I put her down, instead of looking for a suitable place to poop. And even though this is her fifth winter up north, she still doesn't seem to understand that her feet hurt more if she tries to go in the deep snow. Or maybe her need for privacy when pooping is greater than the pain in her feet from the deep snow. Yesterday, in -38°C, she pooped in the deep snow while balancing precariously on two feet.
The other problem with all this is that she's already not getting enough walking in Yellowknife, let alone when all her "walking" consists in me carrying her to her bathroom spot and back. So, the lack of exercise really comes out in vastly multiplied dog aggression.
Fortunately, today is a lot warmer: -31°C. Warm, eh? Well, warm enough for her to do our routine walk on her own. So now she's all about more walking. Hopefully we can get in some decent runs this weekend to get some of the vinegar out of her, now that the piss is taken care of.
(Yes, I just wrote a long post about my dog's bathroom habits. And it's still more fun than reading about babies! Muwahaha!)
Except... I can't very well let her sit on the -40°C snow and cry until she accepts the consequences of her choice not to wear boots. So, for the last few days, I've been carrying her instead of walking her. We start out walking, then her feet get cold and she cries, and I pick her up and carry her. Every once in a while I put her back down and see if she'll walk.
Of course it would be easier to stay home, except, she won't relieve herself anywhere close to the house. I kinda think the physical act of walking helps her move her bowel, but she also has a mental block about going close to home. So, for days, I've been carrying her ten minutes from the house, setting her down so she can poop, and carrying her back to the house. I'm not sure she understands that she has to go before I'll carry her back home. Some times she just starts crying again every time I put her down, instead of looking for a suitable place to poop. And even though this is her fifth winter up north, she still doesn't seem to understand that her feet hurt more if she tries to go in the deep snow. Or maybe her need for privacy when pooping is greater than the pain in her feet from the deep snow. Yesterday, in -38°C, she pooped in the deep snow while balancing precariously on two feet.
The other problem with all this is that she's already not getting enough walking in Yellowknife, let alone when all her "walking" consists in me carrying her to her bathroom spot and back. So, the lack of exercise really comes out in vastly multiplied dog aggression.
Fortunately, today is a lot warmer: -31°C. Warm, eh? Well, warm enough for her to do our routine walk on her own. So now she's all about more walking. Hopefully we can get in some decent runs this weekend to get some of the vinegar out of her, now that the piss is taken care of.
(Yes, I just wrote a long post about my dog's bathroom habits. And it's still more fun than reading about babies! Muwahaha!)
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