It was 26 below this morning on the thermometer by the kitchen window, 36 below at a neighbor’s. I suspect the temperature in the barn, which is down the hill from the house, was somewhere in between. Good grief. I was born in Arizona, and the concept that it is MUCH warmer in the freezer compartment of my refrigerator than it is outside just doesn’t compute. It seems so very, very wrong.
Lassie couldn’t handle it at all. I took her out this morning, hoping she could urinate or defecate in seconds, but she stood outside for a few seconds and than ran inside and pooped on the dining room floor. She looked up at me while she did so as if she was concerned about what she was doing…. Am I being problematically anthropomorphic for thinking she felt unease about going in the house? (She has urinated in the house several times over the years, usually associated with her off and on again bladder infections, but never pooped.) Of course, I said “It’s okay Lassie, you’re a good girl.”
She truly can’t handle this weather… a few days ago, when it was a balmy 5 below, she ran outside for a few yards enthusiastically, and then stopped in an unnatural posture and stood still. I called her to come and she continued to stare at me with a strange look on her face. I ran over to her and she honestly seemed as if she was ‘frozen’ in place. I don’t think she could get her legs to work, so I nudged, half carried and coaxed her back into the house. Poor old girl. At least 3 people have died here because of the weather in the past week; two whose cars broke down and one poor woman who probably fell and couldn’t get up. I have to admit that this weather feels scary, in a primal, down-deep kind of way. Perhaps that is why this weather is tiring me out so much, even though I am only out for short periods of time. Everything seems harder now, and I find myself not wanting to work or think seriously about much of anything. Eating, cooking: yeah, that’s what I should be doing. Emphasis on the eating part…
Even Willie was affected this morning. Until then he’d seemed oblivious; no, that’s not right–I’d say more like overflowing with enthusiasm. This is the dog I can’t work in summer if it’s over 75 degrees, he is so heat intolerant. But lately he’s never seemed happier. 15 below? Yeah, it’s finally cool enough! Wheeeee, let’s play some more! But even Will started picking up his paws as soon as we went out this morning, so much so that I didn’t even take him to the barn with me. Andrea, the Marketing Coordinator here in the McConnell Publishing office, took her little dog Zooey out this morning and Zooey’s paws were so cold she shrieked and threw herself on her back with all 4 paws sticking up in the air. Andrea of course picked her up (luckily she’s small!) and ran her inside so warm her up. With apologies to Zooey, it’s hard not to laugh thinking of her throwing herself on her back to get her paws off the snow. Surely even dogs know how to be drama queens.
The sheep are okay, amazing animals that they are. I am feeding them huge quantities of hay and supplementing the twin lambs with goat milk. The hardest part is getting water to the lactating ewes. The main flock has a big water tank with a heater in it, but the ewes w/ lambs are in small pens in the barn with rubber water buckets. This morning each bucket had over 4 inches of solid ice in it… takes no small amount of energy to smash it out and replace the water. I run back and forth from the office to the farm to get them fresh water at least 5 times a day… you just can’t let a lactating ewe run out of water, not unless you want her milk production to decrease and that’s the last thing the lambs need. The single, White Dude, seemed his usual bouncy self this morning, but the twins seemed a little hunched and quiet. I think this weather is borderline for them. Thank heavens Jim built them such a cozy den out of straw bales; I suspect it may have saved their lives last night.
Speaking of feeding the birds, if you do live where it’s cold and you put out bird seed, you might be interested in the research of Stanley Temple and colleagues here at the University of Wisconsin. They found that during normal weather supplemental feeding has little effect on wild bird populations, neither helping nor hurting (unless you allow the feeders or seed to become rotten or dirty and convey disease). However, in weather like this, feeding birds high fat seeds like black oil sunflower seed, thistle or suet actually decreases mortality by 50%. That’s a huge number, so I am keeping the suet and seed feeders as full as I can.
It’s supposed to moderate tomorrow, thank heavens. I truly am ready. It’s only 4 right now, but the wind is up and it feels brutal. Predictions are for temps in the 20’s tomorrow… I can only imagine how warm that will feel! Meanwhile… it’s gorgeous outside (especially if you are inside, looking out.)
Kaiser Soze says
26 below?!? Holy cow! Can’t blame Lassie!
Crystal says
My Maisy must be like your Willie- she asked to go out last night (somewhere around -15 and -20 air temp), and I thought she was going to run out, potty, and run in. Instead, she ran out and launched herself into a snow bank, then rolled around with joyful abandon.
Holly says
I admit I had a giggle at Zooey. I can fully understand .why. she did it but it was still funny to read. And poor Lassie! I feel very bad for her! We are lucky here, it was below zero this morning but only a few degrees and as I was reading the world news about people in Afganistan not having enough fuel to cook with, I felt fortunate.
Angie says
Hi. I am reading your book on the other end of the leash right now and i really like it. And then i came across this website and am so pleased to see it here with the blogs and all. It is really great. I love the pictures and the stories. I was reading past blogs about play with your dog, and play with dogs so I saw that it said there were some videos on this, or that ther were posted videos but I don’t see them or couldn’t find them.
Can you post some good play videos and some not so good play so i know what to watch for….soemtimes i can tell wiht my dogs but sometimes i cant tell if its good or bad play. I need to know when to interupt if its getting too out of control.
Can you post some videos or some links so I can see. My two dogs love to play, but sometimes the one chases the other too much and seems to be like hes getting too aggressive, like running into the dog and getting louder, and faster, but the other dog will keep running and chasing etc….i dont know…if the other dog doesnt seem to take the turn in chasing does it mean the other dog is controlling the play and getting aggressive? thanks for your wisdom and help!!!
i look forward to reading your other books and blogs! 🙂
PS its been so cold here in cleveland ohio as well….it was zero below a few days ago here too, and my dogs were cold and went right out to pee and ran back in like their paws were frozen.
Peggy says
I have listened to your show for years and admire your work greatly. Because I admire you so much i had to laugh at your dog pooping on the dining room floor. As I work with my dog, it’s good to know that even with the most educated of dog owners, ____ still happens! 🙂
Kerry L. says
I had an elderly chihuahua ‘drama king’ that reacted in the same way as Zooey. After a snowfall we had swept the patio clear and put down ‘pet safe’ ice melt. When that had been swept away Paco teetered down the ramp and onto the patio. He started lifting his feet, one at a time, then fell on his side crying because of the cold. I ran to get him and warmed his feet under running water. Poor little guy! I felt awful because I didn’t realize how much the ice melt can intensify the cold, and because he looked so funny on his side with his feet up! Kerry
Jennnifer Hamilton says
I really enjoy your blog and was wondering if there is a way to submit suggestions for additional behavioral/training discussions for your consideration? So far, I have only seen opportunities to reply to exisiting posts. Just curios. Thanks much, Jennifer
Trisha says
It’s a balmy 20 degrees now, feels amazing. Angie–you asked for me to post some videos of appropriate and inappropriate play. I am currently a total idiot when it comes to posting videos online, but I’m going to learn to do it Friday, so stay tuned. Meanwhile, check out the book Off Leash Dog Play by Robin Bennet and Susan Briggs. It’s really good!
And Jennifer, feel free to send a comment with a suggestion for discussion. I’m happy to hear it…but I can’t turn the blog into a consultation practice, so please don’t send questions about a specific case. But general issues regarding training and behavior? Send ’em on!
Cindy says
Writing from Alaska–you’ve had our weather from two weeks ago. We hovered between 30 and 50 below for nearly three weeks. I have a young standard poodle, Jeter, who still has a puppy cut (long coat) and gets too hot by the wood stove, so likes to go out and nest in the snow. We put fleece dog mushing booties on his feet and they help a bit in the bitter cold.
Visit my blog to see how cold it was here. We’re now back up to zero, but headed back down to 20 below.
Thanks for such a thoughtful site.
Trisha says
I love hearing from Alaska, one of my favorite places in the whole world. (I lived in Ketchikan for two years, which actually is much warmer than Wisconsin; it’s at the bottom of the panhandle that stretches south of the mainland, and is warmed by westerly winds.) I have thought about how the weather we’ve had lately is par for the course for people in most of Alaska. Such a perfect example of how temperature is relative, both metaphorically and physically (there is really no such thing as zero degrees, right?). I remember visiting Fairbanks in winter, where everyone plugged their car into an electric heater in the parking lots. Each parking area in the lot has an outlet to plug a heater that wraps around your engine. Honest. Do people still do that, or is there a better way to get your car to start if it’s 50 below.
I remember one story when I lived in Alaska from a friend who didn’t know better and drove a car from an overly heated garage into the 60 below air.. and the paint all fell off in minutes. Or did he just make this up? Surely there are ‘urban legends’ about the cold… was just being niave to believe it?
Shaya says
I am a big fan of your books and was happy to discover this blog. Thanks for all your great work on positive dog training and communication.
Is there a high humidity in Wisconsin? I was in Colorado at the end of December and noticed that temperatures that would be really cold in Massachusetts are not nearly so cold there. It’s just so much wetter here that even 30 degrees feels unpleasant where 15 degrees in Colorado wouldn’t feel as cold.
Robin Layton says
My dogs aren’t too fussy about the cold and I actually have no trouble with them going out to pee and poop! Even down to -25. Out here in Montana we have this kind of cold regularly, although a little less the last 10 years. Global Warming? I wonder what my canines would thing of Alaskan temps. When I lived in Alaska (Fort Greely near Delta Junction) it would be -50 regularly. Perfectly good things fall apart at those temps. A lightweight rain jacket, a flimsy briefcase, one touch and they crack and split. Tires freeze with one side flat so you drive with a bumpety-bump. Your bare fingers can stick to metal and rip the flesh off so keep that in mind when carrying the garbage to the dumpster!
Political Forum says
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pellet stove says
I recently got a pellet stove. The best part is you don’t need to spend a ton of money. I got mine on craigslist for $500. This stove keeps my house very warm.