Cold weather dogs? No sirree.
How fitting that I have dogs who don’t like the cold. Bull Terriers are not cold weather dogs. Believe me the days are very cold right now, colder than we’ve seen in many years. Neither Gavin nor Patty will tolerate a coat even on the coldest of days. They give that ‘she’s-crazy if she thinks I’m going to wear that’ look.
I’ve never seen either of the pups so quick to go out and come back in. Miss Patty, of the very thin coat, goes a few yards into the yard, does her business, and comes flying in the back door as if shot from cannon. Gavin walks only a few feet from the back steps, squats like a puppy and trots back in. He wants us to think that the cold is no big deal to him.
Miss Patty heads for DH’s lap or the settee, which is warmed by the radiator behind it. (Gavin hasn’t discovered that feature yet.) Gavin wants his chair or my lap, preferably the latter. I’ve resorted to turning the space heater on for a few hours at night in the kitchen since that’s the coldest room and is where Gavin’s crate is. Even though his crate is next to the radiator in there, he is noticeably quieter when the space heater is on. Therefore, I know he’s more comfortable.
Posted on January 4, 2010, in Dog related, Misc, My blog, Weather related and tagged Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, comedy, Craft of writing, Dead, Disability, Dog humor, Doggoned, Dogs, Family, Fiction, Home, Humor, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Pet humor, Pets, Rescue Dogs, Writer, Writing. Bookmark the permalink. 4 Comments.
Doggonedmysteries 
Freddie is the only dog I have ever had that will tolerate a coat and since he traveled with Hubby it was a good thing since weenie dogs really aren’t built for the cold or snow (think long, low dog in 4 inches of snow 🙂 ) and he really needs to wear one on walks. He too goes outside fast then back in. Bubba has to be carried out on bad days.
Want to know the worst thing? They don’t like real hot weather either and act the same way wanting to get back inside to the AC. Spoiled? My Bull Terriers? Heck, yeah.
One of my most favorite things that Tiger-dog does is racing in after a good poo so your description ‘shot like a cannon’ is very real in my house. If it’s an outstanding poo, we get the whole ‘happy dance’ routine too.
As for the cold, I’ve been successful with getting coats on them, the velcro ones with lots of ties, but I’ve noticed that they ‘spark’ as they walk (dry air + synthetic fiber + rubbing = mini sparking for the length of the walk) I ended up switching to Eddie Bower Dog coats (100% cotton) but they’re not so good in wet conditions.
Lastly, we have little heating pads (for people aches and pains) that I slip into their mats during the winter (between the floor and outer mat cover, not next to their skin) they’re great as you can leave them on low and neither of my two “dig” at their beds (night time is not a problem because they snuggle in with us – it’s their job to keep us warm and they’re very serious about their job).
And, glad to hear that you’ll have peace and quiet for the new year! Yeah! Plant some garlic in that old tire – it’ll keep some of those night time renters away.
Several of our past BTs have allowed us to clothe them, but these two, not so much, although Patty did wear DH’s cop shirt after she was spayed and it kept her from chewing her stitches.
Unfortunately Patty has a tendency to chew her bedding–she ate a large portion of a towel this past year… now there was a nice vet bill. Putting a heating pad in with her would probably lead to her electrocuting herself.
We stopped sleeping with dogs in our bed when we had a BT and Siamese cat kicking us out of our bed many years ago.
Anyway the neighborhood was noticeably quieter today so much so a few other neighbors commented on how they hadn’t realized that the renters had been so darned noisy and inconsiderate until after they left.