Do you take your dog out walking in severely snowy/stormy weather? What's the alternative?

Ah sorry, should’ve read the thread before answering

My friends with dogs just bite the bullet, put on their Eskimo rigs and slog around the fields for awhile. The morning temps. have been about 5˚ and everyone complained bitterly but went outside anyway. Even the furriest dogs do their business quickly and don’t linger for snowball fights or ice skating.

I own a cat and have to face schlepping the dirty litter outside daily, no matter what the weather.

Hell, no. I open the door to the (completely fenced) back yard and let her walk herself.

Edit: Now to answer the rest of the Q… you could put her on the leash and walk her around the back yard until she gets the urge and the idea. Then praise her when she does what you wanted, and get her back inside. (That way she’ll learn that it’s a one-shot deal.)

They go out in the snow for a walk, or out in the yard for a quick trip. If you have a small dog, you might want to go out with a shovel and clear a path for her. You need to watch out for salt on the sidewalk, which can cause their pads to hurt. If you find that your dog likes the snow, they sell little bootie things at pet store. I see labs and bigger dogs that like to romp out in the snow with them on with some frequency.

My dogs love the snow. If you live where they use salt and your dog’s foot-pads get irritated, try a tin of Mushers. You can find it on line.

Every dog I have ever owned seemed to live for snowy days…get out and let the pup have fun!! The sub zero cold though will be an issue so make the outdoor excursions as short as necessary!

I do cause she don’t really care if there is snow or rain. She loves the walk. So yup, I take her out in all sorts of weather and she “Loves” it! Laugh out loud!

I’m not sure there is an alternative…just dress warmly & take her out.

@pdworkin Is that like a Vaseline product? Or what is it? I’ve been in need of something like that. Thanks!

My last dog would go bananas if we touched the leash, approached the door or said the word “walk”. The enthusiasm was contagious, I always loved walking with her, regardless of the weather.

I was kinda hoping there would no alternative; my mother would love an excuse not to walk the dog several times a day. The dog makes my mother get her regular exercise and I’m quite grateful for it.

@drdoombot, I think you’d better praise your mom effusively, too, in that case. And get her a treat, too.

@NUNYA Yes, it’s wax, made for that purpose. It seems expensive but a small tin lasts me 3 or 4 seasons.

I didn’t know until today that my dog absolutely loves the snow. She went wild in my fenced in back yard. I was throwing snowballs and she was chasing them and looking for them as if she could differentiate them from the rest of the snow. I walk her and let her out in the back yard, but in weather like this I don’t walk her. (a foot of snow so far here).

@chyna: Milo here: Sissy. A foot is nothing.

@gailcalled A foot pretty much closed the southern part of WV. How does Milo like the snow?

My dorg (she looks like a dog, but I don’t call her that; she knows she’s special) loves the snow. At first (like any kid). By February she’ll be as sick and tired of it as I am. But she has more reason: my bathroom is heated, and generally dry.

But for the first storms, she’ll be out snapping at the falling flakes. (I wonder if we got enough dogs in one place at the start of a storm if they could eat all the snow before it hits the ground—an interesting experiment, that.) When the storm is over, she loves to get out there and jump over—and under—whatever’s there. She’ll bound around the yard, and then all of a sudden she’ll be tunneling and poking her head out to get her bearings once in awhile.

If I go outside with her (like when I’m grilling) I’ll toss snowballs to her underhanded, and she’ll try to catch them. If I kick a whole footfull of snow in her direction she’ll go crazy trying to figure which “piece” she wants.

Yeah, she’ll enjoy tomorrow. We’re getting a load tonight.

@chyna: He whines to go out and thirty seconds later, whines to come in. I don’t know about him, but I am getting a lot of exercise (and losing a lot of heat while I wait -with the door open – for him to come to a decision.)

if you have a frence in yard just let her out the door. she will go out if she really has to out. . walk her on a leash a couple of times. then let her loose, she will like the snow.
make a path close by the door, when she comes back if she does in a timely manner make sure you have a towel to off her paws. if she does not come in hold a treat by the door and she will come a running.

@gailcalled He knows he is annoying you, that is what he does best.

Depends on the dog. Right now the snow is taller than my dog and I’ve opened the door and he looks at it and turns back. But I trained my dog to go on a pad. You might want to try training your dog to go on a wee pad for the future. Your not going to walk your dog in a hurricane or electrical storm or if there is a twister, so best be prepared.

@Pandora: Twister? Where do you live?

@Pandora I refuse to train my dog on a pee pad. I don’t want her to get the idea that it is okay to pee in the house for any reason. But my dog is medium sized and a pee pad would get drenched.

@Pandora my mom is eldery and uses the potty pads in the winter months. She can’t get outside easily to sweep or shovel. So the dog has learned to use the potty pads in the winter but in the summer months uses the fresh green summer grass.

@gailcalled I live near the east coast but twister or tornados can touch down just about anywhere, hurricanes can travel some distance inland, Hugo proved that and electrical storms can be dangerous for dog and owner. If my dog went out in the snow right now his whole little body would be covered completely. The snow at the lowest points right now is 12 inches. He would have to learn to walk or hop upright just to keep his head above the snow.

When the snow is deep like today (over a foot) I shovel interconnecting pathways in the yard, leading toward the back where they can do their business. Sometimes if we’re able to keep up with scooping and keep the paths clear we’ll chase one another and the dogs around our little obstacle course—great fun!

@NUNYA My dog uses the outside first but during bad weather he stays indoor. I had to teach him to use pee pads because our work schedule was erratic and I had to make sure he had water. There would be long periods when he was left home alone. We had a back yard but he was too small to let go out alone. Occasionally we would get some large wild animals and hawks big enough to carry him away. LOL

We used to shovel interconnecting paths through the snow, like a maze. They loved it. I agree about the peeing inside, I don’t like the idea of starting that habit. Here is a pic of mine in a big snow trekking through their maze.

And this was in south eastern Pa long before climate change was being bandied about. It was a huge storm, must have been about 15 years ago.

I agree with @CyanoticWasp – give your mom treats too. Just make sure she has those spikes to put on the bottom of her shoes so she doesn’t slip and fall.

Also I know a secret to get your pup to poop outside Immediately but I would get kicked out of here by the PITA people if I said it. PM me if you want to know.

No alternatives. Your dog understands routine. You can go out and buy a sweater, jacket, poncho, or so forth if you are worried about how wet and cold she will be. In the mean time, your dog is much more likely to be thinking about doing her business than snow falling. My dogs went for a short walk today just to stick to their normal routine. We spent more time all gearing up and getting warm, but in the end, everyone could be settled in for the night.

Turns out my dog loves the snow. She was galloping all over the place and having a great time, but she got cold pretty quickly. Being a small dog, the snow was about chest-high for her. Seeing her prance around, I couldn’t help but run around with her, but she quickly led me back to the house. Shortest walk we’ve ever had, but also the funnest.

Nothing like a dog to bring out the kid in you!!!

Yeah she loves it!

@drdoombot But fun to watch. It brings out the kid in you.

We got about two feet overnight. :)

Diesel is a canine athlete(10miles a day!), and taking that away would only mean an underexercised, ill-behaved dog. On REALLY bad days, we’ll throw a ball downstairs from the top (repeatedly, of course!), and cut his run short. He does love the snow, so we always take him out in the backyard for that. All dogs are puppies again, when out in the snow it seems.

@taciturnu – I had a young dobe when I lived in NYC. I would often take her into the stairway and throw her ball. If you put the right spin on the ball it would bounce off the walls and go down 3 or 4 flights. That bitch would do the equivalent of a round trip of the empire state building a couple of times a week. She had the nicest rear I have ever seen on a dobe!

My dog loves the snow. When I took her for a walk this morning I took my camera with me.
playing in the snow

@downtide Snow?!! You call that snow? That’s what I scrape off my windshield in the morning if we had any moisture overnight when it got cold. We call that “heavy frost accumulation”.

@CyanoticWasp that’s a lot of snow for here. If I see snow like this more than once every five years it’s unusual.

@downtide, I assure you that before Valentine’s Day I will be yearning to live wherever it is that you are.

@CyanoticWasp if you got as much rain as we have here you would change your mind. I live in north-west England, and it never seems to stop raining.

@rooeytoo It works out nicely, doesn’t it? Works out a lot of the energy, and dogs love it. :)