Thursday, January 2, 2014

Cabin Fever

"I'm so bored."
It has been unusually cold here through December and into the start of the New Year . Don't get me wrong, the area surrounding Canada's capital gets very cold in the winter (-20 to - 40 C with the windchill or -4 to -40 F), it is just that is January weather not December weather, and in December we must have had at least 10 days that were this cold.

For those of you who don't know this type of cold, let me try and explain it. It is so cold that by the time I walk the 20 steps from the front door to the side of the house, the hairs in my nose are frozen. Within a minute or so, the dogs are playing the 3 legged dog game. Hailey can actually poop standing on her two left paws. It is a sight to see and if it wasn't so cold I would try and take a picture of it. Zaphod at best will play chuck it 3 times before going to the door, limping and crying because his feet hurt so much. It takes me longer to get ready to take them out, then they are actually outside. Our average time out is only 2-3 minutes. The dogs will poop fast in this weather.

"Make it warmer out."
I believe in giving my dogs daily walks. Generally we walk about 3 km in the morning. However on these bitterly cold  days, it is impossible. On the days it was a little warmer (like -18 C) we were able to make it to the end of the road before having to turn around, but some days, we barely make it to the end of the driveway. Frostbite and hypothermia are not something I want to give to my dogs or myself.

We are entering day 4 of at least a 5 day stretch of ridiculously cold weather and I can feel the cabin fever setting in. We have been doing more puzzles, more tricks, more playing, we even let Phod have a ball in the house. In spite of this we are all getting a little squirrel-y and I hope this weather passes soon so we can have some quality outdoor time.

Are any of you having similar issues with the weather?



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House balls need to be eaten

If we are stuck inside, might as well snuggle




28 comments:

  1. I don't think we could cope with that kind of cold...I know my joints certainly couldn't. We get cabin fever even when the temps are just 40 degrees! Have you thought of getting them boots...neopaws....is a Canadian company that makes boots especially for dogs.

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  2. OMD that sounds terribly cold. Here it is still mild but we have had high winds and rain over the holidays. Got soaked a few time. Sunny and bright today here. Paws crossed the weather changes for you and you can go out and about. Have a tremendous Thursday.
    Best wishes Molly

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  3. We have heard about the cold up your way and our NE is getting pounded w snow today.
    Tomorrow we will only have a high of 34...which is dang cold for the South. I think I'll hunker down
    under the covers.
    hugs madi your bfff

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  4. We're getting a lot of snow right now and very cold. You are right...Freedom, Casper and Nikki do super quick potty breaks in this weather. Luckily for us, they don't mind laying around. A couple runs around the yard and they're good. Hope you guys get some relief soon.

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  5. Mom said she could never stand that much cold. Time for a vacation!

    Your Pals,

    Murphy & Stanley

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  6. We have been staying in too, much too cold for walks. We have been going to some agility practices though. It keeps us from getting too crazy.

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  7. January 2013 was horribly cold for us - below zero at night (as low as 14 below) all month long. that is unusual to go that many days in a row. And then we got very cold in December with many below zero nights. It is very difficult for the pugs. we are lucky that they are a breed that doesn't require a lot of exercise but pottying is the challenge as you said to get it done before the feet get too cold. that is why we had to get Greta some boots to put on, she takes too long to get down to business and I refuse to use pee pads in the house (I just clean up the occasional accident).
    We are ready for spring already!
    Bailey, Hazel, Greta & MOM

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  8. Cold weather??? What's that???? I am from Florida. Lol;-)

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  9. That sounds like my kind of weather hehehe! but seriously hope it warms up for you soon xxx

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  10. OH how we can RELATE.... we don't have it Nearly as cold as YOU do... butt WAY too cold to suit US . We woke to 3 inches of snow with MORE to come... Mom shoveled our Tootsie Roll Trails... and we went out... butt HATED it.. Tomorrow morning it will be -3° F. here... and stay really cold for several days... WE do stuffs like Deading Stuffies... and Playing with OUR Puzzles... THEY are perfect fur TRYING to avoid the Cabinet Fevers... THAT is why we asked Santa Paws fur MORE of them this year.
    For those who don't have this kinda stuffs... you gotta realize that when we try walking a ways from our Warm Homes... Once our feets GET COLD... then we gotta walk the WHOLE way BACK with Stinging Paws... it is AWFUL... Right Lee and Phod??? Our peeps gotta HELP us to know NOT to go far... and to POOP FAST... and Fire off our Pee Shooters EVEN FASTER...
    WINTER is NO FUN !! Just Sayin.

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  11. Man look that chewed up ball! Amazing jaw strength

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  12. We're with ya in the cold! Bundle up! Happy New Year!

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  13. wow! I just posted about the same thing today! My poor huskies doing the 3 legged dance cuz the cold hurts their paws! So you are near Ottawa then? Me to!
    Dont think I knew that about you!
    ((husky hugz))
    "love is being owned by a husky"

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  14. Well we're about to get a bit of snow and it's been super cold here too BUT I don't mind because I love being inside nice and warm on Mom's lap ANYWAY! Have fun destroying any stuffies or balls that need it...that's always good to pass the time!

    Hugs, Sammy

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  15. Of course we're the opposite, but the weather is a pain here, too. It has been HOT....up around 100°F for a week and will peak today at 109°F today. We only had a half-hour walk early this morning, because we were getting too hot. We will have another river visit a little later in the morning and then home to hibernate. Snuggle up and keep warm. We can't even begin to imagine your weather!

    XXXOOo Daisy, Bella & Roxy

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  16. We are right with ya here in Detroit! Going to be in the single digits for a few days and we got WHAMMED with snow! Hang in there! Keep Warm!

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  17. Hi Phod and Lee!

    It is awful being stuck in the house like that. I have never had weather that cold, but my person says she lived in some weird place called Montreal and remembers the "nose hair freeze phenomenon". Whatever that means.

    What we have here instead is RAIN. Sometimes it is raining so hard that I will not leave the house. I am a tough, west coast Dog you know, but even I have limits. (Ojo, sadly enough, does not and will still pounce and bounce no matter what the weather.) When it is raining this hard I run around the side of the house, under the bit of roof, and pee and poop on the sidewalk. The people do not like this, but they get to pee inside the warm house so I don't know what they're complaining about.

    Sometimes my person does the Find It game when the weather gets like this. We love the Find It game! Our person puts us in Stays in the bathroom (which she says is good training - bah!), and then she hides little pieces of meat around the living room, kitchen and hallway. When she says Find It we get to use our nose and find all the meat! This is pawesome. After a few rounds of this my brain is very tired from all that sniffing...

    But we still Walk every day because of Ojo. Otherwise she turns into what the people call "destructo-dog" and eats things like fridge magnets and cat poop. I do not know what we would do if it were that cold - I am glad that does not happen here!

    Stay warm, and I hope the weather gets better for you to go outside more soon! Hang in there, friends!

    Licks,
    Cobi

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  18. We are heading into single digits to 0 degrees F for the next few days. So far Millie & Walter haven't figured our to do their business fast. If need be we put booties on their feet so they don't have to do a two or three point stand when trying to poop.

    We resort to more indoor wrestling and other play activities. If it is above 10 deg. F outside then they don't mind playing in it for a while. Good luck staying warm and safe.

    Cindy

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  19. Wow, you sure make me appreciate living in SoCal. Sounds like you are a candidate for a doggy treadmill.

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  20. I experienced that cold recently. It's not cold it's freezin
    Lily

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  21. Wow now that's cold. I complain about the cold here and it doesn't even come close to what y'all are dealing with. Hope it starts to warm up soon.

    Aroo to you,
    Sully

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  22. We've had as low as -25°F here for a few days this winter, and it was really hard (but, for some reason, our dogs deal with it well as long as we keep them moving when outside). Hang in there - it will feel like summer when the deep freeze finally breaks!

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  23. As Floridians, there is no way Nola and I could cope with that. The coldest I've been in is 13 Fahrenheit, and the coldest Nola's been in was 18 Fahrenheit. Nola's only 10.5lbs, her fur is short and tight, she's bald on her chest/neck/belly and she has no body fat. She gets so cold! I'm lean with little fat, and I get mean as a snake when I'm cold.
    Nola's Mom

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  24. Sheesh! I definitely do not know this type of cold. I don't think I've ever experienced much less than 20 degrees Farenheit... I'm glad it doesn't get that cold here because I just don't like it! But like you said, it's been a colder than usual winter here. Last year was strange too because it was so warm all winter long, it's as though winter never even came.

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  25. My dogs hate this really cold weather too, except for my husky. He will run around and stick his head in the snow for as long as I let him. The other two go out, go to the bathroom and limp back to the door.

    Looks like here in Wisconsin we are going to get a break for two days and then it will go back down below zero. I can't wait for spring...

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  26. Yes! It's -28 here today...the horses are on their second day of lockdown. It's brutal!

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  27. Where we live now the winters are pretty mild, we have had some single digit temps and once in a while it dips below zero. But we moved here from Alaska. In Anchorage when it got to about -20 F we would say "nose hair alert'. My work took me to Fairbanks often and I have been in temps to -50 F.

    As someone suggested you might try booties for the dogs but spending any length of time in temps that low is very dangerous no matter how well you are wrapped up. Be careful.

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  28. We spent a couple days this week in Mont Tremblant and it was freakin' cold!

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