I see fewer dogs out walking with their people on snowy days with temperatures below 0. But those I do see make me happy I have a golden retriever.
The Best Reasons To Have A Golden Retriever In The Snow
When the snow gets deep I can still find her.
The more snow we have, the more I worry about the bichon frise who walks by our house. He’s small and he’s white. He could end up lost until spring.
How else am I going to transport dozens of tiny ice balls onto my hardwood floors if I didn’t have a four-paw delivery service?
And besides, cleaning ice balls out from between Honey’s pads and the fur on the back of her legs after a walk is bonding time.
Because my golden retriever doesn’t take as long to sniff every dog’s leavings on a cold walk as those beagles from down the street.
I just know that some day the emergency responders will find our neighbor frozen to the ground while her two beagles are still sniffing up every scent molecule left by that big husky mix an hour ago.
Even if I reduce walk time by half an hour because I’m too cold, Honey will entertain herself in the yard by making snow angels.
It’s good to know my wussiness doesn’t prevent Honey from getting her exercise.
She comes with her own coat.
I just put on her leash and we go. We’ve walked outside with wind chills as low as -17° F (that’s -27° C to the rest of the world) and I have yet to see Honey show any signs of distress.
We can still play fetch even if I forget to put a ball in my pocket.
Honey is just as happy to get a face full of snow. And we have plenty of that.
Because my back would ache from lifting a short-legged corgi or basset hound over the two foot mountains of ice left by the snow plows at the end of every block.
For my long-legged golden, it’s just another agility obstacle.
Who wants to look out their window to see a pristine yard of snow when they can have a yard that looks like a bomb site?
An afternoon of golden retriever games leaves no snow untouched.
On icy sidewalks, it’s always better to have an “I just love to be with you” dog than an “it’s adventure time, I just want to run as fast as I can” dog.
I know. I’ve lived with both. Let’s just say I’ve received fewer injuries with the golden.
Because it’s snowy. And because I have a golden retriever. And we should always be thankful for what we’re given in life.
Your Turn: Is your dog well-suited to the weather you live with?
Sometimes It’s Okay To Reply To Your Dog’s Bark
Here in Quebec, mere minutes from the Maine border, we get plenty of snow. Our Bernese Mountain Dog loooves the winter. He can often be seen laying in the snow in a snowstorm. Our older dog is a Bernese/Lab cross. He looks like a 90-lb Golden. While he won’t lie in the snow like the Berner, he very much enjoys playing in the snow and chasing snowballs. But the accumulation of snow between his toes becomes problematic when we go snowshoeing.
I hate to admit this but our golden boy was a wussie when it came to snow. He hated it. He did love the hot weather. He loved to lay out in the sun and roast!
Now our dachshund is another story. She does not like rain. Does not like walks. She loves the snow. Will run with leaps and bounds through huge snow piles. Kind of funny to watch-she is so short she sinks. Always running to the door to go back out.
Fortunately here in Northern Va we can go years w/o a deep snow. Six inches or less works fine for the corgis.
I adore your positive twist on things! Harley is white so during a blizzard he would give a whole new meaning to “white out!” We don’t have too many problems with snow balls, mainly because we won’t dare go out without our snowsuit #truestories And so far we haven’t seen much of the white stuff around here.
I love this post!! There is nothing like watching a Golden Retriever playing in the snow 🙂
You really had me laughing with the dozens of tiny ice balls on the hardwood floors! Every single day!!!
can’t beat fun in the snow!
What an excellent way to look at it. Mauja and Akta are pyrfectly happy with our climate and don’t understand why I won’t nap outside in the negative temperatures with them 😉
In theory, Blueberry’s breed should be well suited for our heat, but B isn’t a fan. And she really doesn’t love walking in strong sunlight, even in cold weather. One of the reasons I am so pale is because of her distaste for sun. Although she will sunbathe even when it’s over 100 degrees out.
Nelly can easily get lost in the backyard on a snowy day! Well, she’s hard to find anyhow. Theo is so short we can lose him in the deep snow, but he doesn’t blend in. Sophie enjoys the snow, but our Keeshond was the ultimate snow dog! (Perhaps a Husky would love it as much as her.)
Another reason….golden retrievers photograph very well against the snow! Someone commented to that effect on another blog recently, and I realized how true it is. Some of my best snow photos are of Sheba.
It can be below zero temps, and Sheba wants to be outside lounging on the deck or in the yard lying in the snow! I usually have to make her come inside.
She looks like she loves it! Nola loves summer, late spring and early fall. Hates anything below 65 and shakes like a leaf. She’s short, small and thin, so she gets chilled easy. Pike, Livvy and Lincoln love the cold. Pike tends to not know when to stop in the heat.
I love this! My sister has Holden’s…can never get enough of them!
Not Holden’s…GOLDEN’S!
Sounds like Honey loves the snow. I got a proper snowy walk with my two the other day, up in the hills and it was lovely!
I think our pups would like our climate better if we gave them 24 hour access to a pool, plus the ability to come inside wet. As it is, we filled in the pool because the pump couldn’t handle all the fuzz they left in it…
Monty and Harlow
Mom is thankful we are all winter weather equipped pups. The only thing she doesn’t like so much is all the trampled snow, but it is only in the backyard. We don’t get assistance over snow piles even though we are short. We have to climb, sink in, dig out, whatever it takes, we are on our own. Winter equipped dogs are definitely in plus in winter.
We just can’t get enough of the white stuff!
All 3 of my girls love being outside if it’s sunny and the wind is calm. Actually, the Golden Girls don’t even mind the windy days as long as it’s also sunny. And as long the wind isn’t howling – like it was yesterday – Ducky doesn’t notice it either. But yesterday it was so windy that the noise tweaked Ducky’s strange noise anxiety a bit. But since I can’t leave them out in the yard unsupervised, they don’t get to spend much time outside in the rain. We haven’t had any snow yet, but I’d be right out there with them if we had some.
Great reasons! My former neighbors have two Goldens who love the snow as much as my dogs. Unfortunately, we have not had much snow at all this year.