I’ve been watching my neighbors two dogs while they’ve been away.
We had our first snow on Saturday and boy do the two dogs love it.
They play and play and eat it and roll around in it.
They still haven’t figured out that when I throw a snowball and they try to fetch it, when it hits the ground it will disappear.
They are mixed mostly German shephards with probably about a dozen other breeds thrown in.
My collie/shepherd, I had when I was a kid loved snow too. He refused to drink once it the snow came, he would go out and eat snow. Of course he also preferred muddy puddle water too, especially with dead leaves in it, so what does he know?
As a kid, my cat hated it. She was an indoor/outdoor cat and when the snow came she refused to go out anymore, till it all melted.
So what about your pets? Do they like it or hate it?
Two beagles and a cat. Cat thought he wanted to go out in the cold and snow.Boris lasted 10 minutes. Winston likes to play outside until it gets too cold or snowy. He will not go for a long walk in 6 inches of snow. Nordberg justs goes. She will take the freezing belly to sniff the park.
Our Bichon used to be OK with snow and quite enjoyed running around in it as a puppy, but now that she’s an old lady of 8 she isn’t thrilled with it anymore. I have a hard time getting her to go for a walk. She thinks she wants to go, but after about 2 minutes the brakes go on and she won’t budge. So, we pack it in and head back home.
Not really. My dogs are 10 and 14 now and don’t like anything that’s cold, wet, or otherwise uncomfortable. Although my oldest dog likes to roll in the snow for a minute, she doesn’t want to be out in the cold long, and she hates it when she has to wade through snow to take a piss. My cats have never experienced snow.
I call my Ella (The Cutest Dog In The Whole Wide World!) “Snow Queen” because she LOVES to go out in the snow and play.
For hours.
Long after I’m frost-bitten and shaking from the cold.
Plus she is all white, so I can never find her in the snow. Especially at night.
She’s a White Shepherd/Husky mix. She will eventually come home after a few hours.
Meanwhile, I’m trying to warm up in front of the fireplace, or the stove, or maybe in a hot shower. :eek:
I’m actually kind of surprised how much my two English bulldogs like it. When he encountered snow for the first time last winter, Frank’s first instinct was to take a big chomp of it and then bark at the rest of the snow. I assumed he was mad at it for being too cold, but I don’t speak dog.
Since then, though, he and George have seemed to like it a LOT more than I do. They romp, they frolic, they eat so much of it that they get adorable snowbeards.
On the other hand, if it’s just cold without snow, they can’t get back inside fast enough. George will stare at me with hate in his eyes as though I control the weather.
Two mini schnauzers. One is indifferent the other loves it. The first one will stay on the ‘paths’ that have been created. Goes out, does her business, maybe hangs out for a few more minutes and then back in. The other one. We could have 18 inches of snow (she’s only about a foot tall) and instead of staying against the house, under the overhang, she goes straight out into the yard. She’s the one that even when there’s a mere half inch of snow on the ground she’ll come back inside completely covered. She’s also the one that 20 minutes later you’ll find her 15 feet away from the door, too cold to move and you have to carry her back in.
3 cats here - 2 are about 10 years old, one is about 8. The 8 year old will go out into almost anything. There’s usually a strip of bare ground along the back side of the house that stays snow-free unless we get a really heavy snowfall. She’ll use that to go out and answer Nature’s call. She can also get under the deck from there, so if it’s not too cold, she may spend 10-15 minutes outside. Generally we try to limit that, though, so that we don’t have to deal with feline frostbite.
The grey tiger will go out, but won’t stay out long. Out, sniff, poop, bury, in.
The long-hair tortoise-shell hates cold. When I open the back door and she gets a snootfull of cold air in the face, she freezes. Her ears go back, and she starts shaking her front paws as if they’re already covered with cold, icky snow. She’s a city girl, and she will be happy inside until all that stuff is gone. She still insists on checking on it now and then, just to see if that’s happened yet. Then she heads to the basement and one of the litter boxes.
Our cats hate snow. At first they really want to go out and catch the falling fluff. But then they actually do catch it, and it immediately and magically turns cold and wet. They don’t like that.
When I was a kid, though., our dog loved to play in the snow.
The dog loved it. He was a big furry Shepard mix, though, so he had no problems keeping warm, and he’d plow through it, dig, and generally have fun. He’d sleep outside frequently even in the winter on the covered porch.
Tripod, our three-legged cat, never used to like the snow and now really hates it because it screws up his gait. The other cat puts up with it briefly, then sleeps under the porch or in the garage.
My beagle doesn’t like damp grass, much less snow. If the outdoor conditions are anything but dry and warm then she tiptoes gingerly down the back steps, does her business as quickly as possible, and races back into the house.
He likes it so long as it’s not higher than his belly. When there’s a risk of getting stuck he’s not a big fan. And he likes it more when he can play with a friend in it, romping around. He’s got extremely short hair that barely sheds so he wears a sweater when it’s below 40, otherwise he shivers.
It’s rain he hates. He winces with each and every drop.
Max-cat has never been allowed out in the snow. I’m pretty sure he’d hate it. He’s allowed outside right now, but we’re in California and there is no snow. When I move (which will probably be to DC) he won’t be allowed outside anymore.
Same with my cat. We have very carefully made her terrified of the weather outside. She never gets let out unless it is torrential downpour or seriously wet and yucky snow =)
I’ve had goldens for the past 30 years, and to a dog they LOVED it. Will snap endlessly at the disappearing snowballs. Ad run along sniffing with their nose under the snow and their tail wagging, only to have to snort the snow out of their noses.
The only downside is when I take them snowshoeing or running, at times they get bothered by the snow in between their pads.
