In our household, there’s a tell-tale sign that your garden variety winter weather has taken a turn for the worse — and this sure-fire indication that frigid conditions have taken hold can be summed in two dreaded words.
No, it’s not Coke Zero, although I should share that cans of the sweet nectar left in an unheated garage will blow their tops, or bottoms, if the temperature dips to a certain point, leaving a sticky residue on all neighbouring surfaces.
In our house at least, the two dastardly words that instantly signify temperatures have hit an unwelcome low are dog boots. It’s not necessarily the boots themselves, but the ordeal it becomes to get them affixed to the dog, who on some level knows they’re in her best interest due to the conditions outside but acts as if we are meting out some kind of punishment by trying to get them on.
Like it is for most people when it comes to pets, we’ve had a hand in creating this situation, not so much the aversion to having plastic and rubber affixed to her paws with Velcro, but the need to go for a walk in the first place. Ideally when it gets too cold, we’d just open the door, let her do her business in the back yard and call her back 30 seconds later, long before the paws become an issue.
Yes, that would be ideal.
However, when we got her, we weren’t keen on the idea of pet urine ruining the lawn, so we got into the habit of walking her multiple times a day, which means she knows to conduct her business on these walks, not in the yard. Throw in the fact she uses these strolls to mark her territory — in very un-ladylike fashion she even cocks her leg on the side of trees to ensure she hits just the right spot — and we’ve created a situation that doesn’t lend itself well to really cold weather.
So when the mercury drops, a whole production must be undertaken anywhere from four to six times a day as she’s outfitted with boots, as well as a sweater or jacket and her harness, in order to brave the cold. At first we were just putting on the boots, but even with two Velcro straps and a drawstring, they wouldn’t always stay on, so now socks must go on all paws first.
This process is complicated because her paws invariably go limp, eliminating the usual push-pull motion when putting on socks or shoes and making it increasingly difficult to get her paws positioned where they need to be. She looks like she’s having an out-of-body experience, hoping it will all be over soon, while we contort ourselves to get just the right angle. Typically, we end up spending more time equipping her for the cold than we do on the actual walk.
So now every time the weather forecast calls for frigid temperatures, we wonder whether it will reach the point that it’s so cold she ends up holding a paw in the air while we’re out for a walk. If she does, we know it’s become boot time. Let the ordeal begin.
