oh the weather outside is frightful

[ChickensHaveNoEyebrows]

La la la.

Do you stick to your usual dog walking routine regardless of the weather? 4 inches of snow on the ground here and it's blowing a gale. I'm taking the mutt for a run through the woods to blow off some steam, but I am less than enthusiastic.

[toboldlygo]

We crack out the sled and do a good deal extra - sadly not today, as I have one broken dog, but usually we'd cover miles. :)

[fanoftheinvisibleman]

Mine is only coming up 8 months but I have stuck to it regardless all winter. I don't want to get into the habit of thinking it is ever ok not to go because then I have I feeling it would be all too easy to keep moving the goal posts back!

[Judyandherdreamofhorses]

Our rivers are all flooded so definitely no to our usual walks. No snow here though. I do modify the walks depending on the weather (baby and 3 year old so can be hard). Sometimes it's ball throwing in the field while baby sleeps in the car. Ddog doesn't mind.

[thegriffon]

We stick to the same routine whatever the weather - off lead in the morning at least an hour, and shorter lead walk in evening. If we didn't go out dog would be shadowing my every move all day and getting on everyone's nerves.
It wasn't pleasant this morning in a blizzard, painful having snow blown onto my eyeballs so I walked backwards mostly. Dog loved it and went for a swim in the river as well.

[digerd]

Had little furry dog a couple of months and in the last snow she loved it.
This morning she was not so keen as was wet snow/mush.
There was a large puddle of melted snow which she had no room to walk round and refused to budge. Being only 5 kilos, I picked her up and walked through the puddle myself. - rather have it that way.

For the 1st time she wore a red and white polka dot waterproof apron on her back and I laughed and smiled as she looked so cute and it didn't bother her at all.
Problem was she didn't like crouching in the wet snow to do her poo - always been fussy where she does it ! But eventually found a bit under an oak tree with no wet mushy snow under it.
She is such a refined little miss , except when we got home and was so excited she started humping her teddy toy < prim, shocked face>

[littlewhitebag]

We have stuck to our usual routine. It is Saturday so DH gets up early and takes the dog out. I was snuggled up in bed with a cup of tea.

DD will do the afternoon shift. This is my day off.

[digerd]

The afternoon walk was a bit of a disaster. It was snowing much harder, and little dog really did not want to know, although she is a breed well coated for harsh weather. She did one wee and we went back home after just 5 minutes or so.
Hope we get a break in the snow tomorrow morning, as still snowing/sleeting.

[Floralnomad]

We still go out regardless ,although the dog wears his jumper and sometimes the walks are shorter .

[cleangreens]

I have two Dalmatians, my life wouldn't be worth living if I didn't take them out for at least an hour whatever the weather.

I must admit lately I have felt almost tearful some days as it is such hard work slogging through mud and now slush . The mess when you get home is unbelievably hard too and I just feel so tired from the cold and having to plod in heavy boots through the quagmire every day. The dogs love it though which is what makes it worthwhile .

Sorry that ended up being a bit of a moan!

[mrslaughan]

We still walk - I quite enjoy it - which surprises even me.....
Actually I am thinking snow, pouring rain I am not so keen on.

[MrsPnut]

We still have to do three walks a day because our dopey dog won't wee or poo in the back garden except in a dire emergency.

OH has done most of the walks this week, because I haven't been very well but we did manage a walk around the lake and a walk across the fields both in pretty good weather.

[FiveHoursSleep]

We have been doing a lot of lead walking on pavements, then through parks for some offlead time for the last few months. The dogs have got much better at walking on leads and sitting at curbs, so thats a bonus, I guess. I have discovered that a couple of the big parks about half an hour away have less muddy paths so we go there once a week too.

[pigsDOfly]

Try to keep to our routine but sometimes my girl just doesn't want to be out if it's raining. She's small, so is close to the ground.

Yesterday we went to the park in the pouring rain and she had a wonderful time chasing her ball for about an hour.

But oh the mud!

[digerd]

My little girl doesn't do chasing a ball, she's like blood hound, always has her nose on the ground sniffing. Often staying there for too long. She spends more time sniffing and standing still and weeing over the smell, than walking.

[ChickensHaveNoEyebrows]

We've had more snow overnight. Dh will take the dog out today on two long lead walks. Not as much fun for the hound, but the fields are horrendous in the wind and the park is full of snowball fights. Roll on spring.

[fanoftheinvisibleman]

We walked along the edge of the farmers field yesterday as the combination of snow on top of mud bath was lethal. It was windy and the snow had drifted across the field. We had just warned ds that he couldn't climb the snowdrift overhanging a sheer drop when the daft puppy hared up it. Obviously it gave way and he vanished! He looked like he was swimming in the snow trying to get back up! To be fair I was grateful for terrier tenacity in the end as it took about 10 minutes and I was starting to panic about how to retrieve him!

[needastrongone]

Ah Chickens, but the fields are so much fun in the snow! Yes the wind is biting and horrible and mainly in your face, yes you can't feel your hands or toes by the end of the walk. Yes, you fall into a 6ft snow drift quite frequently (I did this 5 times this morning!) as it's hard to make out the track but the joy on our dogs face makes up for it. He kind of kangaroo jumps into the deepest drifts he can find!

So it's 2 long walks a day for us here, off lead in exposed fields

Was mighty pissed off with the mud last week though but we do walk come rain or shine, our Spaniel doesn't care!

Will upload a piccie of a snow drift from this mornings walk in a minute.

[needastrongone]

lol fan - however, it was the owner not the dog (i.e moi!) who fell down the drifts today!

Piccie up.

Cleangreens - I felt the same as you last week on a couple of walks

[digerd]

Little dog loved the snow this morning as not wet like yesterday. Remained at -1 degrees. It was not snowing either so she didn't need to wear her red and white polka dot raincoat. She even did her poo in the snow.
Just hope it's not snowing for this afternoon's walk as she didn't like it yesterday in the blizzard.

[NoThankYouToSideSalad]

Springer and collie owner, so no option but to continue walks or suffer the consequences. Springer has taken to bashing through ice to get to the muddy puddles. Am only dog owner I know with a muddy dog at the moment.

[ChickensHaveNoEyebrows]

Dh got a mile down the road in the howling wind and the hound refused to go further He would only pull to the right, which meant a familiar route back home down a footpath. This has literally never happened before