It's freaking cold!!!!

After many years of only having furry large dogs, winter weather wasn't a big deal for me and my beasts. Potty time with snow was even fun. A time to frolic and play. My Jack loves new snow and the opportunity for a snowball toss game. I have found the same is not always true with smaller less fluffily prepared dogs. (furrily challenged?) To combat the recent 10 degrees and below lately I have resorted to the use of winter coats for the smaller dogs of our household.

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This might not seem like a big deal to many other small dog owners, but after years in the big dog scene using clothing on my dogs came as a bit of culture shock for me. Clothes for dogs? Not my thing. Though it never bothered me to see other small dogs wearing clothing appropriately. (I say appropriately because some outfits seem more in line with dressing babydolls than dogs.)

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As a trainer I have regularly recommended the use of clothing and other items on large dogs to make them less intimidating to the public. It's hard to label a dog scary looking if it's wearing a cute sweater and can show off a trick or two. (Tip ~ Tricks also show that the dog has training.)

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Once I watched our poor almost naked pug shivering during potty time a few times it became apparent what I needed to do. Get a coat on that dog!

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So I bought a few new coats recently for the girls. (From a FABULOUS sale at The Loyal Biscuit. Hint, Hint.) Here they are putting two of them to good use. Here is Missy with what I call her thinking face.

Here are the girls relaxing in their favorite spots. (Excuse the ugly second hand couch. Free doesn't always equal pretty.) I had the pet steps given to me and they are perfect for Missy so she doesn't strain her back jumping. Frenchies are stout little dogs and I was worried about the repetive stress on her joints as well so the steps were a perfect addition. The space Jenny is occupying is actually a car seat for dogs. Also given to me. I haven't had a chance to try it out yet as a riding area. I was thinking of using it with Missy since she has some anxiety riding in cars. Maybe seeing out the window easily will give her more confidence in addition to the counter conditioning work we have been doing. I snapped the pic because Jenny was wedged in there oddly and I thought it was cute.
This cutie is O'Malley. She is a 6 month old frenchie girl owned by a friend. She looks tired because she had just been spayed that day. She lives on a local island and they were waiting for the ferry ride home. She is normally much more chipper than this. I'll get better pics of her to share in the future.