It has been colder in Chicago these last two days than it has been in decades. Yesterday morning my thermometer outside my window showed -20 degrees – that’s Fahrenheit! Almost everything closed – even the post office!
It was so cold that Metra used flames near the train track switches to keep them warm! This temperature drop was extreme!
Someone on NPR said only let your dog out for a minute or he might get frostbite. Another person was walking her dog at the beach.
But your dog needs to do his business, so what do you do?
Since Buffy is blind, it often takes her longer to find her way down the porch stairs and back up again. Sometimes she gets “lost” in our driveway, unable to find the stairs. The first time I let her outside, I used a short leash, led her down the stairs, and told her to “go potty.” This helped her move along a little quicker, but she didn’t seem too cold—maybe that’s because even to do a quick pee break, I dressed her in a sweater AND a coat.
After breakfast, I put on her booties (PAWZ rubber booties work best on her), plus put her coat on over her sweater.
I let her decide how far to walk. This time she walked two houses before finishing her business.
With wind chills around -45 degrees, we didn’t want to stay out too long!
The rest of the day, and the next, I never let her go outside without her coat on to protect her from the wind. I left her sweater on in the house since it was a bit chilly inside. At night, I covered her up with two big bath towels to stay warm and in the morning, she still lay under the covers. She liked being cozy!
Protect your dog from the cold:
- A sweater helps protect some areas, like their
chest, better than a coat. - Put a coat on over a sweater to protect against
the wind. - Use booties. That snow is cold! If your dog
makes a big puddle and gets her paws wet, at least they won’t freeze! - Let your dog decide how long she wants to stay
out. Today it warmed to -2 and we walked up and down the block instead of just
a few houses. Limit your time outdoors. - Come up with indoor games, like throwing the
ball or hide and seek.
What do you do with your dog on extremely cold days?
Here are some other ideas that Paws Chicago promotes:
We had a nice amount of snow here (much to my Huskies’ joy), and thankfully, the polar vortex only cramped our style for a few days requiring us to stay inside. Of course, all the indoor time did not make for happy Huskies! Today, after having negative degrees, we are at a balmy 60! Crazy Mother Nature! I have a friend who lives in the Chicago area and I could not believe the freezing temps you’ve had! The flames on the tracks really drives that cold fact home! Stay warm and safe!
It was cold here but at least the polar vortex didn’t quite reach Maine. I still felt bad for dogs and people with dogs having to go for dogs to potty. I bet the stores can’t keep paw wax and coats in the shelves.
While people might disagree on what too cold is, there indeed is such a thing as too cold. Up here, too cold is anything below -20Celsius.
Love the guidance you give about trimming their paw fur – it’s so important. We did not realize how important it was until we let our pup’s fur grow just a bit longer than normal in-between groomings. Holy smokes, the snow stuck to their feet like magnets! Those little balloon booties are magic – love them!
I love your infographic! These are great tips for dog owners. We’re in deep freeze here, and I feel so bad for dogs I see being walked with no coats or booties. Buffy looks adorable in hers.
We have rain and wind here so I am just letting Layla tell me when she needs to go out and how far she wants to go and it seems to be working.. She does wear a raincoat when we are out in the rain or a jacket if the wind is cold and blowing. I do not keep her out long unless she feels like walking then I let her just walk me LOL as far as she wants to go.
Stay warm
It’s been cold out where we are too – not as bad as some areas have been though. Last week we had a couple -30* days with the wind chill factor. Today it’s 20*f and it almost feels warm compared to how the weather was last week. So crazy. I’ve been bundling my pups up and taking them outside for potty breaks still. Luckily when it’s really cold they know to get their business done quickly so we can get back inside. Try to stay warm!
Great tips!! I’m in England and although it’s been chilly, it even snowed a little last night, it’s nowhere near as severe as many other parts of the world. Jack isn’t familiar with snow being from Florida and all, but he seemed to love walking in it today. When Red was with me she wore a sweater in the house for many months of the year, and outside I added a coat. When we were in Canada I used paw wax on her otherwise she refused to budge!
It’s great to see you all again! You have much colder temperatures where you are. We have 0º, but the wind chill is -20º. I only go out for a few minutes. Just enough time to take care of business, and quickly inspect the back yard for the Evil Squirrel Cartel, before zooming back inside. The weatherman says things will warm up for the weekend. Please say hello to your sweet Buffy who looks a lot like my esteemed, late associate angel Joey dog. Stay warm, pups!