Winter Fun

A few weeks ago I was wondering where the snow was, and now we've got plenty. I'm thinking about getting some boots for Oscar, but I'm putting it off for now because he seems to be fine with the snow so far and I'm not looking forward to trying to put boots on him. He still gets finicky when we try to put his leash on, so putting boots on should be interesting, to say the least.

I've tried working on getting him to remain calm when we handle him. He's okay with us touching his ears, tail and paws, but he really fights when we try to hold his collar, so we have some trouble getting him to sit still enough for us to clip his leash to it. Our vet held his collar once and got him to calm down within a few seconds, but every time we try he gets really mouthy and kicks until he gets free. I've been trying to give him a treat as soon as he calms down for a second and that is helping somewhat (praise just doesn't do it yet). I watched some Dog Whisperer this weekend and I am also thinking that I'm probably not as calm as I think I am when I'm trying to get him to calm down, which likely has something to do with it. I've also been trying to practice when he is tired so that he doesn't have as much inclination to fight and he's usually calmer.

For now, he seems to love playing in the snow and taking walks and hasn't had any issues with the cold without a jacket or boots, though it has been pretty mild so far this winter and that probably won't last, so I'm putting off getting boots for the moment.  We make sure to rinse his feet after coming inside from the walks and dry off his coat when it's snowing. He loves running around the backyard, digging around in the snow for pine cones, which he loves to chew, and breaking sticks off of one of the big bushes in the yard to gnaw on.  Good clean fun!

Digging for things to chew on.

Found a delicious stick!

Oscar startled a rabbit that was hiding by the fence
in the next yard and it ran off.

He's staring at the rabbit....

Now he's trying to get to the rabbit through the fence
 (needless to say, it didn't work).

So handsome!

All done.  Inside please!