If you’ve followed along on my journey through the years, you know I hate snow. I don’t just hate snow. I despise snow with every fiber of my being. I see no valid reason for it and no one will convince me that we “need” snow.
So for a few months every year, I bitch and complain and piss and moan and am generally a pain in the ass. Yeah, I am, I admit it. (More so than my usual bitchy self, if you can imagine that) (or maybe you’d rather not, could give nightmares) (I’m really very nice if you don’t piss me off)
And here we are in January. I hate January almost as much as I hate February, and March just needs to go away, it’s the month that promises Spring and then says “HA! Have a snowstorm!”
All kidding aside (I was kidding? Who knew?) I have what’s known as “snow anxiety.” In other words, the mere mention of a snowstorm within the next week or so sends me frantically scouring weather sites for any information in the hopes that I’ll find one that says, “nope, all rain, fooled you weenies!” (It happens) Last weekend it snowed all day Saturday. I was surprisingly calm, perhaps due to my talking back to myself and reminding myself of how many snowstorms I’ve survived. (That’s not entirely due to age, I grew up in Upstate NY – the big part that’s attached to the The CIty – and went to college in Oswego, NY, where Spring is that one day between snowstorms and Summer is a fantasy. I’ve lived through blizzards both there and here in PA, an epic two in a row about 10 years ago. I know snow) It may sound silly but it worked to calm my nerves.
So here’s the thing. Maverick is a Golden Retriever. He freakin loves snow. See the dilemma? I don’t drive in snow, not so much from fear of the snow as from fear of other drivers. People in PA do NOT know how to drive in snow. Basic rules – slow down, get off my ass, get your foot off the brake – are apparently never taught. Yes, I’m that little old lady who is going 10 (or more) miles BELOW the speed limit when the roads are covered with snow, and is barely moving when there’s ice. Sue me.
Maverick does not like to poop at home. (TMI? Sorry, not sorry) This is a problem when Mommah is not going to take his little butt to the park on a Saturday. (Normally he goes at daycare, for which I apologize frequently but the owner knows I seriously don’t mean it.) He spent Saturday trying to convince me that I needed to take him to the park and I spent Saturday sewing, because he doesn’t enjoy the craft room – it puts him to sleep – and I dont enjoy the “Let me out so I can come back in every fifteen minutes” game. (Eventually he gave in and managed to go in the yard)
I would dearly love to let him off leash and let him run in the snow, which disappeared the next day (thank you Sweet Baby Jesus). However, I’m not nearly as interesting as a deer and should one appear in his field of vision, that high prey drive would kick in and Lord only knows where we’d find him. While I sincerely believe that God is looking out for both of us, I try not to test His patience too much.
We are now learning to work with a clicker. I have purchased a Clik StiK and we’re working on disappearing treats because someone is very much focused on my hand and not on what he should be doing. https://a.co/d/dHj8LW9 (link to above mentioned Clik Stik)
He seems to be catching on pretty quickly, although he thinks I spend too much time reading about clicker training and not enough time practicing. He’s very opinionated. I would like to try Rally classes in the Spring and we have a lot of work to do to be prepared for that. Wish us luck!
Suziecreamcheese Sings the Blues 
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The only place I lived where I got sick of snow was nw New Mexico. I was on the north-facing side of a street so snow didn’t melt for weeks. It actually acquired the look of old styrofoam. Except cold. I learned about stuff like Paw Thaw which melted snow but didn’t hurt my dogs’ feet, and paw boots which I only tried once. Back home in the south it’s a treat to see snow but it generally melts same day. Not familiar with this clicker thing.
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Clicker training is pretty cool – you basically use this little thing that has a button you push and it makes a click to train behaviors. The idea is that the sound tells them they did it right and then the reward comes. There’s a ton of information out there – once the dog gets the idea that the click means something, training begins- the theory is that when you reward a behavior with food, you’re rewarding the last thing the dog did because you can’t get a treat there fast enough. But you can click fast enough- do they know THAT was the behavior being rewarded. And it’s fun 🤩
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The biggest issue Gracie and I have is her escaping the yard. She has an electric fence/ collar and she got where she stayed in the yard (about 1/2 acre). She’s learned she can run out of the driveway after the neighbor’s cats now. So I’m having to use her collar again which is maybe 70% effective if she decides the reward is greater than the shock. I wonder if she’d even notice a clicker with all that going on.
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Yeah, transitioning to outside with it is a long process. Maverick WILL look up when I click at the park but I don’t try often because if he doesn’t, that becomes a learning experience too. The problem either by electric fences is that when they get zapped, they associate that with whatever walked by.
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Would a long leash allow Maverick to run around in your yard without him being able to get away? Can he break the chain ones? If not, that might let him burn off some energy.
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He has a long lead and can run a bit. Both in the front yard and in the back yard
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I’m don’t even like winter let alone the snow, and yet I live in the midwest. I’m so with you there!!! Snow is ok for the first day or two and then I’m ready for it to be gone. I also drive slower in snow because you slip and slide and I do not want to be the cause of an accident, however some have not learned to drive in the snow, or those who know but forgot over the summer and have to slip and slide to be reminded during the first good snow, so like you I don’t like to drive in it because of the other drivers. Tonight sometimes we have another blizzard coming and snow through Sunday, along with night time temps of up to -40 with the wind chill. Is it Spring yet? I generally start asking that question once fall is over. LOL
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I start asking about the first day of November. It doesn’t help that the cold makes my bones ache. And I’m a planner so when my plans get thrown into disarray by weather, it sends me sideways. Then we have the driveway that was designed by a drunk Irishman coming off a three week binge – down the hill, around the curve, over the creek, past the pond- on the curve so if you survive sliding off the driveway you can finish the job by drowning and then up the hill which curves again at the top. I’ve slid off enough times – missed the pond – that it invokes terror in my soul when it’s snow covered, but not so much since we got it paved – finally- and got a car with all wheel drive.
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You literally made me laugh out loud, “so if you survive sliding off the driveway you can finish the job by drowning”. I know my apt neighbors think I’m crazy laughing so much!
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Happy to be of service! Tell your neighbors to come read the silliness 😁
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Oh, girl…I so get you! Carver is crazy for the snow. We got 12″ this past weekend and Carver would go out an play for 30 minutes at a clip! He had to be called in. He was able to bury and find his tennis ball in all that snow and he was entertained all day. He came in with large snowballs caked to his rear floof. I would sit him by the fire to melt. Then he would go out and repeat the process over again. ALL. DAY. LONG. I think Rally is perfect for Goldies!
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Ah, snowballs in the butt fluff! My first Golden, Max, had so much butt fluff he would get mats just by walking. He would have stayed out all day too, but he was trustworthy to stay on our land. Maverick tries to get to the woods and gets tangled up and I have to go rescue him. Drives. Me. Nuts!
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This too shall pass.
I grew up in western PA and took drivers Ed in January and February with plenty of snow. I had to learn how to navigate in that or no driver’s license. But that was a long, long time ago. I don’t think “they” teach how to drive in the snow now. Of course I don’t think kids learn much about life skills in school nowadays either, you know, cooking, sewing, balancing a checkbook, using a hammer or screwdriver. I never minded the snow but you’re right, other drivers are the real hazard! Now that I’m retired, I don’t have to go out in bad weather.
Pepper love’s running in the snow and burying her face in it. Whatever. She’s still a kid. [I’d probably do snow angels (and try not to land on top of dog 💩) if I was sure I’d be able to get back up. Unfortunately that ship has sailed.]
We have a GPS electronic fence collar for her so we can let her out knowing/hoping she will stay within her boundaries. 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻 It’s worked so far.
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I don’t think the underground fence would stop Maverick if there was a deer. 🤷♀️. And I hear you about the snow angels! I’m still trying to talk Bear into getting us a toboggan so we can slide down the hill, though we’d need some sort of pulley system to get back to the top. 😂
And no, life skills are no longer taught
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The fence doesn’t go underground. It’s calibrated by GPS. I agree that the concept wouldn’t work with some headstrong, prey-driven dogs.
Maybe Bear could rig up some type of pulley. 🛷🚡
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Gotcha. I was able to teach Max the boundaries but he was a lazy old soul, this kid is like “boundaries? What the heck is a boundary?” As he dashes merrily through the woods
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I looked forward to being retired so that I could stay inside all cozy when it was blizzardy outside. I’ve always ‘nested’ my pantry and freezer so I had no reason to go out. I struggle with humidity, even in the winter. I can tolerate the cold better than the heat physically. And a big YAY for Maverick to get a reminder of how good you are to him when he was forced to do his bizness in the yard!
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One of the few joys of teaching online is that I don’t actually have to go out very often. The only thing I have to do is get Maverick to daycare and pick him up, and if the weather is awful, he stays home anyway. His daycare is only a mile away so it’s not too bad most days.
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Hey, Just letting you know; of you want to Follow my Blog, you can. Just make a request.
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Done, thank you!
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I am absolutely with you on feeding about snow. I loathe the stuff. It’s one of many reasons why I live in the South. It does still, unfortunately, rear its ugly head once in a while. We are under a winter storm warning through Tuesday. Ugh!
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Oops, feeding should be the feeling.
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😁
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I’d love to be able to go south for the Winter but we’re not wealthy enough for that so I bitch and moan and count the days till Spring. We’ve been lucky the last three years and had no big storms- I can deal with a coating that melts the next day! It’s snowing now and I need to go out later to deliver food to a friend so it needs to stop! Oh- we’re meant to get snow Tuesday as well
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