Winter Walking

It's already been a long winter in the Midwest.  Snow on the ground since around Thanksgiving, and lots of it.  Scary to think that the worst of what Jack Frost can throw at us is yet to come!  Thankfully we recently had a little break in the weather - it got warm enough to melt most of the snow.  Before winter returned and put a new white blanket down, we had a few days of sunshine.  For the first time in over a month, the Frenchies and I headed out for a walk.

Did someone say "walk"!?!?!

Don't let fact that I mentioned was "warmer" fool you - it was still well below freezing.  The sunshine felt good, but we all needed to bundle up to fend off the cold.  The Frenchies wore the nifty "1Z Coats" we got from Pawz last winter (it's a sleek coat & harness in one, check out our "Spring Break" post from 2010).  I recently got some "HotHands-2" hand warmers to try out, and this seemed like the perfect day to give them a test.

Brutus & Carmen knew that donning the coats meant going for a long-awaited walk.  They waited impatiently as I got myself organized.

A little help here, mom.  Either that or Carmen is going to have to stand on my back so we can reach the doorknob!

I tossed a hand warmer in each pocket, not without pausing for a brief inspection by Brutus.

Don't I get some?  Paws get cold too, you know!

So out we went - the Frenchies looking stylish as usual, trucking along with purpose.  I love these coats - they might look a little like scuba gear, but they are streamlined and the perfect weight for exercising dogs.  Warm enough to fend of f the chill, but not too heavy as to get them overheated or extra bulk to get in the way.  They have a substantial built-in harness as well, a pretty nifty idea I must say (especially if you have a young, wild, little girl Frenchie at the other end of one of your leashes).

Take a look at the neat ice patterns we saw on some frozen puddles!

Here's a close-up, me trying to be artsy with the iPhone's little camera.

All the snow that melted recently had left quite a bit of water around, which was now re-frozen.  We had to change our usual route because the path disappeared under a pond of solid ice!  

Unfortunately Brutus & Carmen aren't much into ice skating, so this looked like the end of the trail for today.

Better put that tongue back in before it freezes to something!

I briefly entertained the notion of sliding the Frenchies across the ice like curling stones (they have the physique for it, after all), but thought better of it and turned back the way we had come.

Despite the cold, it really was a beautiful day to be out, and goodness knows we all needed the exercise!  If you've ever wanted to know what it's like to be on the other end of the leash from two Frenchies, here's a birds-eye video from my perspective:

It's a good thing we got in the walk while we could, because the snow and bitter cold have since returned!  We stayed toasty warm, but it still felt good to get home - a cup of hot tea & a little snuggling sure felt good!  With a few months to go before there is any end in sight, we'll be lucky to sneak in a few walks here & there.  The coats and HotHands warmers will be on standby, hopefully we can sneak in some more walks before too long!   

Here are the websites for the products we mentioned in this post.  We receive lots of offers for endorsements, but only post about things we truly find useful.  There aren't any kickbacks to us from these manufactures, we're just sharing the information with you because we think they're cool!

  1Z Coat (Pawz Dog Boots, LLC): pawzdogboots.com

HotHands-2 hand warmers*: www.handwarmers.net

*One quick note, just as a precaution.  In case you get the chance to try the HotHands - their contents contain iron powder, something we wouldn't want our furry friends to munch on.  The Frenchies didn't seem interested in the pouches, I don't think they fabric casing wouldn't hold up long against their overly inquisitive mouths!!   According to the packaging, the pouches are environmentally safe and don't need any special kind of disposal - so just tossing them in the trash when they cool off is all you need to do.

Hope you enjoyed coming along with us on our walk.  Happy (and toasty) trails, wherever you are!!