Friends, when the weather's below freezing, as it is today, we rarely take the dogs outside. It's just too cold.
Thankfully we've trained them to do what they need to do indoors, in the bathtub to be exact, and most of the time Willy remembers the part about jumping up over the side.
I thought today I might share what Freddy (brown and seven years old) and Willy (white and four-going-on-four-months) are up to today, which is pretty much what they're up to every day. When they don't get walked outside they usually do half an hour on the doggy treadmill (followed by free weights, he he.) All it takes to get them up there is a piece of kibble, and that's all they get when they're done. To hear them tell it, we never feed them enough.
If you've never seen chihuahuas on a treadmill, here's what it looks like (with some strange color thing going on on my camera).
When they're not trotting along going nowhere, they're usually sleeping or playing. From time to time we toss a toy or something but they pretty much entertain themselves. Except for Willy, who starts reminding you it's nearly dinner time at mid-afternoon and won't get out of your face (or lap) until he gets fed, which is why dinner time is usually before 4 pm these days.
Dogs are fun but a lot of responsibility. Thankfully these two have each other, and they definitely have their roles down pat: Freddy the loveable grouch and Willy the adorable pest.
Friends, if you have dogs, do they go outside regardless of the weather? Will they do most anything for a piece of kibble or do they hold out for a ham bone? And what exactly do cats do to be entertaining?
Can't wait to be able to take these chihuahuas for an old-fashioned walk again -- brrrr!
Have a great day, everybody!
That was so cute!!! We had two Chihauhaus and when we traveled from Florida to Virginia in the winter we had to bring a small electric heater for them to stay warm. I needed my own personal heater after living in Florida for nine years, cold was intolerable. Having lived back in VA for nine years now, I still hate cold weather but handle it better. I do miss Florida in the winter. We should have put our Chihauhaus on a tread mill. Really cute video of them.
ReplyDeleteThey are adorable! My dog is a newfoundland and we have no problem getting her outside in the cold. But summertime? That is a nightmare. We have to bribe her with kibble just to get her off the porch. I guess with all her fur it's probably like wearing a parka all year long so understandable. And I have the same early dinner whine. She starts at 3:00 (it's like she can tell time) and I try to ignore it until 5. Usually she'll get a kong wobbler with part of her dinner to tide her over. Sometimes that just makes her hungrier! Oh well. enjoy your time indoors with the cute pups!
ReplyDeleteTwo of our dogs died of old age last year. We now have 3 senior rescue dogs all with unique personalities and one with health issues. We adopted them from the SPCA.
ReplyDeleteWe have the early dinner whine in our house too. Reminds of what my Italian friend said about her father. After her mother served him his breakfast he would want to know what he was having for dinner. One knows the time and will start at around 2.00 pm which she knows will set off the others, who in turn gang up on us. Our dogs go out without a problem because our climate is mild desert in the winter, very cold but little moisture.
Your pups are just adorable. Enjoy them because once they are gone you really miss them.
I know the "really miss" feeling. Be certain to take pictures of your pet; one photo can bring back a flood of special friend memories.
DeleteCats, like dogs, all have their own personalities, but our current Mistress of All She Surveys entertains herself by bringing us twist ties to play indoor fetch (yes, just like a dog), by creating games from whatever is at hand, chasing a motorized laser toy, "attacking" us like she was born to the veldt, and finding new positions and places to Nap. We are also reminded when mealtimes take place, with a precision that is impressive. I'm pretty sure Geneva sets their clocks to this cat.
ReplyDeleteI have to bribe our dog outside to go potty with treats, she's happy to go out if it's warm and sunny but otherwise forget it unless it's for a ride in the car or a walk. She's pretty good about racing around the house to burn off excess energy.
ReplyDeleteShe starts "talking" about dinner around 4pm, I'm glad to hear she's not the only one.
Our Lab never gets fed until after we eat and stays under the table hoping for 'accidentally' dropped food. If we continue talking after eating we get the lip-licking and whining to remind us to feed her.
ReplyDeleteShe'll be twelve this year so walks are shorter now due to her getting a bit stiff in the joints. For Christmas this year she got a memory foam mattress so now most of her day is spent snoozing in bed. The only time I've seen her move quickly lately is chasing a dog out of the garden who was attacking the hens. I doubt he'll be back.
We're all preparing ourselves for losing her in the next couple of years. Of all the dogs I've had in my life she's definitely my favourite; a real mixture of the laid back and the kooky. The kind of dog who gets presents given to her by the neighbours at Christmas and a favourite of all the kids in the street.
Our cold weather is not as severe so we walk several times a day even with an umbrella if need be since we have a great place to walk as we have a road and forest between the house and dh's shop. That is so funny seeing them on their treadmill. I am sure it is more difficult in the city and with the weather there to sometimes get out for a walk. Out of all our rescues through the many years, we somehow never had a chihuahua but I never say never. Having a daughter and sil as vets, sooner or later one may show up. Cats get plenty of attention when they want it which is not necessarily when it is most convenient to provide. Everything is on their schedule since they are royalty. My one eyed rescue cat is slapping my fingers as I type and jumping from one place to another making a crash. Try sewing with a cat. You'll appreciate the chihuahuas.
ReplyDeleteMy dogs passed away last year within 6 months of each other and my husband and I were very sad. Our kids had moved out and things were too quiet. Then my daughter gave me two kittens for Mother's Day and they have been entertaining us ever since. They are just like little dogs. They follow us around, remind us of mealtimes and comment on my sewing
ReplyDeleteBailey, our 11-year-old Westie doesn't seem fazed by cold weather, and loves to go outside in any temperature. It doesn't seem to matter to him. He really likes to rub his face in the snow for some reason. He's a knucklehead sometimes. He's more likely to fade on a walk when it's really hot. When he's overheated, he'll just plop down in a shady spot and refuse to move.
ReplyDeleteWhen he's outside, he must investigate everything, must greet everyone, and is totally oblivious to the fact he's on the end of a leash. His hearing regarding my commands seems totally turned off. He'll become totally attentive for the tiniest piece of kibble though.
Inside, he's mostly mellow, but goes totally ballistic for three things: hearing the UPS or mail truck, seeing a squirrel out the window, or seeing a dog on TV. He actually knows some commercials featuring dogs (usually anti-depression drugs) by sound, and will run into the room to attack the TV when he hears them come on.
Cuuuuute. I almost brought Linus (my Chi) with my on a trip up north. But, he would not have made it in this weather. I've been contemplating trying to paper train him at this point myself. Once the snow is on the ground, taking him outside is a bad scene overall.
ReplyDeleteI see Freddy is not buying Willy's "I am the boss of you" proclamations!
ReplyDeleteOut here in the Sandlands, we have the opposite problem: what to do with our two dogs (Koko and Boudi, perfect terrier mix and Yorkie terrorist, respectively) when it's hotter than Hades. Fortunately, we're blessed with an infinitely patient housekeeper, whom I once caught carrying Koko from green spot to green spot (not an easy task in our cement-paved neighborhood). They adore this cooler time of year, when they can spend as much time as they like in our little handkerchief of green garden and get long walks when we get home in the evening.
ReplyDeleteBoth are perfect little pigs (or rather, they enjoy a good dinner almost as much as the Mister and me), but Koko prefers a nice roast chicken tidbit or seven, while Boudi has odder tastes, being especially fond of bananas, mango, and peppermint chewing gum (he was raised by a Belgian gentleman, which somehow we feel ought to explain everything). Since pet food supplies here are inconsistent, they get homemade food and even home-baked biscuits, both of which must be doled out precisely as they've become accustomed, or indeed we do hear about it.
We have a 7 year-old Westie named Fiona and she's not adverse to going out in the cold - although when we lived in metro DC and had a blizzard a few years ago she was reluctant to venture further than the porch. I don't blame her, since the snow was deeper than she was tall. OTOH, now that we live in the rainy Pacific NW, she really hates to go out when it's pouring - to the point that we open the door and she looks at us as if to say, "Go out in that? You can't be serious." We end up having to make her go out on the front lawn, where she does her business as quickly as possible, and frequently she can't be budged out. She'd rather hold it until the rain lets up or she just can't hold it anymore. I'd rather have her, though, than my brother and SIL's dog. They have a Chinese Crested, which is a dog with no hair. They live in Michigan, so in the winter it has to have clothing to stay warm and in the summer it needs clothing and/or sunblock to keep its skin from being sunburned. That's too much maintenance for me!
ReplyDeleteYour dogs are very good! Mine think that "sit" means "jump up and bark". I have two little ones, a grumpy old man-dog (Manny) and a silly mischievous girl-dog (Dolly). They don't like to go out in the cold or the heat, but especially not rain!
ReplyDeleteSo sweet! I have just picked up my new teenage pup, and I love him to bits but keep having minor freakouts about the responsibility, but in a good way. He was a neglected SPCA rescue and I'm determined to give him a better life than what he started with, and that means love, attention and walks. It doesn't get too cold here,just wet, but we will see how he handles that!
ReplyDeleteOur dogs get dinner at 6 pm, and they do know the time. BTW, that is AFTER the people dinner - pack leaders! I think letting them tell you when to -gasp- change dinner time upsets the pack order and confuses them.
ReplyDeleteWe have no problem with the dogs going outside, since our cold is your warm. We have a small fenced back yard, and after they've corrected the input-output process, they "run and play" when we tell them to.
I have a black and tan chi named Romeo. Here in MI it's really cold but he does go out to do his business. He can pee in record time! He's always chilly when it's not summer, so in the winter he wears sweaters and such even inside. He's wearing a red fleece hoodie as I type this and laying next to the furnace vent. He has a quilt he snuggles with on the couch. For exercise, we play 'fetch' and he chases the cat from one end of the house to the other. HRH Hank (the cat) thinks he's in charge, but Romeo does a good job of bossing him around. And Romeo is very jealous of any attention I give the cat.
ReplyDeleteDo your dogs get jealous of each other if you give one more attention than the other?
Just Willy. He's needs a lot of touch -- and treats!
DeleteMy 15-year-old boxer mix gets intolerable (staring at me, whining, pointing at the door) if she doesn't get a walk each day. 2 years ago, I resolved to walk her each day, no matter how tired I was or how cold it was outside. It's the only resolution I've ever kept. Our vet said the best thing for her arthritic hips is daily exercise.
ReplyDeleteHere in St. Louis, we got 4 surprise inches of snow last night, and Maggie was outside this morning, hopping like a bunny through it :)
Very cute dogs. I love how Freddy has to be out front on the treadmill. We have a Cardigan Corgi ( the 'other' corgi, not the Queen's breed) named Ozzie. He's five and very bossy especially about meals. He doesn't mind being out in the cold or the heat, but hates rain. He'll chase a ball for hours (I think it's the working dog in him) but if you take him on a walk he just turns around to face home and sits refusing to move. Luckily we have a yard for him to roam around in.
ReplyDeleteWhat do cats do for amusement? In the case of Miss Fifi von Slutwhiskers, she likes to help me - she'll hold down pattern pieces (by sitting on them), pre-warm my ironing board (by sitting on it), helpfully hide my notebook (by sitting on it). Can you see a motif emerging here?
ReplyDeleteWhat a terific topic for a super cold day!!!!!! Our rescue is Tica, 2 1/2 years old, German Shepherd/Lab mix, of medium size. She likes all weather, except cold rain. Her fur is waterprof Lab fur, which is her blessing. She goes out every day, and likes walks. But was earlier extremely afraid of other dogs, and scrap metal trucks, and school buses. Her confidence is growing, she now has several doggie friends, and can walk farther. We do have a garden, where she plays (supervised, for safety reasons, and due to her high anxiety). This is Quebec, near Montreal, where recently it was minus 40. As for cats, and she likes cats, we have 4. CoCo is especially helpful with sewing, and adores "helping" us unpack chrity shop fabrics. He chooses his favourites, and kneads, and then naps. Cats are also very helpful with depression. And, Tica has alerted us twice to floods in the works, the latest being Fri. around 6 p.m., when the hot water tank was about to explode. She also helps me with medical issues, and feels she is my caregiver. Knows I am also hers. Cathie, in Quebec.
ReplyDeleteMolly walks twice every day, rain, hail, snow or sun. She grew up on acreage and as I am presently living in the city, she will not go to the toilet in the back yard. She's used to doing her business in private, a long way away from the house so every morning we have to take a walk to the park. Every evening we do an hour long walk and she decides which one she wants to go on by going in the chosen direction when we leave the house. Because it is quite cold where I currently live, Molly has a selection of quilted coats and raincoats that she wears. When I return home to the subtropics and acreage at the end of this month she will, no doubt, resume her private ways in the bush. I think the thing she is most looking forward to is returning to the beach. Molly is a surf dog and likes to be pushed onto a wave so she can ride it into the beach. As my farmhouse is always open, she comes in and out as she pleases, mostly spending her days sleeping in the heat, although she does enjoy a daily chasing of the cows in the paddock next door. She also gets a daily visit from Fleck and Henri, the dogs who live at the end of my valley, so she is never lonely. Being half beagle, she has a great nose and uses it to catch rats and alert me to the presence of snakes.
ReplyDeleteBeing a suburbanite, I have a yard that I can send Hoover, my border collie mix, out to. But he expects to be walked twice a day, every day. If we don't, we get a lecture. And border collies can lecture you like an adjunct professor! We got some real soliloquies during the cold snap two weeks ago.
ReplyDeleteWhere we live, weather isn't too much of an issue, except rain. Our dachsdund Dash, hates rain, or walking on wet grass. He'll do anything to avoid it. He gets a walk every day, his favourite being a walk on the beach. You only have to say "walk"and "beach" and he is at the door ready to GO! Once he's there he goes mad following all the smells on the beach, it's hilarious to watch. Then he comes home for a well earned 16 hour snooze!
ReplyDeleteWhen I lived in a cold place, I also trained my chihuahua to use the bathtub on very cold mornings! I never told anyone because I thought people would think it was weird/gross. Glad to see I'm not the only one who thought of it :)
ReplyDeleteThey are adorable on their treadmill.
My Toy Fox Terrier Gidget weights about 10 lbs. She is a little over a year old. I adopted her a year ago almost to the day when she was about 3 months old. I was so worried about her and winter that I bought some clothes to help her keep warm and even sewed some. But she is happy not wearing them. It was 12 this AM here in buffalo and we got about 8 inches of new snow. She runs and jumps in it like its the best thing. She pushes her head under the snow to smell whatever and has no problem walking into it and going to the bathroom bypassing the area I cleared for her. I have to force her to come in. Who would have thought...and I wasted all the money on a snow suit!!!
ReplyDeleteEating she is a free feeder and has two bowls of Fromm dog food. She gets beef bones from the butcher and smoked knee bones from the pet store. But she will go nuts for a dog biscuit from BJ's brand.
Lastly... Cats entertain themselves by frustrating their humans.
I live on a boat with a pit bull and he also detests cold weather. Luckily we were able to train him to use a potty patch just in case we were at anchor with no means together him to shore.
ReplyDeleteWe had a cat that would go for rides in people's cars, visit people's homes, and attack big dogs for fun. He would also play a game with our severely retarded daughter. One day he was ready to attack a loud dog coming down our sidewalk, but when the dog came into view, he called it off somewhat reluctantly. The dog was a chihuahua and our cat would only attack big dogs such as dobermans, irish wolfhounds, shepherds, and irish setters. A chihuahua just wasn't worth it!!!
ReplyDeleteThat is a very unusual cat! LOL!!
DeleteSince moving to Northern Nevada, I have learned that indoor cats do not grow thick winter coats. So our cat doesn't go out unless it's sunny and over 50 degrees which it has been. This week. He does get bored but I play with him and then he usually naps for the rest of the day.
ReplyDeleteHello Peter! This is the cutest video I have ever seen. I have silently followed your blog (silently) for sometime now! Your blog is awesome and I did see your work in Threads. You so inspire and thanks for allowing me an inside look! You ROCK!
ReplyDeleteDuring the week, my cats get fed whenever I walk in the door (generally around 7), so on the weekends, they think they get fed whenever I come back inside, even if it's 2 and I was gone for 15 minutes. They are determined!
ReplyDeleteMy favourite part is how excited they get when they think I'm about to sit down - they come galloping from the other end of the house and launch themselves at my lap. They are such ridiculous lap cats (yes, both at once).
Love the pups on the treadmill - I need to train my greyhounds to do that . . . . how long do they run for? Is it a specific time or do they just jump off when they have had enough?
ReplyDeleteThey're adorable and I'm a 'cat person'. I can attest to what cats do......EVERYTHING THEY'RE NOT SUPPOSE TO!! Whenever I lay a piece of fabric down on the cutting board, the moment I turn my back, she's on it, fully nestled down like a hen on a nest and getting her white hair embedded deeply in it!! It's like a battle of wills, till I grab the spray bottle and let her have it good!! LOL!!!
ReplyDeleteThe bathtub? I had not heard of that. Maybe our tub is taller than normal, or I think your dogs are smaller than they are (or both?) but how do they get in and out without slipping? I will confess that I have often wondered if a dog can be trained to use a toilet. Cats can, not that I've had any luck with training mine. No fault of theirs though.
ReplyDeleteThey jump up onto a sort of a step (a low box) and from there into the tub, which isn't terribly deep. And they land on a cloth diaper.
DeleteI have two male dogs as well. They go through that dominance routine about ten times a day, "who's your daddy, who's your daddy". They have to be escorted outside when it is cold, rainy, or otherwise inclement. They are rotten, but it is better than having a mess in the house. They go when they have to at night in the laundry room on piddle pads. Peter, your dogs are really cute. Aren't they fun? That's what I tell myself when I am outside in the rain. I don't think I could train my dogs to walk on a treadmill. How did you do that? I think mine would just jump off. They can be lazy.
ReplyDeleteThis site makes me truly appreciate how good my dog is... on a sliding scale.
ReplyDeletehttp://dog-shame.com
OMG. Ours aren't destructive, but they do enjoy a little poop snack now and then.
DeleteOh, that threadmill scene was sooooooooooo funny! both dogs are adorable. I am a cat person, I really do not have the time to care for a dog.
ReplyDeleteMy three cats (two siamese and a tonkinese) entertain themselves by playing cat games together and watching TV at night on my lap (I usually have two cats on my lap, and sometimes a third on my legs!). The big one also goes outside when it is not too cold (10F is about his limit) and patrols the yard.
All three are heavy sleepers, up to 20 hours a day! this certainly passes the time !
Eve
Cats entertain by purring and rolling decadently in your lap while you pet their plush belly fur, by playing soccer with small toys on the tile floor, showing off their best somersault move and pounce, by trying to groom you when you feel sick or upset, and by snubbing house guests that you secretly aren't fond of.
ReplyDelete