As I type this I’m thinking about turning the heat up in the house. It’s nice to know I’ve got control over my environment! Pets aren’t quite so lucky. They just deal with whatever they’re dealt. As pet owners, it’s up to us to be sure the weather doesn’t affect them adversely. My guest blogger today has weather on the mind and wants to share some ideas on how to keep your dogs safe during the winter months.

Hey Ho, I’m Teddy!  It’s a real pleasure to meet you!

I have a sister, Emmie.  She’s much bigger than me, but my tail is better looking than hers.  Anyway, we like going to our dog park; Emmie likes to run and I like meeting dog pals, cuz I’m a sociable kind of dude.

So, we were at our dog park, and I made a couple of new dog pals!  One was a big dog – so big he made Emmie look like a pip-squeak!  I had to stretch my head way up to look at his face!  One big dude, he was.  The other was a teeny-weeny Chihuahua, no bigger than my cats!  HA!  There’s all kinds of dogs at our dog park!  This Chihuahua was wearing a winter coat – can you imagine?  I thought it was kind of silly, but then I realized she’s not furry like I am, so I bet she was glad to have a coat to keep her warm!  Her human must be one smart one!

I started thinking, dog pals, and I decided we need to tell our humans how to take care of us this winter to make sure we’re safe and cozy-warm!  So I got some ideas you can talk to your human folks about.  These first-rate ideas will help us dog pals stay safe in the upcoming cold and snow!

I’m giving you dog pals four tips, so you can count them on every single one of your paws! HA!

• We don’t want frostbite, so tell your humans to watch out for your tails, ears and toes!
• You can be warm and stylish in a coat and booties to keep you snuggily warm!
• Make sure your human remembers to trim the hair in your footpads and toes; that way ice and snow won’t stick there.  That’s really, really cold, dog pals, when you get snow stuck in your toes!
• And we need to go outside for shorter times, but more frequently! I know when it’s cold, I make it my business to get my business done in a hurry!  HA!

Now a bonus tip for my dog pals!  Use your tail to count this one – HA!

Tell your human to watch for hypothermia – that’s when our body temperature gets low, dog pals.  They might see us start shivering, or we could become lethargic.  Our pupils can dilate, and breathing and heart rates just might slow down.  None of that is any good, dog pals, let me tell you!  If that happens, let your human warm you up slowly, like with a big blanket or towel.  Remind your humans to call your vet if they think you’ve got hypothermia.  Sometimes our humans can’t give us all the help we need, even thought they want to. It’s a dandy thing to have a vet on hand – specially if your vet believes in giving out treats – HA!

Stay safe this winter, dog pals!

Over and out,
Teddy
Talk2theAnimals.net

About the author: Teddy is a 15 year old perpetual puppy con artist.  He lives with his sister Emmie and cats Billy, Mitzie and Raven.  He gets to visit his really big brother, Shiloh, a quarter horse, who is boarded in a different town. His mom, Janet Roper, is an animal communicator based in Shorewood, MN, and thanks Teddy for leading her into animal communication. You can read their story on Janet’s blog Talk2theAnimals.net, entitled ‘How I Became an Animal Communicator’.  You can also find Janet on Twitter, Facebook, PetTalez, LinkedIn and MeetUp.  Janet offers individual communication sessions and teleconferences, as well as Talk2theAnimals Teleparties, a unique way to talk to your animals in a party setting.  For more information, contact Janet at Talk2theAnimals@me.com.

Thanks to Teddy & Janet for the great tips!

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