[Doodlebug]

A couple of winters ago my two yorkies had to go outside in the middle of the night on a cold, icy night. They were afraid to come up the steps to the deck after they did their business so I went down the steps to get them, after making sure there wasn't any ice on the steps. I didn't realize that there was a sheet of ice on the patio at the bottom of the steps and I took a really hard fall on my rear end as soon as my feet hit the ice. My legs flew out in ways that I didn't even know they were capable of bending. One went straight out to the side and the other went behind me. I landed on my elbows so hard I thought they were broken and I came within inches of smacking my head on the bottom step. I was in a lot of pain and i couldn't stand up. I had to slide myself up the steps backwards to get back in the house. It was really slow and painful but I finally made it inside and the dogs did too.

So now I have these two puppies and I decided that I'm not going to ever put myself in that situation again. They are pee pad trained but prefer to go outside. So this year I am going to block off the steps so if they want to go outside they will have to do it on the deck. I thought about putting a tarp or something over the table out there so there will be a small covered area for them if they want to go out and it's snowing or sleeting. This will be my first winter with them so I don't know how they will take to snow and ice.

Please everyone, be careful when taking your pups out in bad wearher. I still shudder when I think about that night. That could have had a really bad ending for me and my babies, while my husband was asleep and didn't know we were out there.