 Cold and Cabin Fever
This is Fabian's first winter. We've been keeping him inside because of the snow and chilling weather up here in NH. We tried taking him on a toboggan wrapped in a blanket, but he barked the entire time. We tried taking him outside without booties, but his paws were too cold and he lifted them one at a time and refused to walk. We bought him booties a few weeks ago and despite daily training, it's taking him a while to get comfortable with them: by the time he's crossed the kitchen, he's had enough. So he's inside until it gets a little warmer and he's better with the booties.
We'd gotten him pooing and peeing outside at designated times before this winter. However, left inside all the time now, he's relieving himself whenever he feels like it. (Fortunately, at one or two areas all the time.) We try to catch him mid-act and get him back to his pee pad, but boy, is he fast! We've been playing tons of fetch, but it's not close to the exercise he got outside. And he's shredding his toys like crazy -- and eating the poo we don't immediately find -- from boredom. We can't find any indoor dog play areas and have no friends with small dogs for a change of scenery. The saddest thing is seeing him sitting at the slider window, looking outside dolefully and not understanding why he's not out there. Any winter survival tips from more experienced owners? |