My guy has no interest in going indoors unless it's right before i have somewhere important to be...... I have boots and a little jacket for him for the elements, the only problem with snow is, sometimes they have a hard time finding their sent so maybe put a little lawn table or something outside in the back yard that will be shielded from the snow where he an go under, or be sure to keep an potty area "tamed" so he can find the ground. good thing about the cold is, they usually don't doddle, they get their business done and high-tail it back indoors.

Amount of time it takes for a dog to "do its business" is directly proportional to outside temperature + suitability of owner's outerwear. ~Betsy Cañas Garmon
Ohh, AMEN to that!!!

So does that mean this winter I shouldn't sneak outside in the middle of the night in my tshirt and undies 😀... Sounds like he might dawdle out there just because he can!

Cats307 we live close by!
 

We live in Ulen, MN and work in Fargo. Our 4 pound Yorkie Cooper is now 15 months old. Last winter he was fine. Quick trips out often, he would shiver but loved the snow. Now this week it is dipping down to below zero and he does not like it. Holds paws up, can't "find" the right place to go, shivers and has had two accidents. He never has accidents. I'm seriously thinking about boots. He looks like he is in pain the way he walks in the snow.

absolutely!
 

I feel a little mean but YES - all our small breed dogs and fosters - no matter the size or breed potty outside in the winter, in snow storms and at sub zero temperatures.
Our Bella is now 5 months old and still potty training. She was a rescue and unfortunately raised in a dog mill type situation where she went potty wherever. Dogs raised in filth are a bit harder to train to go outside ... they never experienced to stay clean and will potty in any crate you try to put them in... I started to take her out every hour or so and we are now at about every 2 hours ... that is a LOT of trips into the backyard ... I have a potty pad only at night in the dog room. Bella is doing much better and I know she will potty train eventually.
None of my 4 small breeds likes to go out in rain or very cold weather - I sometimes have to " insist" they go and watch them closer so they don't find a quiet corner in the house just to avoid getting their precious little toes wet ;-).

I feel sorry for Bella and Pixie who don't have undercoats but they both have sweaters for the really cold days and we never stay out long. I want my dogs to potty outside exclusively - potty pads seem to confuse them - it seems to send the message that it is ok to potty indoors- but then ... all my dogs are mill puppies so potty training is a bit of a challenge to start with. Eventually they all " get" it and my older ones know to go out even in a blizzard ( super quick!) - I always make sure they have a small area cleared from snow on our patio and grass and we have a dog door. We have a trampoline - the area underneath is always snow free - I have carried our pooches there in really bad snow ;-)

Sorry I haven't gotten any notifications until today! Here is chewie in his coat and boots and a picture of the girls coats.

Chewie's coat

Sadie and I hop a plane to FL ! :yay_jump:

It looks like my two are the minority here. My two are pad trained and I love it. Mine don't like the snow or rain. It is so nice for it to be 20 degrees outside, blowing snow and they just go to their potty pad and do their business in bad weather. I watched a friends Yorkie a few weeks ago that is outside trained and it was such a pain in the rear to take her out early in the morning or late at night when it was cold.

OMGoodness the boots are so cute, your little boy looks like he's ready for some action lol. Adorable.

I am with you richards6402. My Joey has a potty box and does not go outside in the weather. I completely agree with you in this. It is so much better for him and for me as well.

Ian is potty pad trained, also...thank goodness!:)

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.

Hawks are deff out there in the winter so DON'T let your guard down.Close supervision from the window will NOT save him from a hawk. A hawk will take him from rite in front of you so monitoring from the window won't help. I live in Idaho & I actually see more of them in the winter months then in the summer. My DH & I went for a drive about 40 min or so & we counted 9 hawks & our temps have been in the teens & 20's & the ground is covered in snow. On a daily basis we have 3 diff hawks in & out of my yard, winter or not. We deff use snow coats here in the winter & my smallest is 3.4 lbs at the moment. My babies deff do not like the cold but with their coats on they are eager to go out for a potty/poo. Any way, I am a firm believer in NEVER letting them out unatended as is't just not safe for these little ones.

N.E.Pa.I see them when I am driving, sitting on wires over fields watching. My back yard is covered with a Canopy of trees so no swooping can be done even in the winter when tress are bare of leaves, to many branches. But I STILL go out with my 12 pound boy cos, ya just never know what a hungry prey bird will do.Always better to be safe then sorry.

Blossom is puppy pad trained also. When I first got her I kept her the training pad in the living area then gradually moved it to an area out of sight at the end of the hall. She do not like the cold at all and don't like to have her feet in the snow but even if she did she will not potty outside. Even in the summer if we are outside for several hours she will wait until we come inside and then she runs right for her puppy pad. Even before I got Blossom I knew puppy pad training was the route I would take because I didn't want to go out in the cold with her and I'd never put her out alone.

Red neck boots!
 

Well I got desperate and had to make some booties for Cooper. My daughter in law was Christmas shopping so I called and asked her to pick up some newborn socks. Found some Velcro and made some boots. Yes they look silly but worked! And he had so much fun in the 10° weather and fluffy snow. I was surprised he left them on.


Any advice to those of you who use boots on where to get a pair that will fit? The newborn socks are way to big on him. But will work until I find something.

When Gracie was a puppy I was recovering from a back injury and was home with her most of the time. I chose to use puppy pads to train her. She took to them very well. When I was able to take her out and start increasing how far I could walk we started going on two brisk walks a day. Well, I tried to make them as brisk as possible anyway. She loves sniffing the ground where other animals have been and then peeing on it.

I don't take her out in bad weather. It doesn't take much snow to make it impossible for her to walk. Sometimes we do shovel an area for her to do her business but she's not really a fan of snow or heavy rain and neither am I. She is good about using the puppy pads and it is easier for me. Once spring comes she is thrilled to get back outside and go for her walks. Then we both start taking off that winter insulation we put on!:)

OMG this is hysterical
:eyetearss

I lived in the eastern panhandle of WV until Zhoie was 6 yrs, she now only weighs 5 lbs and she has always went outside. She came home pad trained. She used the pad faithfully until she was 4 months old, then decided one day she liked going outside better and hasn't used it in the house since, haha. We now live in VA and she wears a tee shirt in the house on cold winter days. I do put a coat on her that has Velcro closure around the neck and belly to go outside. It's a quick on and off coat. I stay outside with her, the few minutes she is out there and she does fine. If snow falls, we shovel a small area for her use which is just outside our side garage door. Hope this helps.

Well, I'm in balmy Mississippi (almost 70 today). I wear shoes with no socks all year. We do have some days that are what we call cold (I'm sure you wouldn't, and I don't own a coat). Supposed to be a high of 45 Thursday and a low of 29 or 30. Unless we have the "polar vortex" loom over us or just a random cold night, that is about as cold as it gets; however, my boys think anything below 80 is cold. They head out the door into the garage, feel the cold garage floor and head back inside. Zeus is about 4.6 lbs. and Perseus is 5.1 lbs., so they are both tiny. They wear sweaters, shirts, or Thundershirts indoors constantly due to the fact that we run the air conditioning at least 9 months out of the year (sometimes more). They both use a washable potty pad. They will go outside if we are not home, but they are definitely picky about weather. I don't think they would survive in Michigan!

My Gidget also does her business inside on potty pads. Broke down and bought the Potty Training Puppy Apartment. Best investment I ever made.

Red Neck Boots
 

[QUOTE=sbegg;4681062]Well I got desperate and had to make some booties for Cooper. My daughter in law was Christmas shopping so I called and asked her to pick up some newborn socks. Found some Velcro and made some boots. Yes they look silly but worked! And he had so much fun in the 10° weather and fluffy snow. I was surprised he left them on.


Any advice to those of you who use boots on where to get a pair that will fit? The newborn socks are way to big on him. But will work until I find some


I like those blue boots. They looked cute but I am sure real boots that don't get wet will work even better. All I can think of is either Petco or some other pet store to buy some to fit well. If you order online you would be taking a chance they would fit. Smart decision on those newborn socks with Velcro.

Balmy Mississippie weather
 

That weather of yours sure does sound nice. Would love to live in that kind of weather. Does it snow there?

We are not very likely to get snow here. We are about the fourth or fifth least likely state to get snow; however, we will get a dusting about once every 10-15 years. It's a big, big deal. Everything shuts down because it usually ices on the roads first. No one knows how to drive during inclement weather, so it is best to just stay home. I've always lived in the south, and I have often wondered which is worse -- the horrible winters or our horrible summers. Over sixty days in a row of over 95 degrees with heat indices in the 110-115 range. Boy I hate summer here. I do like the winters though, because they are not bad. I guess like everything else in life, there is a trade off.

Mississippi weather
 

Thanks for answering Zeus is loved. The summers do sound unbearable I agree with you but the winters with almost no snow and milder temps sound great to me. I would be chilly even with those temps in winter I have to say. I get cold easy. The AC makes me shudder as well. Our weather used to be milder in the winter as well years ago and people raised here did not know how to drive in the snow and ice either but that has changed over the years. I am not from here originally but have been here since 1982.

We are in Minnesota and it will be a high of -1 and a low of -15 tonight. Good thing Cooper has accepted wearing baby booties, his poor little paws would freeze! Brrr

North Dakota here...max looks outside then looks at me and will only go out if he HAS to go. Seems to help with potty training. I think he's grateful I'm not taking him out all the time with it this bitter outside. Brrrrr