Hi all :)

Today Ozzy wanted to go to the small park, he loves to run around in the fresh snow and sniff bunny tracks and reminiscent scents of dogs that have been.

We watched one dog from afar and he got to go sniff once the little dog was away as reward for staying calm. We came pretty much face to face with a bigger dog on the street, not sure of the dog's breeds but he was a rather serious dog and all they did was a calm nose sniff for less than 3 seconds, we all carried on in our direction. But I have to laugh at Ozzy. He is such a flirt. He just had to give one play bow before he left. It was kind of behind the dogs back, like as he and his owner were walking away. It didn't impede me from moving forward, he is very quick and just breaks out with these funny quirks. Like at times when we come face to face with a pedestrian on the street he will ignore them as they pass but out of no where he will do a 180° and follow the other person. It's just a tease because he comes back with me before the leash tightens up. Or at times before we cross the street, he will stop, look at me, we 'wait'. He gets all excited and it builds up as he sits watching my finger in the air. I release with "ok cross" and point my finger forward, but he gets so excited he jumps backward in the air giving me a touch on the hand with his nose. A "high touch". But it's just something he started doing on his own and so cute!

I also have to comment on how he seems to watch out for me. I jog with him when I can, but I have trouble sometimes with things like climbing over snowbanks, running on uneven ground (frozen in footprints), icy conditions and I'm a bit scared to fall now, so if I slip or something causes me more pain, I'll sometimes let out a little "whoop" or "whew" or some type of noise expressing my struggle. He always looks back in concern, making sure I'm ok. He slows down and almost looks as though he is guiding me. If it's icy (I probably shouldn't even be walking there 🙄), I will be walking slower and he has to wait for me. He knows I'm slipping and having difficulty. Last week I thought we'd take the bike path, started down it when I realized just how icy and uneven the path was, concealed by a light dusting of fresh snow. I was thinking if we stay by the side, it's just a bit further. Anytime else and we just get off the path at the next intersection and take the big park home. But Ozzy knew I was struggling and he kept looking back. I think he was slipping too. So before we hit midway he decided we should go back. He never goes back. He decided it was dangerous and guided me back. In hindsight my dog has better sense than me lol 🙄!🙃


Winter gear review
By far his little padded boots with the velvet are the best boots for fresh cold snow. They fit the best and stay on better as a result and don't seem to gather the snow at the top like the unpaded boots. I wrap the bottom with hockey tape for more durability on pavement and wax it afterward for waterproof protection. I've tried a few different things and this seems to be the best for this weather. Not so sure about if it's more wet outside, I think the boot might eventually soak up the water and weigh it down. So velvet padded boots only for snowy weather. The plain ones with wax waterproofing for rain and wet weather. (just in case anyone is interested about dog boots). He is wearing a fleece lined coat under his regular harness because I had to order him a bigger size winter harness since he was only 6 months old last winter. It's his best set up for winter walks.

"Mommy let's go in!"

His coat

And boots (with hockey tape and wax)

We sought out 'forested' areas today to give him a taste of the woods since I haven't been able to visit my parents for a bit (they live in cottage country) and the schools are closed, so we were able to check out some new areas. He's such a funny pup, I called him to look at me so I could get a pic, he's just so full of happy energy all the time 😊

Looking out the side of the "forest"

Another "forest"

Just running along


So happy he is a winter dog. I actually think he prefers it over the summer.

We passed a group of kids with sleds near the school and Ozzy pretends to stay on his side and ignore the kids, then once they pass, he does a 180° to say 'hi'. The oldest kid turns and says "awwwwww".

Later we passed a lady on the sidewalk, he was passing like a good boy, the lady stops to say hi and give him a pet. When she goes off again, he follows her lol. I said "now he's following you". She said "I just love dogs". I see people smiling in their cars passing him, he just seems to bring so much joy to almost everyone he meets and I love it!

We found these big snow trails in the light woods not too far from us! They are amazing! So stupid that I didn't take pics, but I took Ozzy to get coffee at the drivethru and we always go for a walk in the coffee shop area first to explore. Well we found a path (like one leading to a park), it was closed off by trees and branches and then all of a sudden it cleared to a big huge field with little hills and a pond! It was kinda like we crawled through the thicket and into a new world lol! People were actually skating! So funny how you don't know these things exist because you are always driving, but walking is a total new experience! So Ozzy got to have his first experience on the ice rink. Anyway, further in there are paths that intertwine the actual woods! We even met a friend on the paths, a very big fluffy dog, probably a large golden retriever mix, Lego, who takes the paths daily for his hike. I'll be going back and I'll try to get some pictures next time lol, but so glad we found these trails.

A paper towel roll is more exciting than toys 🤣!

A few days ago, I took Ozzy for a big walk cuz the temp was decent. We get all dressed up, my snowboarding pants, my big coat, my gloves, hat and scarf, Ozzy's boots, coat and harness. It takes a bit to get all bundled and a bit to get it all off once we return. I took my boots and gloves off and went to take of Ozzy's winter stuff. I took them off as usual and he did his usual rubbing his face and legs on his playmat to help dry it. I went to blow my nose because I really had to, didn't even get my winter stuff off yet. When I returned to the main room where Ozzy was, I saw he was pawing at his eye. He moved his paw and it honestly looked like his eye was gone!!! Or swollen shut or something else very wrong! Upon closer inspection, I saw it was a burr directly over his eye and his eyebrow hairs were stuck up with his beard hair under his eye so it looked like his eyebrow, eye and everything was gone! My hub was at a friend's house watching the football game so it was just me so I knew I had to figure this out myself or I was bringing him to the emergency vet! I was so nervous but careful not to push the burr spikes into his eye and just lightly pulled it apart little by little until it free from the hair around his eye.

He was such a good boy, let me work at it, if he was younger, I'm sure he would have been blaming me for the burr and not knowing what I was doing, but now he knows enough to trust me better and let me work out the issue without freaking out.

So I wonder how long it was like that? He got a little too close to a burr shrub at the park, probably then. But that was freaky scary to thing to see at 1st!

Thanks Madra! That must be difficult with all the cacti. If Ozzy touches a spiky plant, he flips out and jumps back real fast lol. He goes back, gets picked and jumps back again. Do your dogs stay clear of cactus? I have a little stripping knife, that is the very best for getting burrs out as it has little blades and cuts through knots and stuff without pulling. But I wouldn't use it on his eye, it would have been much better to pull the pieces out little by little like you say. It's funny how we can keep it together for the sake of our pets 😊 I think I'll keep a comb or something with me for next time! Burrs are not all over in the winter like they are in the fall because it's all snowed over rn, but in the fall he tends to get them caught in his leg hair. That super fine soft hair gets all matted up.

So this is yesterday, we are walking along the sidewalk by the park area when he suddenly decided he wanted to cross for some reason. Probably smelled something over there lol. He just freezes and looks at me. Looks at the other side of the street and back at me. No way we were crossing, no sidewalk and not so much room and all mucky so I said my usual "ok let's go this way". He looked at me like I was an alien speaking jibberish, like he had no idea what I was saying and looking right through me, refusing to budge. I tried a couple more times, "let's go see over here", "look what's this way" to no avail. It was weird, normally he is not that stubborn. Is his boot falling off and uncomfortable? No.......I was trying to think what it could be. AHhh! my sunglasses! He has this weird thing, he doesn't respond when I'm wearing my sunglasses! I even tried putting them on him, he doesn't really care so no reaction, but he doesn't seem to respond the same when I'm covering my face in any way like sunglasses or mask in a store. He has to see my face and looks for my facial reaction all the time. It's the cutest thing ☺ I took them off, looked at him, pointed the way and he came along all bouncing and happy no hesitation lol 🤣

It's the little things that keep me laughing throughout the day 🙃

For sure! I was thinking a lot of things he learned while out on walks, like wait, cross, around, meeting other dogs and people..........finding his missing boot lol.

Speaking of winter boots, I have a new favorite. They are a slightly higher quality unlined boot. By higher quality I mean the fabric appears thicker and more water resistant. Here's a pic of his boot

The elastic drawstring sits too high and the elastic tends to settle at his wrist pivot point forcing the boot down and it goes all floppy, eventually causing it to fall off if it doesn't trip up the pup. So I grabbed 4 small hair elastics that would fit my pup's wrist circumference and just pop them over the foot and around the wrist joint holding the boot securely in place. The elastic in the boot I just use as extra fasteners. We haven't lost a boot yet! Not even in deep snow that I can think of.

This is the only issue. And I'm asking if anyone has any ideas. I usually use hockey tape to cover the sole and provide a bit of durability I can re-layer because the soles end up being worn down. I melt wax in the tape afterward to waterproof them. It worked for the more porous fabric of the cheaper padded boots, but the hockey tape doesn't want to adhere to these boots.

Any ideas on how I could make the soles more durable (I am currently re-taping the soles every so often) and also water resistant, or something I can make water repellent with wax? Most things will end up being worn down because he runs most of his walks lol. I started calling it his run instead of his walk.

Oh yeah, just throwing this out there, I thought about wrapping his boot in a balloon once it gets really sloppy out there. It's just the salt, and the snowballs, he needs his boots. Ok so I bought black balloons. I've thought about gluing one layer of ballons on the bottom sole.....

New sqeakies!!!

I got Ozzy a set of new squeaky toys, they were 4 egg shaped toys and they came all packed in a little box with a net storage bag. I opened the box on the floor in front of Ozzy and let him pick out the new squeakers 1 by 1. He took off with the 1st one outside. He was having so much fun with the 1st one he found he had no idea there were 3 more. After a while I called him over to show him the box again. It was so funny when he realised there was another one in the box, then another and another!

Unfortunately by the time he discovered a 3rd one, he had already broken down the first 2 😂 They easily got little tears and pin holes, the squeaker just fell apart. Even though Ozzy has a soft mouth with his toys, they are not to be used like it's prey haha!


They were good while they lasted though, good size to throw around and catch. But I'd love to find a set of squeaker balls that are better quality around that size.