Furry Friday: Muttluks

About a week ago I went to bed in Upstate New York and woke up in Antartica.  I kid you not.  All week long each day has started out below zero and only reached a high of eight degrees midday.  Insanity!  This of course leads to a number of things - the hubs is upset that it's too cold to snow any sort of accumulation for snowmobiling (we have had some crappy years for that) and I intake more calories than normal in the mornings by packing a hot cocoa for the ride to work.  Not to mention the dog has decided he's striking on anything related to going outside, and that includes bathroom breaks.  I swear he thinks he can cross his legs until springtime. 

With that being said I want to take a moment to remind pet owners everywhere to be mindful of the weather conditions and how they impact your pet.  They may have fur but when it's cold out to you, it's cold out to them too.  Their vital organs operate the same way yours do, and they operate better with limited exposure to the outdoors during extreme temperature changes.  

We've always bundled Riley up whether it be in sweatshirts, winter coats or rain jackets.  Even though he's rather furry at the moment, his underbelly is not and it's only 3 inches off the ground.  Right at snow and puddle level.  We also invested in a set of muttluk boots for him which you can find at Amazon, Petco, and Doctors Foster and Smith.  We found that this time of year when it's extremely cold, Riley tends to do fine for the first five minutes outdoors and then he starts holding up his paws and crying.  The pads on his feet get very dry in the winter time (like my hands) and develop little cracks which the snow, ice, and salt just continue to punish. So rather than have him suffer, we suffer the time and effort it takes to slip these little booties on him before heading outside when weather conditions are like they are today.  He's not the most graceful in them, but it makes the time spent outside less painful for him and thereby more productive if you know what I mean.

Having a pet comes with some serious responsibility which includes keeping our pet happy and healthy and if muttluks is what it takes, muttluks are what we do.  Besides, how could you say no to a face like this?