I was so excited this week!! We had snow! Yes, the white fluffy stuff that falls from the sky. I had never seen or been in snow before. But I loved it. Mom was always after Dad to put my coat on and he did when we went for our morning walk. But the last night it snowed I was too excited and ran out to the backyard with my Dad before he could put my coat on. I had snowflakes on my face! My head! My tail!! I really didn’t want to come in. I just wanted to run and chase the flakes and taste them. Wow! Snow tastes really good. But Mom, said it was time to come in (especially because I didn’t have my coat on!)
Doesn’t Mom know that dogs love to be in the snow! Of course being my Mom she had to try to find the answer to why we love snow so much. She turned to a publication called Scientific American and found a really good article. It confirmed that Dogs do indeed love SNOW!
The article quoted a women by the name of Patricia McConnell. Dr. McConnell is really smart when it comes to puppies. She is what you call a Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist. This means she has studied and understands the behaviors of Dogs (and likely people, too)! Dr. McConnell has written a cool book called The Other End of the Leash: Why We Do What We Do Around Dogs. Dr. McConnell notes – “Why do dogs love new snow? Good question. Let me answer it with another one: Why do kids love snow? Why do some adults? I remember growing up in the Arizona desert and seeing Christmas cards with snow and feeling deprived. Truly deprived. When it did snow once in Tucson everyone was crazy with excitement.
“I honestly don’t know why snow is so exciting to dogs, and kids, and adults who don’t have to shovel it. But maybe because it’s new and different (predators love change, prey animals hate it), and it turns the world into one big play room for animals that love to play. (I’m thinking too of river otters who love to play in snow. So do bears.)
“So, who doesn’t like snow as a new toy, unless you have to shovel it, hate where you are snowed in, or are a hawk who goes hungry because the field mice and voles can hide from you so well under the blanket of white?”
So Mom! It is as natural for pups to love snow, as it is for you and Dad, and all the neighbor kids… I know you had to spend your snow days working on the computer, but it was so much fun for me to be outside with Dad. I only wish we had more like a foot instead of just a couple of inches! Maybe next time it will snow more!!
What! Next year I will also need to wear boots – and a coat?! MOM!
Tales of Shelby the ShihTzu 