Sunny's Snow Day

If you have dogs and don't live where there is snow, your pup is missing out on one of the great joys of dog life. I should know - Net and I lived 12 years without snow, and exhibiting puppy-like enthusiasm after his first snowfall when he was 13 was out of the question for my big guy.

This winter things are going to be much different because my new pup is young enough to let it all out on a snow day, and boy did he!

The calendar says winter will start in about two months, but the weather doesn't pay attention to the calendar. We had two feet of the white stuff in two days of nonstop weather activity here in Colorado in the last week of October 2009. And Sunny learned that chasing a tennis ball in the snow triples the excitement and enjoyment of the sport.

I didn't think about bringing the ball out on the first day. I didn't think much at all - I just bundled up and headed out because certain biological needs needed to be met. After taking care of business, Sunny had a blast leaping, bounding around, and didn't seem to mind the cold. Brrr.

By the second day, the sidewalks had been plowed, creating a channel with sides about as tall as Sunny, and that made the perfect dog track for running in. Two of his buddies happened along that morning as well, and the chase ensued. A chocolate, a golden and a Sunny - romping in the snow and racing in the track.

We tried the ball a little that morning, but lost it in the deep snow on the second toss.

On day 3, the snow had finally stopped falling, the sun was starting to shine, and we were able to stay out a little longer. Near a clean patch of deep snow I started tossing snow balls for him. Oh, that's a mean trick. He saw exactly where they landed but sniffed and dug and dug and sniffed and came up with nothing. After torturing him and entertaining me with that for a while, we headed back towards home. Popping into the apartment, I grabbed a tennis ball and a camera, and ... to be continued ... with more better pictures!