Cold days, warm paws

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The polar vortex was not only difficult for people, but they affected pets, too. Dog apparel is not always effective against the bitter cold.

Valeria Mancera-Saavedra, Staff Writer

Pets are an important part of our lives and bring us so much happiness, and the only thing they ask for in return is some food and lots of love. But what happens when you want to give them the maximum possible comfort?

The past several days, when that big cold snap came to our city, I made sure to wear the necessary clothes to keep myself warm; I guess we all had the same idea. Jacket, gloves, hat and scarf — essential items that one needs to be able to go out, even if it was only to do some shopping, which included going to look for something that would protect little Daiya from the intense cold.

Daiya is our new puppy at home, and although she hasn’t been in the family for a long time, she has become the most spoiled dog. My older brother and sister-in-law decided to buy a small dog jacket and some little booties (not that fashionable) for extreme weather in the dog apparel section of a pets store. When arriving home, Daiya needed to go out to the patio. Apparently, the potty training had worked at last. It was then time to dress her with her new accessories, but they realized that the boots were a bit big for her little legs. However, the purpose was to keep those tiny paws warm, and they didn’t bother to change them. On the other hand, the mini jacket was perfect and seemed that it was warm enough for the puppy.

“It seems that the boots do not work very well,” my brother said.

I noticed that it was not just the fact that the boots were a bit big, but that Daiya just didn’t find them comfortable. In fact, she didn’t like them at all. We could see that it was difficult for her to walk with them in the snow and on the floor, and she often tried to remove them with her snout, so we finally decided to get rid of them. Afterward, when Daiya needed to go out, we let her explore without the little boots, but she was still wearing her jacket.

One day after having eaten, I decided to take Daiya for a little walk but completely forgot to put her jacket on because she does not really need it inside of the house, and we went out just as she was. We had only walked around one block, and although she seemed happy and wanted to keep walking, I saw that she began to shiver, so I lifted her with my arms and unzipped my jacket to try to put her as close to me as possible so that she’d warm up a little. I carried her on the way back home, but she wanted to be outside and play in the snow.

Then, we went inside and I went to look for her jacket, but when I tried to put it on, Daiya bit it with her little fangs, and she also cried at me. She didn’t want to wear it, and I couldn’t find a way to put it on her, so once again we went out like that, and guess what happened… exactly, she started shivering again. But this time, I had her jacket on hand and ran towards her, but despite the cold, Daiya refused to wear it again, then I understood that maybe it was not so comfortable for her after all. Since then, Daiya doesn’t wear anything but her collar. The inexpensive, but “useful” accessories, are not used anymore.

That’s what happened when we wanted to keep her comfortable in the cold, but she’s just happier playing in the snow with nothing getting in her way or limiting her movement.