Cooler weather is here, and for many dogs, that means a case of ants in the pants!It seems odd that precisely at the time of year many of us want to just put on our warmest jammies, watch old movies and hibernate in bed until Spring, our dogs want just the opposite!
Why does the cooler air make my dogs act silly and hyperactive? It made sense to me years ago when the only dogs I owned were Siberian Huskies. Of course they loved the cold weather, because it meant weekly outings to a nearby park early on Saturday mornings. They did not go to the park for walks, but were hooked up to a 3 wheeled rig to do what they loved more than anything else in the world--running in harness. That was several decades ago, and in my younger days, I didn't mind getting up at 5:30 am (because the park would give us access to the trails only before 7 am) in order to allow the dogs to do what they were bred to do. It was also tons of fun going out for breakfast afterwards with our running buddies (other Siberian owners) to "talk dogs".
Poodles can also learn to run in harness--I have read articles about a sled dog racer who runs a team of Standard Poodles. I don't know how he deals with the little snowballs that form in their
