Snow Dog

The first snow of the season started before dinner time the Saturday before Christmas. By 9 pm, a few inches had accumulated. Marley had never been in snow before, but he was loving it. He tried to catch falling snowflakes in his mouth and ran into the deepest drifts, which weren't much yet. As he ate snow off the ground, he must have quickly realized that snow was just frozen water. At the right is a picture of Marley and Debbie in the falling snow. The snowflakes weren't as big as they look in the picture.

It snowed more heavily overnight and Marley went crazy the next morning. He ran from drift to drift and buried his face as deeply as possible. He wanted to eat as much snow as possible. I don't let him loose outside, except at dog runs, so I was running from deep drift to deep drift. And he loves the cold. I could be draped in six warm layers, along with face protection, and still feel cold. Marley would feel perfectly comfortable. Marley has such a wonderful natural coat, he doesn't even realize it's cold. He loves it when the frigid wind whips off the East River. He'll stand there with his face directly in the wind, with his ears flapping in the breeze. His expression says, "This is great!"

That snow took about a week to melt fully, and Marley took advantage of it as long as possible. It snowed about an inch & a half New Year's Day, but that quickly melted. There was a dusting of snow on the ground this morning, as well. But it was much colder today and the wind has been brutal. Needless to say, this is Marley's kind of weather. I'm sure he'll have many more chances to prance in the snow by winter's end.