13 January

Jacket For Bud

by Jon Katz

It was -5 this morning when we went out to feed the donkeys and the sheep, it is a beautiful morning, the sky is arctic blue, the ground is rock  hard, matter shifts a bit in this kind of cold. For perhaps the first time, it’s too cold for Bud.

We put a jacket on him and that seems to work for five to 10 minutes, but Bud is very clear when he’s cold, he just turns and goes under the pasture gate and heads for the back door. I go and let him in, and when we come, he’s sitting by the fire dozing.

People tell me all the time that Boston Terriers shouldn’t go outside in the cold, but I haven’t found that to be true.

The thing is, they will tell you when they’ve had enough, there is no ambivalence about it.  I always prefer to listen to the dogs when I get, rather than presume to think for them all the time. Dogs know how to communicate with humans, humans are often not good at listening.

Bud loves to go out with the other dogs in the morning, and he loves to come in and sit by the wood stove. I think the  jacket helps keep the head in his body, it seems to give him an additional five or ten minutes out in the cold.

4 Comments

  1. What are his measurements around his head? Ear level circumference and top to chin circumference. A little fleecy or woolly hat would help keep the heat in!

    1. Yeah, he’d hate that, I think. He’d spend all his time outside trying to get it off! My Bostons always tried to lose their sweaters in the yard.

      1. Mine too. They rub against low branches and roll on the ground to offload the jacket. I have to watch Willow or she will leave her $35 coat on a tree! Lol

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