White Out again

[Neil Todd]

Well puppy woke me this morn and looking out of the window I realised somebody had been white carpeting the place again, fine by me have nothing planned today, but it will break the pup's outdoor toilet training as am a little reluctant to take him out in the snow. He is 9 weeks old, am I being too over-cautious?

[ursula wilby]

If I have a litter during winter and it is snow on the ground, I will let them outdoors several times a day from the age of 5 weeks old.
Mind you they are only outside for a very brief moment and NEVER allowed to get cold or even stay out long enough for them to sit down...

[Sue and Cash]

Yes, I had to start at 9 weeks outside of Chicago in January with temps and windchills below zero. It actually helped because they go very quickly and run for the door! I shoveled an area so that he wasn't tummy deep in snow and within a couple weeks he was jumping into the snow drifts! I went out with him (fenced yard) for the first few weeks even at 2am. By 12 weeks he was going out himself, and when cold doesn't dilly dally out there, he comes right back in. We have another 10 inches coming overnight. Now at 15 weeks he loves it and I have to fight to get him back inside. Also I bought him a little fleece coat to wear when we go for walks. It won't help their feet warmth, but does help him and keeps some of the mud off his body. Our breeder told me that they CAN NOT regulate their body heat before 3 months of age. And that if you go out without a coat on you get a sense of how cold it is for them. It's suppose to be the feet that get cold, not as much the body.