Snow Dog

Tierce in the Snow, taken by my 2.0 megapixel cell phone camera

I took this picture this morning after Tierce and I conducted a successful transaction at Bosleys Pet Foods, where Tierce got a 3 foot long beef stick and a Christmas hedgehog that was on sale (it squeaks, honks and rattles, so Tierce liked it best of all the toys!).  He enjoys the snow mightily, leaping into the snow drifts, attacking the snowballs I throw for him and even chasing falling snowflakes.

We’re not used to so much snow on Vancouver Island; most of the major cities here are lucky if they get two days together when snow is on the ground.  What we do get is a lot of rain, which can be pretty bad if things go below zero.  Much as I love the Island and the people here, Island drivers suck the big one when driving in winter.

Tierce is blithely unaware of the unusual weather pattern, except to note that snow is a mighty fine thing to have around to play in.  Watching a Shiba bounce through snow higher than his shoulders is always an amusing experience.  That is, if you are not required to trudge through thigh-deep snow to follow him.

I’m wondering, at this point, whether many of the readers of this blog experience the Shiba Flexi-crazies.  Both Tierce and Shassi (in her younger days) have done the same thing. The first step in the process is to hurl oneself forward, only to be brought up abruptly short 16 feet from where I’m standing.  The second step is to run, full-tilt at the end of the lead, in a crazy circle around me.  After a few circuits, stop and pee or sniff at something or stare fixedly at an object like a garbage can and start barking at it.

This is all very well in summer, but on icy ground, it can be a bit problematic.  If he didn’t look so damn cute racing around and jumping in the snow, I’m sure I would be stricter about such things.