My gurl has taken to playing in the snow like no one’s business. She’s snoring right now as we just got home from a snowy 3 mile hike (35ish degrees f, no wind). We took about 1:40 to do the loop as there was a good amount of elevation and it was slippery (for me). Given her fur is so short, and very sparse on her tummy, I’m worried about where her limit with cold and exhaustion is. She’s never really given any warning signs except once (different trip) brought me back to the car after a quick pit stop when it was like 10 degrees and crazy windy. I’ve never seen her shiver and her paws are never cold (cool maybe, but always much warmer than my cold fingers). She loves her hoody but won’t wear booties. We don’t get a lot of snow where we live so I’ve slowly been taking her out for longer and longer periods while I watch her like a hawk to gauge her comfort. I usually call it short before she’s ready out of an abundance of caution. Sometimes she even gets obstinate and will pull back on her leash as if to say, “dad it’s cool I got this lemme do more zooms!!” Side note: she’s similarly a champ in the summer and will hike strenuous hikes like the queen she is. 

Internet research indicates that she’s out there for “too long.” Experience with her says otherwise. I want to give her all the snowy playtime that’s safe. I also believe that some dogs don’t really show exhaustion/cold/pain out of a defense mechanism? She’s your average dummy pibble who always has a shit eating grin on her face and only clearly communicates when she’s scared (and obviously happy). My old lab used to love swimming and would turn into a shivering mess trying to keep jumping in to chase ducks while I packed her up in the warm truck. Not my pibble. 

So, fellow pibble lovers, when is enough enough? Who else spends an hour + in the snow with their snow loving land seals? Any and all advice and/or information will be much appreciated. 

Anyone else’s pibble love snowy hikes? How much is too much?