The shaded side of the street

The down side to the snow we got this week: trying to walk the pups in the aftermath of slush.  Scrambled eggs are my friend at times like this (to bribe the A&P into walking in this mess)

The Snow in Virginia

     Growing up in Pittsburgh, PA and the Hubbs growing up in Monument Valley, AZ, we're not strangers to cold.  We know how to shovel, bundle up, and drive in it.  Annie and Paul, as far as we know, were born in Virginia and have only seen bits and pieces of the white fluffy stuff.  Just enough to be a pain, but not enough to do stuff with.

     We got about an inch and a half of snow yesterday, and below freezing temps today.  Grand total, our morning walk went for about 30 yards before Paul decided he had had enough.  The turn around came when he started refusing to put his front right paw in the snow.  In the 20 yards back to the front door, Paul alternated the "paw too cold to put on the ground" move with his front left before limping with both paws (interesting to watch, good for background knowledge) into the house.

Paul's snow angel.

     Annie, in all honesty, seemed to care less about it.  She even behaved when crossing the street! (Which is more amazing than it sounds.)  While she's still not thrilled wearing clothing and itches like crazy in it, Annie will still walk in the snow like she always has.  

Annie Itches: the Ahha! Moment

      When I started this blog, almost a year ago, one of the things I commented on was that Annie itches.  We were just coming out of the winter of 2011-12 where it was really mild.  Annie had been itching for over a year straight.  We had tried several different foods, switched to raw, switched back to no grain dry kibble.  Nothing seemed to help.
   

I'm itchy, so I'm getting a bath.  Woe is me.

     And then, this past winter, I had my "AHHA!!!"  moment.  We finally got snow.  Not enough to cancel school, but enough that we had snow (about an inch).  We took Annie and Paul on a walk like we always do, and it dawned on me at the end of the walk: Annie's not itching.

Cold paws, but not itching!

     And it suddenly didn't matter that we were feeding Annie all sorts of stuff with wheat in it Milk Bone any one?), she wasn't scratching at all.  Her ears weren't full of brown ear wax, and she was generally happier.

     Now that spring is here in VA, we're back to an itchy Anne.  Back to the Benadryl, but at least now we have a clue as to what's causing Annie to itch.

SNOW!!!!

     Here in Richmond, VA, we don't get much snow.  As a matter of fact, I say "snow" is the "S" word when I'm in school.  For the simple fact that if you say "snow," every kids eyes are glued to the window and nothing gets done for at least 3 days.

The funny thing is, there's really not much snow when it does come.  Officially, we got 1.6 inches last week and schools were closing because of it.  The Hubbs grew up in the Four Corners area where snow wasn't a problem to drive on.  The dirt roads were throughly frozen and the school buses had no problems getting through.  (In contrast, school would be canceled for rain because the dirt roads would be a mess to drive on)

http://www.lapahie.com/MonuVal_Snow.cfm

Pittsburgh, where I grew up, is no stranger to snow either.   As a matter of fact, they've already had at least 2 winter storms come through since winter started.  

For Annie and Paul though, this seemed to be the perfect snow.  Just enough to march trough on the grass but not so much to cover the sidewalks a make it uber cold for them.