Winter finally kicked in a few weeks ago with more than two feet of snow in one day. I think the Great Snow Planner in the Sky was trying to make all subsequent snowstorms seem puny, so we’d feel shamed into going out, even in eight inches of snow.
The big snow!
For some reason, this year, Butterfly loves the snow. In the past she’s been uncomfortable with the snow swirling in her face, and the ice crunching and sliding under her feet, and she could never understand Cricket’s fascination with climbing to the top of Snow Mountain to poop. But this year, with the snow piled up over her head, she changed her mind.
“What is this fluffy stuff?”
This is a dog who does not try to climb up on the couch, and hesitates each time she sees a stairway looming, but she saw a two foot wall of snow and decided not only to try to climb it, but to pull herself up and over, and walk along the iced over top. She went out onto the tundra of the backyard, like a lone explorer, sniffing for squirrels and birds and cat poop. (It didn’t hurt that one of our neighbors had tossed huge chunks of French bread out into the snow for the birds to choke on, again.)
“I think I can, I think I can…”
Butterfly came home three and a half years ago as an eight year old dog, with a long puppy mill history and a heart problem. She had to learn how to poop outside, and climb stairs, and bark at strangers, and generally be a dog, and we figured, at a certain point, that she was finished catching up. She was running and barking and begging for food, just like Cricket, and really, who expects an eleven year old senior citizen to learn new tricks? But here she is, learning to love the snow. She loves when the snow hardens and she can walk on top of it, she loves sticking her toes into the rain-softened snow and trying to keep her balance as her legs fall out from under her. She loves the way the snow keeps smells fresh for days and days, and she can revisit an old message twenty more times. She even managed to pass the scary corner of the building, because the snow made her forget her fear of the outside world, for a little while.
“Whoo hoo!”
Cricket has always loved the snow. In the snow, even Cricket can go leash-less, for a moment, and run and play like a puppy. I throw snowballs for her to catch and she buries her head in the snow to find them. She would stay outside for hours, except that snowballs accumulate on her fur and she starts to look like a Yeti who can’t move very well. She tried to chew off the snowballs herself one day, but, since she needed a bath anyway, I tossed her into the tub and melted off the snowballs with the shower attachment. She was not a fan of this experience.
Cricket, headless.
Grandma’s magic camera captured Cricket in action.
“Grrrrrrrr!”
Butterfly didn’t get quite as covered as Cricket, because she’s still a newbie with this snow business. She likes how the snow feels on her toes, and maybe up to her ankles, but once it reaches her chest she starts to shiver. Her favorite thing is to run in the light powdery snow and leave a trail of paw prints in her wake.
rachelmankowitz 
What a joy it was to read about the delight experienced by these two little lovelies Rachel! I love the “action” shot too. jane in South Australia
I’m so glad the joy came through! It was so cold out there, but I was having too much fun watching the girls play to even notice.
Even an old dog can learn new tricks! Love the story! Love the photos! Kudos to grandma for the action shot. One of the best dog photos ever! Thanks for this lovely story. Sabine in Utah
Grandma is the real photographer in the family!
What wonderful photos. That’s one fun loving young at heart adorable pooch. Love that action shot. ❤
Thank you! Grandma and Cricket make a wonderful photography team!
Chance is OBSESSED with all the snow we got…when the ground gets covered he darts around the yard at full-speed. Cute pics 🙂
Cricket could lose feeling in all of her paws and she’d never notice.
That sounds exactly like Chance!
I wonder what Cricket would do with a snow yard full of other happy dogs. Would the joy multiply, or divide?
Chance would love it! Not sure if Cricket would be able to keep up with how hyper he is though… haha 🙂
Gorgeous, Rachel. Beats the haze from bushfires we have here any day!
Thank you! We’ve fallen into the deep freeze today, though. You go outside and within three seconds you feel like your eyeballs are gonna fall out. Unfortunately, the dogs still think it’s wonderful out there!
Those little furry ones look so happy. Thats alot of snow too.
Their happiness is so contagious, isn’t it?
Magical! Snow transforms everything.. except those ice balls in the fur
But those snow balls make me laugh every single time!
Oh my gosh how cute! I love the pictures. 🙂 And I adore their happy faces! Thank you for posting this!
I love this. Absolutely love it! I can’t keep my two out of the snow. The puppy has no problem finding a big branch and plopping down in the snow to chew on it, while I’m standing there waiting for them to pee and can’t feel my legs. Last winter my older dog learned how to climb snow banks, and we couldn’t get him in the house. We have that deep freeze going on here, too. I think tomorrow is supposed to be around -10*F not counting the wind chill. Are you as ready for winter to end as I am?
I am seriously considering sending the dogs out by themselves, but they refuse to pick up their own poop. Can you imagine?!
HA! I wish it were that easy!
Beautiful dogs loving life- Priceless 🙂 And I love the action shot of Cricket… Definitely magic :).
Thank you!
What fun! And what progress for Cricket. We can all be proud for you both. My dogs also get snow-popcorn fur. They are about the size of Cricket and Butterfly, and I give cudos to anything that short in the snow, because it is high enough so reach their little hoo-ha’s. I wouldn’t want to run naked in the snow with it up to my crotch, that’s for sure!
For some reason, they don’t mind!
Ha, ha! It must be really exciting snow!
Very nice! Great pictures!
Thank you!
Bless you for adopting a puppy mill survivor!
I’m the lucky one!
What a great blog and fabulous pictures! Maggie does not like the snow. I can’t blame her; her fur is so thin and fine there’s no protection from the elements. She hates a coat, too, and refuses to wear booties. So for her it’s a quick pee and run back to the house!!! Glad your girls had fun in the snow!! Woof!
Both Cricket and Butterfly have very warm fur coats. They don’t even seem to notice the cold.
Great story.
Topnotch text.
Exciting photos.
Two camouflaged snow lovers.
Cricket is getting frustrated that her indoor surfaces don’t allow her a satisfying digging experience.
LOL … see how she is loving the snow experience! Have a wonderful week ahead and stay warm. Take care! 🙂
We are basically swimming in chicken soup!
🙂
Kaci and Kali have never seen snow. It doesn’t matter-they’re happy. It certainly is better than a former life when they were both in kill shelters on the euthanasia list. They don’t feel deprived.
They don’t need snow, they have snakes!
You took a puppy mill dog. I have increased respect for you.
I chose her because she was magical. I only found out about her history after I was smitten.
Oh, these pictures are so sweet! I love the one of Cricket with his ears flapping up. Both dogs look as if they are having such fun. I almost feel as if I want to join them myself, but I don’t think my two cats would be impressed. They’ve never seen snow and are not used to cold winters.
We have a couple of feral cats at our building who seem to love the snow. You can see their paw prints across the backyard all winter long.
Bliss! Vlou, our travelling Beagle loves snow.
Awesome photos They are certainly enjoying the snow and the photo of Cricket, ears flapping, is my favorite. Thanks for dharing
I meant thanks for ‘sharing’
I Think that’s Cricket’s favorite too!
This is sweet! 😀
Thank you!
Aww, they are so cute, lovely photos, you are a great storyteller.
Thank you so much!
Great Cricket in Action shots
Grandma and Cricket are a great pair!
A post to warm my heart as always. Pom-pom dogs. Loved the pictures!
Thank you!
I love these photos – so much emotion captured in them! But again, what really touched my heart was how with only a few words you managed to tell Butterfly’s story, and let us know that she has grown from a scared little pup whose world was so very small to one who is learning to spread her wings and experience the wonders of the world because of the love that you and your Mom have enveloped her with. She and Cricket are truly blessed, just as you are to have them in your lives! 💕
Thank you! When I first saw Butterfly at the shelter, her little pink tongue sticking out of the cage to reach me… she was mine right away!
I just loved this post. A thousand blessings on you for taking an older puppy mill dog. Look what wonders your faith has accomplished. We are in the deep freeze too and even opening the door to check the mailbox just about kills me. It was great to see someone who can enjoy the cold but you have my sympathy going out to pick up poop in these temperatures.
I’ve been borrowing my mom’s pashmina scarf when we go out, so now my throat is warm, but the rest of me is still freezing to death!
Love the action shot! Dog joy is awesome!
It is!
Our Newfs love the snow too!
They’ve got the fur coats for it!
Yes, they have double coats. No amount of cold seems to be too cold….and this morning it was -26 around here. I wasn’t so amused taking them for their morning walk.
I’m trying to get Cricket to use her immense cleverness to create a dog-activated pooper scooper, instead of using all of that cleverness to figure out how to wake me up in the middle of the night.
love those action shots of Cricket! Our dogs never liked the snow- ti was next to impossible to get them to go in it!
That was Butterfly last year. I have pictures of her huddling under the awning, waiting to be let back inside. What a difference a year makes!
Fabulous photos, Rachel! Such a joyful story too!
Thank you!
They are both so adorable!
Thank you!
Wonderful post and photographs. Especially enjoyed the snowballs photo of Cricket.
Cricket loved collecting all of those snowballs!
I love the shot of Cricket in action…happy dog!
She LOVES to run!
Oh my, they’re having such fun in the snow! Terrific shots.
They really did love it!
What hilarious photos! Magic.
Cricket is a magician!
Just love to see photos of happy happy dogs. I have a ‘rescue’ dog too (Molly). I still remember the very first time I saw her ‘happy’ face (she ran to greet me at the back gate with the others when I came home from work, instead of hiding among the sofa cushions). It was worth every second of a dealing with all the other ‘issues’ she came with. My girls have never seen snow. Wonder what they would make of it??
There’s something incredible about being able to watch a dog transform. Every once in a while I see the old blank look in Butterfly’s face in passing and I’m shocked by how much she’s changed.
The sheer joy in them…in the snow. Ears flying back, free running and playing and well…sheer joy. Often I have wished I had a fraction of the energy of Huny. One of her favorite activities is to come in the house after she’s been out and run in figure 8s around my kitchen and great room (I live in an open floor plan and those two rooms are really one big one). She just bounds as she dodges around the couches, and slides on the tile floor in the kitchen. Then down the hall to the library, and back and we start the game over. I see that same joy/energy in the pictures of Cricket and Butterfly today. I’m so glad an old dog learned a new trick, and Butterfly can embrace her inner wolf. Rrrroooooo!
Cricket does the same zoomies around the apartment!
The snow monster picture made me smile. Thanks for sharing!
Cricket believes she is a huge polar bear disguised as a tiny puppy.
i love this story… my poodle used to love the snow and would run and run in circles around the yard until the pads of her little feet froze. then she would stop, raise one frozen paw in the air, and stare back at me, whimpering, until i picked her up and carried her back inside…
I love that image!
Magical photos! Almost makes me miss the snow…almost, but not quite! 🙂
If we could have snow without cold…
Indeed! 😊🐶
Oh my goodness!! Love the snow photos. You go, Butterfly!
She is having a great time with this weather! It is truly bizarre.
Nice story, cute little doggie. What kind of dog is it? She looks very similar to my Shih Tzu? I believe they are native to North China, and love the cold.
Butterfly is a Lhasa Apso (cousins to the Shih Tsus) and Cricket is a Cockapoo (cousins to the yeti).
Thanks, both too cute. Love the ears.
I love your story with Butterfly and Cricket! It is so great to see that you rescued Butterfly from a puppy mill situation. My dog Lily absolutely loves the snow, too and comes in packed with those pesky snow balls. Your photos are absolutely hilarious and capture their pure joy. https://iheartgoldenretrievers.wordpress.com/
Thank you!
Absolutely adorable. Love your doggies, and all the photos. Thank you so much for sharing with us. 🙂
Thank you!
Mine enjoyed the snow too! Though it was a bit more of an adventure than just going out the back door since we keep our snow in the mountains where it belongs!
Ha! Cricket would love to run through the mountains and gather snow boulders instead of snow balls!
How fun for them! Just a delight! 🙂
This was so beautiful ❤❤
Thank you!
They are so cute! Great pictures!
Thank you!
What cuties! I love all the visuals. Looks like they had a fantastic time!
They really did!
Such nice pics! Butterfly is adorable, I can relate because my Alaska also came to me from a puppy mill. Have fun romping in the snow 🙂
Thank you!