Hi friends! It’s your man, Tuck here. In case you don’t know me, I’m the third (and best) member of Meera and Jerry’s family—their dog. I’m a Chihuahua-Dachshund mix (mom calls me a “chiweenie” but I find that term to be…not the best).

Anyway, if you’ve been following along here for the last few weeks, you’ll probably have noticed a few things.

1. My family and I are from San Antonio. Prior to this year, I’ve spent my entire life in the warm sunbeams of South Texas.
2. I love to hike and be outdoors – finding sunbeams while hiking is absolutely my happy place.
3. This past January, my paw-rents dragged me to Salt Lake City. Did you know that there’s this cold white stuff on the ground? Some days, there are zero sunbeams. ZERO! It’s the worst and I can’t stand it.

So naturally, I had to quickly learn to adapt to the sudden change in location. In case any of you find yourselves in a similar situation, here’s some gear I’ve used to help make the miserably cold weather less miserable.

1. A jacket

My paw-rents bought me this jacket a while back, and I really hated it at first. I am a natural dog, and I prefer my fur to be directly exposed to the air. I hate how static-y my fur gets under a jacket.

However, when it’s this cold out, a dog’s gotta do what a dog’s gotta do. Since my paw-rents don’t let me use the bathroom inside, sometimes I have to get bundled up to brave the elements. Plus, my parents are really into skiing and hiking, so they drag me to even colder places often.

So I wear this jacket. On particularly chilly days, I’ll even wear it indoors.

Cloud Chaser™ Dog Jacket | Ruffwear

The Cloud Chaser jacket helps dogs tackle winter with a water & windproof softshell upper panel and fleece-lined lower panel for warmth and moisture resistance.

2. Another jacket

Ok, friends – let me reiterate: my paw-rents take me to some really, really cold places. This year, they went to Jackson Hole in early January. That is not the time to catch some mountain sunbeams. I was buried in snow up to my chest.

For days when it’s that cold, I put on another jacket on top of my Cloud Chaser jacket. This is my ski jacket, essentially (I actually snowboard, not ski—have you ever seen a dog try to ski? Ridiculous. Snowboarding is more of a dog’s sport).

Note that this jacket has a loop for my harness to pass through – meaning I can wear it over my harness. This is a unique feature in a jacket. Many of the previous jackets I’ve tried don’t have this option.

This jacket also has leg loops. I hate them. My mom tried to put them on me once and I refused to move until she took them off. The harness passthrough keeps this jacket in place just fine though, so the leg loops really are unnecessary torture.

Vert™ Winter Dog Jacket | Waterproof, Windproof & Insulated | Ruffwear

Dogs can hold their stride with the Vert™ Jacket no matter what elements are thrown their way. Designed to embrace the wintry-mix that would otherwise mean spending the day inside, the shell fabric is windproof, waterproof, and breathable. The Vert™ Jacket features extended waterproof coverage over the hips and thighs

3. Another Jacket. JK LOL, I don’t wear three jackets. But I do wear a special harness for my wilderness adventures.

As you might have guessed, I’m a Ruffwear dog. Their gear really fits my persona – I’m a tough, outdoorsy dog who needs gear that can keep pace with my active lifestyle.

With that in mind, let me tell you about my favorite harness – the Ruffwear Front Range harness. I’m on my second harness from this line, and I really love it. It gives me the freedom to roam and explore on hiking adventures, and it’s comfortable for long days in the wilderness.

I wear this harness over my Cloud Chaser jacket but under my Vert jacket – this seems to work best for those extra frigid days when dad drags me outside.

Front Range® Dog Harness | Ruffwear

Our padded dog harness is ideal for daily walks and adventures. Two leash attachment options for added convenience. Discover your new go-to gear today!

4. Mushers Secret Paw Protection

So back to the weird white cold stuff on the ground – apparently, this stuff is called “snow.” My paw-rents love it, and I think it’s awful. To make it even worse, there’s this hard, gritty salt stuff on the ground with the snow. I mean, are they trying to torture me??

Shoes are simply not an option for me. My mom tried them once when it was extra hot in Texas, and I refused to move (this is an excellent form of protest, by the way – I highly recommend it if you find yourself in a similar position). Then, mom tried to put some weird balm stuff on my paws. This stuff tasted delicious, and seemed to hydrate my paws, but didn’t really help with walks in the snow.

Enter Musher’s Secret Paw Protection. Made for my fellow working dogs (I mean, I’m basically a sled dog now, right??), this stuff really does it all – it protects my paws, it hydrates them, and it tastes delicious when I lick it off (mom has started putting on extra so there’s still some left after I lick it off).

Home – Musher’s Secret

ALL SEASON PAW PROTECTION Musher’s Secret forms a breathable, dense barrier to protect your dog’s paws from the elements in even the most extreme weather conditions. LEARN MORE SAFE AND NATURAL Made from a blend of several food-grade, organic waxes, then refined according to our own special formulations, Musher’s Secret is the safe, non-toxic and […]

Pro tip: even though I know this stuff helps, I make sure to put up a fight every time my paw-rents apply it. Dad has to hold me down while mom applies the Paw Protection. I am, after all, a mighty beast. Sometimes I need to remind myself and my paw-rents of this.

Note: despite how it may seem, this post was not sponsored by Ruffwear. But…sponsor me please, Ruffwear? I need a new snowboard…

Well, that’s all for now, friends! I’m really enjoying this new blogging thing, so I’m sure there will be more posts from yours truly coming your way soon. Stay wild!