What Is It with Dogs and Snow?

Episode Two of More Aire than Dale: First Winter in Rhode Island

It's about 100 degrees in Florida right now, without the heat index doing me any favors, and here I am writing about snow. Bear with me.

Remember the road trip I mentioned last week? This is the continuation.

By the time we settled into Rhode Island, it was late summer. Fall didn't stick around long, and winter showed up fast. Halo, Cherry, and Grover had never seen snow before in their lives.

They were never fans of rain. Rain meant sulking by the door, unimpressed, waiting for it to be over. So you can imagine how snow went over. Surprise, surprise — they loved it instantly and completely. I'm convinced that if their bodies had cooperated, they would have made snow angels.

Turns out there's actual science behind that reaction. Snow changes the way everything smells, and dogs have noses built for exactly that kind of change. Rain washes scent away. Snow seems to turn the volume up on it instead. Add in the fact that dogs run warmer than we assume and don't feel cold the way we do, and you've basically built the perfect playground.

That first winter, Rhode Island gave us a blizzard with three and a half feet of snow. The three of them stayed out until they had actual snowballs collecting in their beards. 😂

They experienced hours of pure, ridiculous joy, followed by evenings by the fire and the kind of deep sleep that only comes after a full day outside.

This is one of my favorite More Aire than Dale moments. Not a lesson, not a mishap — just pure joy at something brand new. I loved snow days as a kid too, so watching them experience it for the first time hit a little different.

PS — Our neighbors built a snowman shaped like a dog that winter. Grover was completely convinced it was real and barked at it every single time we walked past. Classic Grover. 😂

-Kim Opdyke

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