The Gus-Sweater issue has confounded me from the first. Dog lovers – especially dog lovers on social media – tend to be very certain in their opinions about what small dogs need in the winter, I was bombarded with e-mails telling me Gus must have a sweater in the cold, because he is a Boston Terrier.

I was huffing and puffing about my feeling that no dog of mine, big or small, would ever wear a sweater, let alone booties. I had to stand down on that pledge.

Even my vet said that Gus would need a sweater, so I readily agreed, bowed to superior wisdom, and bought two sweaters. Seems I was not all that  correct this time around either, Gus absolutely loves the snow and the cold, I took a photo of him tonight with my phone as he and Fate tore around the yard so fast even my fast camera couldn’t get a clear image at night.

Gus has been outside in single digit cold, and high winter winds, and today, several inches of snow and plunging temperatures. He has not yet shivered once, and just loves tearing back and forth int the snow like a Lab. The farmers who have Boston Terriers tell me they have never put sweaters on their dogs, but farmers are usually much more hardass than I am.

So far, I put a sweater on his once, and that was because I thought he must be cold, but he didn’t seem to know what. It didn’t stay on long.

The moral is dogs are not all the same, and our responses to them are not all the same. They are unique and often quite unpredictable. We just think we know them inside and out.

So we’ll see. So far, Gus has no interest in a sweater, he loves to go outside, eat gross things and race about with Fate, who also loves being out in the snow and would happily live outside if she could all year round.

I have my sweaters and am ready and willing to put them on, and maybe the deep February winter will be different, or huge snowfalls. So far, Gus is a happy and hardy winter dog. I can’t wait to see  how this all turns out.