It's seriously cold here. When I sat down at the computer at about 8:30 this morning my weatherbug read 9 degrees. It now reads 19, so it's warmed up all of 10 degrees. It's expected to drop to 12 overnight. There's a dusting of snow on the ground that fell yesterday evening.
This is the first snow Saint has ever seen. Last night while it was snowing he went out through the doggy door and stood on the stoop for a long time, looking at the stuff lying around and falling from the sky. He snapped at a few snowflakes and licked tentatively at some snow on the ground. It took him quite a while to decide it was okay to walk on.
Amazingly, the cold doesn't seem to faze him. Mike and I took turns throwing the ball for him today, and while we both bailed out after a short time, Saint never wanted to stop and showed no sign of discomfort. The AKC describes the Labrador retriever's coat as "short, dense, and weather resistant". The dogs originated in Newfoundland, where the breed was developed by crossing small water dogs with Newfoundlands. I guess it makes sense that he'd be tolerant of the cold. Still, it's uncanny--he really doesn't seem to mind it at all.
Cool description (no pun intended) of Saint's reaction to snow. But yeah, his genetics should shield him from being uncomfortable -- that, and running around chasing the ball probably did a lot to keep him warmed up.