I think we got him just as he was beginning to re-grow his coat...and it really did not balloon until January when it started to get seriously, continuously cold here. At first I just thought I was feeding him too much and he was getting fat, then he started to look taller. Then I began to notice the tufts on his ears...then I began to wonder if he was a malamute but the shelter said that he was definitely siberian and his body shape, eye color, disposition with other male dogs...then somewhere on here or elsewhere on the internet I found out about "wooly". Then this summer I had close up contact with a malamute and there is a huge difference (and not just size but the ear set, stop, chest...just general "Mack Truckishness" where Ami moves, plays more like an XKE Or silly putty

LOL about the silly putty dog! I see what you mean. After seeing a few malamutes up close and personal, they definitely have a much different build and attitude than a Siberian. I figure it must get pretty darned cold where you live. But Ami looks like he will stay nice & toasty, in spite of the weather.

Last winter was a weird year - we never got as low as we usually get (our record low in past 27 years was -23°). Usually we have a spell or two every winter where it goes down close to -20° with brilliant sunshine (which helps the solar gain on the south side of the house) and highs in the teens for the daytime. Normally, these only last for 2-3 days. This past year we had, I dunno 4-5 weeks straight where the daytime highs never exceeded the single digits and no sunshine, just cloudy and gray. Nights I think the lowest was in the -11° range, usually -3 to -7° for that whole stretch. And persistent snow cover for weeks and weeks.

Our normal is to get a Jan. thaw about the third week of Jan where, usually, it is warm enough to start the sap flowing in my south facing roses, sometimes into the 50's, thus killing the top growth when, 3-4 days later the temp abruptly drops overnight back into the low teens or below. Then in Feb. we get cold generally in the teens to 20's with lots of low 30's and sunshine. Makes very pleasant skiing weather.

Not last year - just endless, deep cold. And it lasted well into April! Ami grew the coat of all coats to cope with it - and he loved the weather. Drove me crazy - we had a nice doghouse filled a foot (or more) deep with straw, facing out of the wind and he almost never used it. Preferred lying in the snow. The best I could get him to do was lay on an old satin bedspread - which he loves, is in his house, now. I was washing and drying that thing almost everynight so he would have a dry place to lie down. (I tried pine flakes but they stuck to his fur all over and made a mess, plus he would dig them and send them all over the yard ) He would only use the house if the temps were in the single digits WITH high winds or close to zero and no wind.

At least this year, so far, Ami is using his doghouse - not the one we spent 2 months building but the one we picked up by the side of the road - a freebie that Ami sort of picked out himself.

https://www.itsahuskything.com/t12843-ami-s-adirondack-cottage?highlight=Ami+s+adirondack+cottage

This sure veered off your little girl - are you getting any sleep yet?

Hahaha, Ami is crazy! Omgoodness you all are tough! I lived in Colorado for a couple of years and the snow was only fun for about two weeks, LOL. I whined to go home to California until my mom broke down and drove us home one spring. There were a lot of nice things about Colorado, though.

I can't imagine how cold last winter was for you! I have another online friend who lives in Minnesota and she was pretty darned miserable last winter. It was just endless! Claimed she was moving to Florida ASAP. Now she is getting ready to settle in for another winter, LOL. Hopefully it will be a much more pleasant one this year. Whatever happens, it sounds like Ami will be happy about it.

Sleep...hmmm. What is that? Puppy did wake me up with another no-no in her crate last night about an hour after I went to sleep, but that was because of the Trifexis. She couldn't help it. But overall, she really likes her crate and we have had a couple of nights where she slept straight through the night without a peep or any accidents. I have to try to remember to restrict her water and food consumption a couple of hours before bed, or else she does cry to go out a few times. Overall, she is such a sweetheart. This morning she was acting completely nutty, though. I needed a long walk/jog to de-stress. Even then, all I could do was think about how I can't wait to take her for walks and was thinking about ways to help release her energy until we can get to that point. We just love her to bits!

Congratulations on your new puppy! She is adorable!

I just love your new dog.

Thank you, DJ and David! I was at school all day and missed her so much! I am about to get me some puppy cuddles right now.