Pocket Dog Ice Dancer

I am not, in any way, a fan of the snow, ice, or cold.  Being a wee dog the ice sticks in my paws, the snow sticks to my fur, and the cold clings to me for minutes after I enter the warm house.  

I do find myself a bit jealous of those big dogs that can go romping through the snow, jumping in and out of it, the gravity shaking it from their fur. I don’t have the push off the legs to romp through the snow.  I just sink into it and get stuck. Then I worry if the sun gets strong enough I, like the snow, will melt away.

But sometimes after the snow has been around a couple of days it starts to melt, then it freezes overnight, and makes a nice layer of ice on top of the snow.  For most dogs that’s when they go crunching through the snow but for me then when I can go gliding.

I climb up on the snow and suddenly I have summited a mountain.  I can see inches further than I have ever seen before.  I can look Daddy, who is standing in the driiveway holding my leash, straight in the knee.  I do so with a smile, not wanting to scare him with my now daunting size.

I tentatively take a few steps forward, and then I stop short. During warm weather walks this usually trips up Daddy because he isn’t looking at me..  But today he is just watching as I stop short and then skate across the top of the snow.  I shift my weight slightly to my right, lift my left legs, and start to go in a circle/.  I shift my weight again to the left, and do the same with my left legs making a wonderful figure eight.

While my Daddy yells at me to hurry up and pee I run towards the snow banks by the driveway and slide up and down like a furry penguin.  In my mind I can hear the announcer:  Cinderella story. Outta nowhere. A Yorkshire Terrier, now, about to become the Olympic champion. It looks like a mirac... she set a world record!  She set a world record!  She set a world record.

After setting the record I did as all great champions do, first peeing, and then defecating on the course.  I then walked across the ice, in the sunshine, triumphant, hoping for a victory lap to cuddle up in when I heard a crunch, my right foreleg broke through the snow into the cold and my chin smacked the snow.

The sun had melted my fine crust of ice that has supported me, but that was OK, if it got cold overnight then I would have my ice back in the morning, and if not it’s one day closer to spring.

But for today, I am a champion.