Winter activities and wear for a Doberman when it is cold?

It is scary. Kaiser stayed out a few minutes longer as he wouldn't leave the damn egg alone on the yard. I took too long to grab it and when I got up the steps and told him "off the yard" he jumped up all 5 stairs on to the deck and one of his hind legs was already numb so he fell. Ouch! I felt horrible as I told him "inside". He went in very slow, and was kicking the numb leg. It was a scary few seconds until he was standing on it again. After that incident I had to reduce his outdoor time to one minute. That would give me just enough margin to get outside and help him before a leg really gives out. We didn't continue training him to be picked up, so I don't even know what he would do if he was immobile in the cold.
It doesn't take long for them (and us!) to freeze in these temperatures! I'm telling ya, this morning was horrible! It was so fricking cold! I don't know how people do this all winter. I can only let the dogs out for a couple of minutes at a time. This morning was like still about -16F when Buddy was out there. And he didn't last long. Scary to see him start to almost crumble!

Around Christmas, Kali did the same thing and I had to run out to rescue her. She had run INto the snow to chase a bird and that was enough! The moisture of the snow on those tiny feet and she was limping and then falling as she was running back. She would have just laid down to die if I didn't run and pick her up! Terrifying! Dangerous, dangerous weather. It would make a world of difference if it would stay above zero!
 
No matter the weather, (we started during the summer) we have a quality moment before entering the house, Grace actually gets it...walk up the stairs slow, wait and get hugs and a rub...she too was a runner and getting hurt on the stairs...hopefully it's history now.
 
Oh man, we were outside for 3 minutes today and both of us were in a hurry to get back inside. He ran back in faster than I did! Haha. So I took some advice from here and tried more mental stimulation for him since he isn't getting his usual amount of physical exercise. We played "go find it" with treats in the basement and he had a great time..although it didn't tire him out one bit even after 40 minutes of it?? We also played hide and seek for a bit too but I ran out of places to hide. What other mental stimulation games can we play?
 
It seems like most of your dogs are either really good with recall and can be off leash outside or you guys have a yard.. in my case, I live in the suburbs. My neighbors are TERRIFIED of my dog and they have 3 toddlers that cry and scream every time they see my dog..so he has to be on his leash when he's outside. We also don't have a fenced yard (yet) so we can't let him outside to run around and come back when he needs to, unfortunately
It's rough, I know. Oji was potty trained over a winter. We did not have a fenced yard at the time. This is actually good for their potty training though. You take them out on leash to the same spot every time and repeat the same word calmly until and as they do their business. Then you praise. Not fun in cold or rainy weather, that's for sure.
 
Oh man, we were outside for 3 minutes today and both of us were in a hurry to get back inside. He ran back in faster than I did! Haha. So I took some advice from here and tried more mental stimulation for him since he isn't getting his usual amount of physical exercise. We played "go find it" with treats in the basement and he had a great time..although it didn't tire him out one bit even after 40 minutes of it?? We also played hide and seek for a bit too but I ran out of places to hide. What other mental stimulation games can we play?
You can start to train him to sit up on his hind legs for a treat or a high value toy. Then you can get him to walk on his hind legs toward you. Great exercise, it seems to me.
 
We did that today, along with treats placed on her paws and nose and wait for the "eat signal"...You could see all her muscles flexing...waiting to pounce on the treats.
I just finished teaching the treats on paws and wait over the holidays. He kept turning his head away when I tried to put it on his nose though.
 

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