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!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.
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!