The Weatherbug indicator in my system tray is reading -7 F. at 8:00AM and the wind chill is somewhere south of -20 F.  I know that's probably nothing compared to what you folks up in Ontario, Wisconsin and Minnesota have to deal with, but it's not an everyday occurance here in Evanston, IL (a suburb just north of Chicago).  When it gets that cold I've always been very reluctant to take my dogs outside for much more than to do their business.  That brings up the question of how to burn off all that GSP energy inside.  Rolling a ball around works for a while, but furniture and walls tend to get in the way.  I'd be curious what the rest of you do on cold or rainy days to keep your GSP occupied inside the house.

I was just commenting to my husband that the sun was out ... even though we haven't had much accumulation since last week's foot dump of snow, it seems the sky is gray every day with the threat of flurries hanging over us. The snow piles on the side of our driveway have to be over 7 feet high. My husband is ready to quit winter

I find as long as Bo is moving outside, the temperature doesn't really bother him ... it's the wind blowing at him he doesn't like. On really cold days, we all get bundled up and take him in the backyard to help him run around. 10 to 15 minutes is all he needs in the deep snow to help him get rid of the excess energy.

Then inside to play. Bo LOVES to play hide and seek ... it works on his sit, stay and wait commands, as well as his prey drive. We show him a toy and then sit him in the hall and make him wait while we hide it out of his sight. Then we call "find it" and he runs it into the living room looking for the toy. His little tail wiggles so much when he finds it! This is a really good one since it gives him a bit of activity and makes his brain work, which tires him out too.

Rain doesn't bother him too much either -- it's mostly the wind he objects to.

That's a great idea Everbell!

It's -14f here right now and the wind is blowing like crazy.  I would guess the WC is probably -40.  Yuck!

We keep nerf balls for Spot and throw them in the house.  We only get them out when we are there to play with him because left to his own devices, he will eat them.  The laser pointer works great inside too.

I am going to try Everbells idea with some little pieces of ham.  I think Spot will have great fun.

I agree with Everbell...the days I do not have time to really run/walk or let him run behind the bike...or when the backyard is just not exciting enough on its own.  I find mental stimulation works well.  commands and teaching new tricks keeps his mind busy and you wont have him running mad in the house.  It is a good time to try teaching him a new trick!

Everbell, thanks for the Hide and Seek idea. I had as much fun as Cody did playing that. I had Cody sit and stay in the office (he could see if I put him in the hallway) I would show him his tennis bone toy then go hid it in another room. Then call out "go find it," it was so funny, it took him a few times to remember to stay in the sit command. The darn boy wanted to peek..  He got the hang of the game and we had a good time today. It is a good way to remind him of his basic sit and stay commands. Here in Ohio we had temps in the 50's the other day and we haven't been walking Cody on the leash much.So we took him to a nature trail for a walk. At first he was tugging and barking back at a dog across the canal (the other dog started it first )  By the time we were half way done he had settle down and was doing better. I don't know if you remember but Cody was our rescue dog that was chained outside to a tree. He has caught on fast he just needs for us to keep it up. We said we would start bringing him there for walks.  The next day the temps dropped some and the rains and floods came for the next few days.( good old Ohio weather) So I told hubby, that our local PetSmart has the dogs in obedience classes walking inside and it isn't a big area, so why not walk Cody inside the house for quick heel and sit lessons. He did walk him around the house, at first Cody didn't understand why we put the leash on and didn't go to the door.  But he caught on and I think he liked it. I know he likes the treat he gets when hubby stops walking and Cody remembers to sit.  We have temps -16 today with the wind chill, I got a call a few minutes ago. No school tomorrow which means no work for me.YEA!!! so Cody and I will take a indoor walk and then play some hide and seek tomorrow.  I will send some pics of Cody's indoor walk . Thanks again for hide and seek game idea.  Cody's mom

Cody's indoor walk

Wasnt' that fun?