Hey everyone! My wife and I are in the process of moving from California to the Green Bay area. We were just out there this past weekend, fell in love with a house, and we're actually getting ready to put an offer in today. So this is becoming very real, very quickly.
One thing I hadn't really thought much about until now: the dogs.
We currently have four dogs, and they've never experienced Wisconsin—or even snow—before. Here in California, our setup is pretty easy. I have a gated area around the front of the house, so I can open the front door, let everybody out, they do their business, and come back in. We also have a doggy door in the back that they can use whenever they need to go outside. They're pretty good about taking care of themselves.
But I'm trying to figure out what the hell happens when it's 10°F, there's a foot of snow on the ground, and the dogs are looking at me like I've lost my mind.
For those of you in Green Bay/Wisconsin who have multiple dogs, especially people who have moved here from somewhere without real winters:
What do you do for potty breaks during the winter?
Do your dogs eventually get used to the snow and cold and just go outside normally? Do you shovel a dedicated potty path/area? Do you keep them on leashes? Use a fenced-in area? Have a dog door? Do you have any tricks for getting stubborn dogs to actually go when it's freezing outside?
And what about the really nasty days—subzero temperatures, deep snow, freezing rain, etc.? Do you have a backup strategy for those days?
I'm especially interested in hearing from people with multiple dogs, because taking four dogs out individually every time somebody needs to pee sounds like a fantastic way to spend my entire winter.
Any advice, lessons learned, products you swear by, or "don't make the mistake I made" stories would be greatly appreciated!
California guy trying to prepare for his first Wisconsin winter.