Mrs. Elmore’s class in Florida made a comment to one of my posts about freezing in cold weather.  I didn’t understand what they meant until my human told me that in Florida and other places, it rarely gets cold and almost never snows.  I just couldn’t imagine a place like that.  My human grew up in Miami, Florida and told me about hardly ever wearing a coat.  She said instead of getting really cold, it got really hot.  She said she likes living up north now and enjoys the cold and snow.  All this got me thinking, if there are places that never have to dress for cold weather, they wouldn’t know how.  I bet Mrs. Elmore’s class wonders how anyone stays warm in very cold temperatures.

I don’t have to worry about staying warm.  I have a natural warm undercoat that not only keeps me warm but helps me stay dry.  Staying dry is very important when you want to stay warm.  Humans don’t have that warm undercoat.  So they have use clothing.  It’s quit a sight to watch my humans get ready to go out on a run with us.  They do what’s called layering.  The number of layers and type of material the layer is made of changes with how cold it is. 

The first layer is called the wicking layer.  The skin will still sweat and the wicking layer helps the moisture move away from the body.  The moisture goes through the material and gets trapped on the other side away from the body.  You may of heard of long johns or long underwear.  That’s what this layer is but it’s made out of special material for wicking.  My human has these long johns in three different weights, light, medium and heavy.  The colder the temperature the heavier weight long johns she wears.  But she says they all feel light weight while wearing them.  She also puts on a light weight pair of wicking socks.  She said she usually puts the socks on first and then puts the long johns over the socks.  This gives a seal so air cannot get to the skin.

The next layer depends on how cold it is.  My human says here in New Hampshire she doesn’t usually do too much.  First she puts on another pair of socks.  She says these socks are usually made out of wool or Alpaca fur.  If it is really cold (below 0) she will put on another pant layer out of fleece.  She always puts on a long sleeved turtle neck shirt.  Once in awhile she will also put on a sweat shirt.

The final layer is a heavy weight overall.  It has a thick quilted lining that is very warm.  Then she puts on a coat.  Finishing this outfit is 1 or 2 pairs of gloves and a warm  hat. 

When my human is all dressed up, it’s hard to recognize her.  Good thing I have a good sense of smell.  If I can’t figure out who my human is by sight, I certainly can by smell. 

Also, my human told me tell you that although it seems like wearing all this clothing would be too heavy to move in, the clothing is made with materials that are light weight and flexible. She is still able to move pretty quickly when she needs to.

Look for my next post in a few days.  I will be answering a question I got about what goes in the sled bag. 

Have a great week. There are many things going on this week in preparation for the race start on Saturday.  Check in often for Zuma, Libby, Sanka and my posts.

Happy Trails,

Gypsy.