Hi
Sadly we are not in Canada yet, I am just obsessively researching.
We have been to Ontario and next year will visit Calgary. East or West I will be investing in outdoor gear for us all. I think it will have to be Tartan for a Westie!

I've lived all over the country. Let me give you a quick rundown of climates.

Everywhere is beautiful and nicely warm in the summer. Drier for those months out on the west coast than east of there though.

Fall is most beautiful in the eastern half of the country. There are lots of deciduous trees that make for lots of fall colours to create lots of beautiful drives and walks the likes I have never seen elsewhere. We have it out here on the west coast too, but more of the trees are evergreen than out there so the effect of the fall leaves is lessened.

I can't speak for all the bits of Canada in the spring as I've only been in the maritimes and the west coast for the spring. The maritimes (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, PEI) have a late spring as the snow hasn't usually totally melted until late April or May. I hear that Ontario and Quebec have earlier springs though. Out on the west coast you get your first daffodils in March but sometimes in February. It rains on and off for a bit then in May it usually gets totally warm and beautiful.

Winter is simple, for most of Canada you'll get windy winters that vary in how dry they are. Minus 15 to minus 40 at night depending on where you
are. Out here on the west coast it may or may not freeze at night, but instead we have a lot more rain. I hear Brits out here comparing our winters to Scotland but I have never been up there so I wouldn't know. I'm mostly just familiar with England.

Ok... time to get back to work...

Just to add to the other poster, an Albertan winter is a dry cold, with fluffy dry snow. Can't say it's been all that windy where we are but I know other areas are. There seems to be a week or three every year where the cold is REALLY cold -50 wind chills etc, minus 20 doesn't seem so bad after a week or so of that Those are the weeks the little dogs stay home for definate, there is one guy down our road that has a little white dog not quite a westie, maybe a mix and he is out for a lot of the winter. Your dog will let you know if it's too cold for walkies.

Incidently my dog doesn't have a winter coat or boots as he has enough fluff, he'll lay out in the snow for that long that when it's snowing the snow will melt and then ice over and I end up pulling ice cubes off him, on really cold days we check on him every five minutes but he's generally happy in his self made doggy igloo.

Our old dog didn't cope well in the snow if it was below -14 or so. Latterly I would take a snow shovel and clear about a 10 foot square of lawn and she would gratefully use that and shoot back into the house again.

Over the last year we had lots of "accidents", but I think that was more her age than anything!

Incidentally, poo is easy to pick up once it's frozen, and in the summer it's easy to pick up once it dries out! (both happen very quickly in Alberta!)

As long as you do it quickly otherwise it gets iced in and snowed over and you have to use a pick axe to get it out

Thank you all for your interesting replies, I am adding everything to my ever expanding file. By the time we eventually get there I will need a container for my notes!
The pick axe scenario made me chuckle.

My nephew in England just bought a Westie puppy. Apparently his name is Frankie. My sister said that her son thought it wasn't a tough enough name so I said he could call him "Frank" - that sounds tougher than Frankie. He doesn't look very white to me, but maybe its because he's just a little mite. Really cute though!

He is cute. If he's anything like any of the Westies I know you could call him Rambo and he still wouldn't be tough.

Use a treadmill for exercise. (See 'The Dog Whisperer')

Thanks grumpyhaggis,

I had considered that, we have a shiny treadmill in the garage at the moment. It's shiny as it has only been used about 3 times since we got it.
Hate to admit it but my hubby was right!

I have two Westies. The older one doesn't care about the weather as long as he can get outside. The younger one is a wimp. He doesn't like weather of any kind. In the winter I require to shovel snow off the patio and off a patch of the lawn so they can do their business, given the low proximity of their naughty bits to the snow. Who's crazy here? Certainly not the dogs. As some previous posts have noted you can purchase coats and boots for your Westie and we have them for our little guys, but they've never needed them in this part of Canada.

Hello brianscottie43

What part of Canada are you in?

Sounds like your Westies are as spoiled as our little chap, the things you do eh?!

Yes, you're correct. They are spoiled to bits. I think sometimes they're better looked after than am I, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I Live just outside of Toronto. Climate here quite acceptable. Toronto is in what's known as the banana belt, so named, I think, because it's in that eastern section that hangs well below the northern states of the USA. By most UK standards Toronto winters would be considered severe but certainly not by most Canadian standards. To put it in some perspective, in this area we don't need auto engine block heaters. In many parts of the country one wouldn't dare leave a car outside overnight without plugging the engine heater into the electricity system. Wonderful weather from April to October (except this year, wetter than usual).

brianscottie43

We were in Toronto and Ottawa in August-weather was glorious. We were told by a Canadian to come back in the winter and see how we felt about the move then. We are also looking at Calgary, which I believe can be really brutal, I figure you have to take the rough with the smooth.
Regards

He's too sweet. What a cutie.

E&J.