Wolf dogs spoiled by warmth indoors in favor of recent Florida cold snap -- just imagine how they'd fare in the Arctic?

This winter has been a harsh one for all of the two legged in Florida. Koda and Lela seemed to have mixed emotions. For the most part they enjoyed the cooler weather, the icy wind blowing through their fur and the cooler temperatures giving them the feeling that they might have moved from Florida to the Arctic.

Photos by Pat Miller / Koda and Lela at enjoy the warmth of indoors as opposed to the recent cold weather.

This was also a time of learning.

We have learned that both Miakoda and Walela are so spoiled that they will never be able to survive in the Arctic.

When the temperatures started to drop, the pups were so happy. They wanted to spend more time outside.

We would let them hang out longer in their outdoor kennel and watch from the warmth of the indoors while they ran, played and rolled around in the grass.

When we would bring them back inside, they would run about the house with smiles on their faces chasing each other.

Then the temperature dropped down to freezing and the pups were just not happy. The first time they set their spoiled warm weather paws on the icy grass was just funny.

Have you ever tried to watch a male dog go to the bathroom while trying to keep his paws off the cold cold grass? It can be funny.

Lela would run out and back in so quickly that we wondered if she was actually going to the bathroom. As the weather kept getting colder and colder, they started to let us know that they had no intention of leaving their nice warm house to go to the bathroom outside in the icy weather.

They would watch from the window as I was scraping the ice off of my windshield so I could see to drive to work. They would sit inside the house watching all the other animals outside trying to find a warm spot. It wasn't long before we were having to drag them outside to use the bathroom. Yes they are spoiled and they are very proud of it.

One thing that we know for sure is that neither one of them would every make it in any state that gets colder than Florida. The pups were beginning to become embarassing as the weather got colder. We actually had to put a warm towel on the ground so that we could get them to go outside. My heart would go out to the small dogs with short fur as they would try to go outside also. Then the rain came.

In the larger photo, Lela turns over while in the smaller photo, Koda sits at attention.

My neighbors are now convinced that I have lost my mind. I am standing outside in the rain holding an umbrella over Koda so that he can go to the bathroom. When they come back inside they run for the bedrooms to roll on the blankets and the carpet to get warm. Koda would curl up on the couch and let me know that he would rather hold it in instead of going out in the cold.

They soon learned how to play in the house. The fur would fly and the pups would run. Then the Empire Commercial would come on T.V. and for some reason that commercial would make the pups howl.

Since they were not going out much anyone brave enough to ring out doorbell was met with two very excited wolf dogs.

A trip to the vet became a big event and even driving them to my work at the shelter became a fun trip. As they would lounge around the house, sleeping on the beds, watching TV and eating their food, they seemed to be perfectly content to sit in the house. It got to be a little silly though when they would sit in front of the TV to watch certain movies such as Iron Will, Arctic Tale and Eight Below. They would walk up to the screen to try and smell the snow, which of course, they couldn't. Then they would climb back onto the couch and watch the other animals trying to stay warm in the icy weather.

Finally, the weather is starting to warm up and I am not sure who is happier about it: Me or the pups? They are already having visions of trips to the beach. They are also hoping for the park and some craft shows so that they can get out and mingle with other people.

Howls...

the first one is Koda sitting in the house, the second is Lela, and the third is both of them playing around.

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