It's cold and there are dogs.

So I've been told by several people this week that they haven't remembered the last time it was this cold for this long. It hasn't really dipped above -30 Celcius wind chill for about a week, and it doesn't look like it will until the weekend. And I must say it makes getting anywhere challenging.

I certainly would not be leaving the house very often if it weren't for work, and so I have not been suprised on the -45 days that we've had many canceled appointments. I'm not sure whether the problem lies in lacking the motivation to brave the cold (a category I would fall into), or if people simply have not been able to get their vehicles to start (which happened to us with one of the hospital trucks despite it being plugged in).

So although I blame the cold for the fact that the only place I've walked to this week is work, about a 5 minute walk, there is also one other reason.

Dogs. There are lots of dogs. It's not that I'm not a dog person, because I definitely am, and besides most of them are really friendly. I've had no real problems, but I must say walking on the street and seeing three large dogs barreling down at you does make your fight or flight reaction swing into gear.

It was interesting that the first thing my roomate, who is from Moose Factory, asked me was whether or not I am afraid of dogs. When I answered "maybe a little nervous", it was nice of him to reassure me with "you shouldn't have any problems just avoid them during mating season, what you really have to watch out for are wolves, they come over sometimes when the water freezes".

This place really does force you to get comfortable in a hurry.

It was also interesting hearing from one client that the reason she stopped walking outdoors for her exercise was that there was a dog that had chased her up onto a snowbank. Another worker mentioned that she talked about the dog problem to a police officer friend, who told her to carry a baseball bat with her.

It is reasurring to know that at least some people are helping solve the problem. Apparently one of the family doctors spayed one of the street dogs, who seemed to be particularly efficient. So in a few weeks when it warms up, and I no longer have the excuse of it being too cold to walk to the grocery store, I'll simply have to bring my baseball bat and keep my head on a swivel looking for wolves.

No problem.