I am thinking the answer to this whole thing is getting into dog sledding. If you like dogs, it seems a natural fit. A while back, finallyME's posts got me into looking at dog sledding sites and there are actually teams that include shorter haired dogs in Minnesota. They put jackets on them. And the benifits: no more carrying stuff in winter; and with 3 to 7 dogs you will never be alone. Of course there is a very pesky learning curve. And for me, San Diego is not much of a dog sledding center. 2" of snow in the Lagunas yesterday, gone today. Hmmm

sk