How Henry The Weather Dog Endured His First Winter, Was Unimpressed By It, But Came Out Victorious

Henry the Weather Dog, with a "What am I doing here?"
look on his face in early December, the start of the first
Vermont winter. He gradually grew accustomed to it, sort of.

Time for a little fun. And a cute little video at the bottom of the post to illustrate everything. 

I'm sure people who have seen this blog thingy have seen images of my co-worker and close friend, Henry the Weather Dog.

He took on the weather watching job here in St. Albans last May, not long after Jackson the Weather Dog passed away after 14 years of exemplary service. 

Henry proved very much up to the task even though he, like Jackson, hated rain. I guess rain messed with both their hairdos. Or their aura. Or something. 

Henry is a South Texas dog, hailing from San Antonio He was used to hot weather and sunshine. 

He was in luck not long after he moved to Vermont. His favorite weather is warm sunshine. Actually hot sunshine.  He could spend hours basking in sun, As Henry soaked up the sun's heat, I told myself he was helping me study how the sun's intensity changed, how it affected our temperature, and humidity. And whether it would help produce thunderstorms, which are my favorite kind of weather. 

The thunderstorm never really came. During the summer and fall, a severe drought took hold. So did unusually high temperatures. Sometimes record highs. While his humans wilted in the heat, Henry thrived in it. He must have thought Vermont's climate was just like what he experience in the torrid San Antonio summers.  

Boy, was Henry in for a surprise! It abruptly turned colder toward Halloween. Henry had never seen snow before. How would he handle a Vermont winter?

The answer came in November and the answer was: Not great. It was bad enough when we had a dusting of snow on November 9. His reaction, like mine, frankly, was "What is this shit?" Except he'd never seen it before. If the snow as a movie, he'd give it a zero on Rotten Tomatoes. Given a chance, Henry would literally throw rotten tomatoes if it would make the snow go awy. 

Henry is a little guy, so a couple days after that his introduction to snow flurries, we got our first big snowstorm of the season. Nearly a foot of snow fell. Henry was not having it. 

Henry never came around to really love the snow in our long, cold winter. It seemed the snow would never melt. But ever the trooper, he found the bright side of it. 

He discovered critters hid under the snow. He could hunt! That was his favorite winter activity. Twice this winter he dug his snout into the snow and murdered two voles (I sanctioned the crimes, so all is good). I dug paths through the snow, so he can follow his nose and track where everything has gone. 

As the winter cold deepened, his visits outdoors shortened. He spend a few seconds to confirm it was below zero outside, and then he scooted right back inside to burrow into his cozy blankets. 

Even so, Henry has been productive. He ate ice off of the driveway, doing his part to make the pavement safer. He kept predators away. Deer and rabbits, desperate for food because of icy snow covering the ground for so long, decimated some of my hydrangeas. 

It was only 20 degrees or so today, but the March sun
is feeling warmer. So Henry the Weather Dog is 
lingering outside a little longer now that the
sun and the pavement feel warmer 

Henry is trying to save the hydrangeas by peeing around them to provide a deterring scent.

 On several occasions, most recently yesterday, he saw deer approaching the house and barked and snarled them back deeper into the woods. Don't worry, he was on a leash, he doesn't chase deer into exhaustion.

Both Henry and I have noticed the sun getting stronger as we head into March. 

It was only 20 degrees or so this afternoon, but the March sun actually felt kind of warm. Henry sat down, lingered on a dry spot in the driveway, sat down, closed his eyes....and basked. 

Spring is coming. Eventually.  

The deer will go away like they do every spring, to be replaced by hordes rabbits, which he will gleefully flush from the gardens. 

Henry has found his home. Despite its drawbacks, he tells me he's going to continue on as my weather dog for quite some time yet. He deserves a raise. 

Video: Henry's journey through his first Vermont winter. He wasn't always happy about it, but he persevered. Click on this link to see the video, or if you see the image below, click on that.

 

Jackson The Weather Dog, Faithful Companion For 14 Years, Passes Away, Leaves Loving, Joyful Legacy

Jackson as a puppy, spending his first full day living
with his dads in St. Albans, Vermont, July, 2011.

Jackson Ebenezer Modereger Sutkoski, loving companion, best friend, terrorizer of lawn mowers connoisseur of carrots and an all around Good Boy, passed away Monday, April 21 at the age of 14. 

Also known as Jackson the Weather Dog, he was instrumental at helping me with morning weather observations and supervising the work.
  

Born in southeastern Vermont in the spring of 2011, he came to live with us in St. Albans on July 26, 2011, quickly becoming our happy go lucky partner in crime.

Jackson's likes and dislikes quickly became apparent, though his likes far outweighed everything else.  His super power was finding absolute joy in the simplest of thing, and encouraging us humans to do the same.

Even though Jackson didn't love cold winter weather,
he was willing to ignore the chill if it meant
playing games with sticks he found in the yard. 

His joys included rolling in the cool grass during the summer, or, in the winter, rolling in the snow, eating the snow, or chasing snowballs around the yard. 

However, he hated snowmen, and demanded they be knocked over if one should appear. 

Jackson also loved taking walks around the property with his dad Jeff, as they checked out the plants, the trees, and what animals have bee around. 

Jackson also always looked forward to his daily excursions outside with Jeff to go get the mail. 

He also loved hanging close by his sister Tonks, who came to live with us in 2014 until her passing in May, 2023. 

In the evenings, Jackson would watch TV with us,  getting his well-deserved neck scratches and scrounging for any crumbs on the floor Matt or Jeff happened to drop.  Later at night, he'd sleep peacefully on our bed, safe between his two dads. 

He loved to eat, and the big events for Jackson each day was when Jeff fed him his breakfast and dinner.

Jackson always encouraged us all to roll in the grass
under shade trees on hot summer days. 

His favorite food was carrots. One of Jackson's most thrilling tasks was helping his dad Matt thin the carrot crop growing in the raised beds during the summer. 

He'd quickly dispose of the too-small carrots that Matt pulled out by quickly eating them. 

Jackson also helped Matt with various garden work, like planting zinnias, weeding garden beds and warding off hungry rabbits. 

With a low, menacing growl and a quick chase, Jackson would scatter the rabbits, forcing them to flee into the woods,    thus saving Matt's perennials from being eaten away. 

The rabbit thing was part of Jackson's efforts to make sure everything was in the proper place in his world.   He'd bark his disapproval if dad Matt parked his truck in the "wrong" place or untidily left a pile of sticks or brush in the yard, or some errant birds trespassed on his lawn. 

A boy's boy, Jackson was fascinated by trucks and lawn mowers. Especially lawn mowers. In one dangerous incident, he crossed a busy highway to guard a lawn mower a neighbor had left near his front stoop. (We installed invisible dog fencing right after that incident).

Jackson on patrol, keeping hungry rabbits out of the
gardens around his St. Albans, home, as seen here
in July, 2021. 

One of his favorite pastimes was having Matt repeatedly push a lawnmower (with its engine off) down a hill so he could chase and bark at it. 

He loved people, especially children, and could always melt the coldest of hearts with his soulful brown eyes and furiously wagging tail.  

He didn't like being alone. Jackson  howled in disapproval if we had to leave him only for a short time. 

When Jeff or Matt returned, it was all kisses and hugs and neck rubs. He would even make his dad Matt lie down on the floor when he returned home so he could rub against him, and the canvas bag that Matt always carried. The canvas bag was Jackson's "girlfriend." 

Jackson was always helpful and patient as dad Matt went outside to check the morning weather. Jackson hated being rained on, but tolerated it for the few minutes he had to go outside. Like his dads, Jackson was also not a fan of winter cold, and liked to stay in his warm and cozy house. 

He was always an optimistic dog, bouncing back from injuries and health crises with aplomb. In his older years, he couldn't run and jump like he used to, so he'd go out on the deck to watch the world around him, like his late sister Tonks taught him to do. 

Jackson doing his best to try and melt an unseasonable
late season snowfall in April, 2022. 

He was still a happy pup to the end.  This morning, Jackson told us it was time to say goodbye.  He died peacefully, painlessly and quietly, with his dads by his side, bidding him a loving farewell.

Jackson is survived by his dads, Jeff Modereger and Matt Sutkoski of St. Albans, Vermont; aunts and uncles Lynn and David Jenne of West Rutland, Vermont; Laurie and Bennie Carrara of Shrewsbury, Vermont; and Brian and Michelle Modereger of DeSoto, Kansas. 

Jackson was pre-deceased by his sister Tonks back in 2013. He was also pre-deceased by his grandparents,  Red and Pauline Sutkoski of West Rutland, Vermont; Don and Lois Modereger of Yankton, South Dakota and aunt Donna Stengle of Yankton, South Dakota.

In lieu of flowers, Jackson asked that, if possible, consider adopting a pet from your local shelter.  Or if adopting is not possible,  he suggested donating money, material or time to your favorite animal shelter. 

Jackson also asked that you do what he did in life: Just find joy and friendship anywhere you can find it, and always be friendly and gentle.