Oh, and a tip for people who live in areas where water freezes over.
I saw a documentary about wolves decades ago. In one scene, a wolf wanted to cross a partially frozen river and you could tell it was being exceedingly careful where it was putting its feet, unlike most dogs who will race onto ice like idiots and even run to the ices edge to take a drink.
That happened once when I took a friends dog on a winter hike. It fell in at the ices edge trying to get a drink and couldn't climb up the soft ice & snow along the edge. The water wasn't flowing too fast and was about chest deep on me, but there was a log jam a ways downstream and I couldn't just sit there and wait for the dog to die, so I laid out flat on the ice and managed to get a hand on its collar.
With Zain's first winter I took him places where I knew the ice was thin but was safe for him to fall through, as the water was slow moving and only about chest deep for him. When he did fall through, I just kept walking, having given him no indication there was any danger and didn't even stop to help him get out.
It shocked the hell out of him, he hated it, and it's a lesson that stuck for every winter for the rest of his life. It's a real relief to know he won't put either of us in danger.
When you think about it, even the dumbest kid in class would remember which house gives out full size chocolate bars at Halloween...us mammals can have long memories when it's important!
