Haha. Well, that's why I've always thought they haven't brought in the law. I remember doing this when I was a kid...listening to the radio hoping school was closed.
About 1 foot of snow left on the ground from previous storms Temperature.....0 Fahrenheit.... with Windchill....-18 Windchill. In my misspent youth, weather like this meant...time to go snowshoeing.
But there would be a six month waiting list to get them fitted! We don't get enough snow to warrent it. Maybe if we just closed down more often, people would be safer and happier. Sure it would impact the economy a little, but so will brexit (OK maybe not a little) and some people seem mad keen on that!
Takes way less than an hour to pop them on (and I'm useless with cars) and you just do it yourself and off you go, top speeds on snow and ice covered roads. No problem.
I think people tend to just have a set of “winter wheels” which tend to be a bit scruffier with the winter tyres on them then a set of summer rims which are obviously much prettier , so it’s just a straightforward wheel change. You still have the issue of storing 4 wheels somewhere all year though.
Maybe a little, I don't really know. But most people just change them themselves..It's the "liberal metropolitan elite" in their cushy IT jobs that take the cars to garages to get their tyres changed. That's usually the case - The rims on my winter tyres are a mess. It's just part of life here, so you can usually stick them in a neighbour or family members garage or shed or whatever if you don't have space and then help each other change all the tyres over in November. Garages and tyre shops (?) will store them for a small fee per year and then switch them over for you when the time to change them comes. Still, winter tyres don't make your car 100% safe on the road in the winter and you still have to be cautious. I totalled my car a few years back in the winter....just slid straight down a hill and into some old lady sitting in her car. :O No one was hurt, she was in a hire car and I got a ton of insurance money...it actually worked out quite nicely.
Still sounds creepy. We're not exactly on the strong snow front either, but I am glad, that winter tires are mandatory here. Germany is right, yes. I got milking grease; that's supposed to help the paws as well. But at the same time, I read that you have to be careful, not to make the paws too soft, as that's problematic as well, so I'm a bit unsure on what to do. Most of the time, whenever possible, I drag him over grass or so far to one side, that we hardly go through the salt at all. The cut is dumb too: It is tiny! But it's not somewhere in the middle of the paw, but right on the edge, as if you tried to cut slice ( a very tiny winy one! Otherwise we would have been to the vet!) of it. Probably not even 2mm in length, way less "deep" - but enough to make him lick too much for a couple of days. I actually considered those and even looked some up. But when he was a pup I tried to put socks on his feet, just so he knows it, in case something happens - or for snow. I did that, when he was eating - and even than he took them off constantly. Since we don't have too much snow usually and because I'm kind of scared that he breaks his legs, when he runs in them, I put them off for the moment. Should the snow come for a while longer, they're back on the "think about them"side for sure. Actually they even are for training purposes only and that he might walk properly on laminate and some tiles as well - apparently he slipped once too much on the floor in my hallway; now he was so scared, I hardly dared to walk this meter through it. Only did it, to come back to me. Luckily it's a bit better again; I trimmed the fur between the balls of his feet. Well, that was more about the dog, that I had planned, sorry I don't even have a drivers license, let alone a car, but when people here take their cars to a mechanic, it mostly seems because it's more convenient, and less about the trouble it makes to do it yourself. Absolutely. I was in the bus last year when it suddenly started to snow a lot some time before - the bus driver wouldn't even try to get the bus up the hill, it was supposed to drive due to it's route. (I felt sorry for the driver, as I could imagine some people complaining, as if it where just to annoy them). Earlier that route, the driver needed more than five minutes, to even make a singe curve, because the bus wasn't maneuverable enough. Fun note: the same hill, the bus didn't make - some cars tried it and made it with some work, another one got stuck in the middle. So obviously it was for the best to not try that with a bendy bus, when not even all cars could make it up.
I'm sure you know all this...but just in case: If his foot doesn't heal, stick the paw in a sock and tape it to stop him licking it. Then there's always the "cone of shame". Maybe keep walks to a minimum for a couple of days too, even skip a day and just take him out for wees and poos. If I remember right, increasing the dogs fat intake over the winter helps their paws too. Wooden floors aren't so good for dogs. We have a whole bunch of big mats all over the house to help them walk about or they slip all over the place and I can't imagine it's good for their joints. Just bought big and cheap stuff from Ikea, nothing fancy and doesn't matter if we have to replace rather than clean them. No worries about the dog talk...we have three, so dogs have pretty much taken over my life anyway. Hope it heals or has healed, the winter can be hell on their paws.
Thanks for these advises anyway! To pick out some points: It's alright already. The cut was really tiny and just seemed to be annoyance. Rev is very slim, so far he doesn't own anything that counts as "fat" at all. He has 50/51 centimeters and weighs roughly 16kg (give or take 200gramms). He does get enough to eat, he gets treats a lot (I am cheap; this way I make clear, that he listens outside . Puberty made me go sure, even though he really is easy most of the time. As long as he is not on the leash - there he likes to drag(?) until I want to counter that and make him fly back to me ), but he gains weight slowly. Giving his age of only 10 months though I'm not worried at all. He's as healthy as can be, as far as I can say. We bought some rugs for the same reason. Problem is, he makes them slip around as well. Know I'm looking for carpet, which isn't as easy as you would think, if you don't want to spend hundreds of Euros or want to get the most hideous things out there! At the moment he is bit more relaxed again, so he walks normally the meter until he is out of the flat - nothing happens then. But I really don't want him to be scared of the floor all now and then; that's neither for him nor for me a nice experience. Sweet. At some point I'd like to get a second dog. If I'd want that in three months or four, I could get one of his new siblings. But I want him grown first and also very well trained no matter what. What sort of dogs do you have? (We can move the pet talk here, so not to crash this thread ) Thanks! I love the snow, I hate the salt. And when I clean his paws he licks non-stop at my hands - because, hey, they're wet! Gosh, he's a nutcase at times. On a side note: My dog probably knows as much words for "no" Snow is already gone here. I really, really hope, it comes back soon! I loved, it made have two nice days, and I am really seriously sick of the rain!
Want some of mine? It is actually warm here today, by comparison....28 degrees Fahrenheit.....by Monday it will be unseasonably warm...40....well that right there is swimming weather
Snowmaggedon II Starting around noon snowing 1 to 2 inches per hour with a side of freezing rain somewhere in the next 24 hours. But when it is all done we are supposed to get 7 to 10 inches. Everything is closing early.....but not my office.... I get to drive home during the peak of the storm
6 inches of snow.... now it is sleet... 2 inches of sleet on top of the snow... supposed to change back to snow before morning... should be fun clearing the driveway (for the snd time) in the morning
I learned that clearing 6 to 12 inches of snow from my driveway with a snow blower, is much MUCH easier than clearing 2 inches of sleet from my driveway with a snow blower.... I will likely be sore in the morning.
I have two all season tires on the front of my car. I’ll eventually get all 4 done. I used to change over the front two wheels every year to snow tires. Got to say, the all seasons ones are good and it means no swapping of tires and they are good in the rain too. My drive to and from work takes me into the Peak District on some high and bad roads and the all Seasons cope realy well. I have had some hairy, scary drives home with them on.
Still need to be careful though. Winter tyres are enforced by law here, motorway speeds drop from 120 km to 100 for a few months...and I still saw a seven car pile up going to work on the motorway the other day (driving way to0 close prob - it's a big problem here). I switched my all weather tyres over for studded tyres a few weeks ago. Studs (think they're illegal in the UK and a lot of other countries) are a bit better on ice and the non-studded winter tyres are better for snow, we get more ice on the roads in south Finland than snow. My old tyres weren't gripping too well, but that could be due to age, it was super scary at times. I used to have studded tyres on my mountain bike too. Work pretty well as long as you don't try and corner to sharply. My girlfriend wants to move to the Peaks...if we do, then I'd get some all season tyres...no way I'm spending 2 hours to go 3 miles just 'cause there's 1 mm of snow on the ground.
