Next time you let a sprinkle of rain put you off a dog walk, remember Tony Nick and his rescue dog, who brave –40 degree temperatures in northern Alberta, Canada.
In a video posted to his TikTok account @tonynicko, Nick’s dog can be seen standing by the back door eager to get outside.
“Wanna go outside hey? OK,” he can be heard saying before opening the door to reveal thick snow. As the icy winds blow through the doorway, the dog quickly retreats back into the warmth of the house, thinking better of it, while Nick can be heard laughing.
“POV: Your dog has to pee but it’s -40 outside,” reads the text.
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The video has been viewed by 20.7 million viewers, and in his only other video, Nick films himself out on an icy walk with his dog, who he describes as “50% malinois, 25% Staffie, and then equal parts malamute, St. Bernard, and border collie.”
“My dog can only tolerate about, I don’t know a five-minute walk before her paws get too cold,” he says in the second video. “Could do more if she’d keep her booties on but she doesn’t.”
Many users in the comments urged Nick to get a jacket and boots for his dog.
“For people commenting about her needing a coat or booties, trust me, she’s fine. When it’s THAT cold, we go out for only a few minutes,” he explained in a comment.
He mentions in another comment, “We have to here. Avg daily lows in Jan are -20C (-4 F). I keep the house around 20-21 C (68-70 F). We have forced air natural gas heating.”
Located in western Canada, the province of Alberta made the news over the past weekend for record-breaking cold temperatures.
“In Alberta, temperatures revisited levels last witnessed a generation ago on Sunday morning,” reported The Weather Network. “Keg River experienced a record low of -51.5 C, marking Canada’s second -50 C reading this season and Alberta’s third in two decades. The first -50 C reading in the province for this period was -52 C in Worsley in 2004.”
The city of Edmonton in Alberta hasn’t reached an overnight low of -40 C since 1972, according to the Canadian Broadcast Corporation (CBC), and the extreme weather has put a huge strain on Alberta’s infrastructure.
“On Thursday, demand for electricity in Alberta hit a new hourly peak of 12,384 megawatts as extreme cold weather blanketed the province, the Alberta Electric System Operator said,” reported the CBC.
“Between Tuesday and Thursday evening, the Alberta Motor Association received more than 10,000 requests for roadside assistance across the province.
“In some communities, the call volume has been up to nine times higher than normal, with dead batteries the most common trouble.”
The rescue dog’s reaction to the extreme weather certainly tickled viewers’ funny bones.
“Nevermind, I’ll hold it, rofl,” said one user.
“It’s like opening the freezer door,” commented one user.
“My cat went outside and immediately threw up,” wrote another user.
Newsweek has reached out to @tonynicko via TikTok for comment.
Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to [email protected] with some details about your best friend and they could appear in our Pet of the Week lineup.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.