There's our little sun dog. He's a sun-lover beyond parallel. Our other little dog, Button, loved the presence of the sun, as well. She was anxious to be in the sun whenever it shone, and we made every effort to accommodate her, although that was never difficult. Unlike her, little Riley begins to shiver come September, when cooler weather begins to prevail.

We understood quickly enough, when he was still a puppy that he was averse to 'cool', longing for warmth, and particularly the warmth of the sun. Our daughter's Chihuahua is like that, but that can be understood considering where the breed originated. And we've seen pocket-sized dogs running about evidently oblivious to the cold, but not Riley. On the other hand, for a poodle, he has a very light haircoat. So we began, as soon as the shivering symptoms appeared in the fall, to dress him in little sweaters, light ones, then progressively heavier ones as the weather became colder.

When he's taken out for a walk, understandably, a much heavier coat is required, and boots when the weather falls too low below the freezing mark and ice and snow is piled high on the ground. But despite his aversion to cold exposure, if the sun is out he wants to be fully involved, basking himself in its warming rays. If it's extremely cold, and the sun is out, he prefers to be outside with it, in it, enjoying its warmth.

So we accommodate him, putting out protection against wind and the prevailing cold, and he sits in a little bivouac we've placed on the deck for his enjoyment. Left in the house he curls up in his bed and just sleeps unendingly until we take him out for his long daily ravine jaunt. Permitted to go out on the deck, he will be sitting, alert and conscious to every sound he hears, everything that moves, revelling in the sun warming him through the cold-protection layers mounded around him.