Windy doesn't like her bathroom to have ice and snow.

A friend brought home a puppy yesterday, and I don’t envy her.

With the usual Ohio mix today of sleet, ice, snow and rain, waste management will not be easy. When you can control your conditions, housetraining does not have to be difficult, but toss in the variable of Mother Nature and it gets dicey.

I can’t blame a furkid for not wanting to go out in freezing, snowy weather; however, you must stick to a schedule. If you choose to paper-train for a while that can work.

Our first puppy was paper-trained. He loved his papers so much it took us weeks of taking newspapers outside for him to pee on. It got us some strange looks. His house-training though was excellent.

By the way, don’t believe anyone who says, “My dog never does anything in the house.” Dogs will get sick. You may get delayed at work. Accidents will happen. This is why I buy sturdy paper towels and cut up old T-shirts for rags.

And if you are new to house-training: Never rub your furkid’s nose in his waste. He has no idea what that means. Praise him lavishly when he goes on the papers or outside. Every time he walks by the door, put him out.

As for my furkids, they are about 95 percent accurate when they need the piddle pads, and with today’s ice and snow, they will use them in spite of my efforts to herd them outside. (When I leave the great room, one of them will sneak onto the pad.) Hope’s problem is she sometimes gets only her front paws on the pad then cuts loose; however, I am grateful my puppy mill girl has learned to get on the pad most of the time.