Rules of winter puppy walking

1) Labs have no traction on ice.

2) Puppies will pull on the leash just as you encounter a slight downhill slope that is pure ice under the snow.

3) Gravity works.

My back and ego may be bruised, but less so since another GEB raiser tells me that the same thing happened to her on the same day.
Two lessons: Walking around the yard may be boring, but it's safer than the unplowed private road. And this is why I keep the leash around my wrist, so that said puppy stays with me rather than bolting to god knows where. At least he came to lick my face.