Exposed palm roots OK?

This morning I woke up to find some tree trimming done.
Apparently my new pup went to work Christmas Night trimming
a mature Washingtonia Robusta next to my pool (see pic).

Unfortunately it is on a steep hillside and there to prevent erosion
among other things. After thinking: "OK, these things will need to
be trimmed someday anyway", I noticed the exposed roots on the
downhill side (see lower part of pic).

We are having one of the coldest, weirdest winters on record...like
20F below normal with lots of freezes. Perhaps one of you knows
if exposure of roots like this poses any risk to this tree (like freezing)...it
is next to a pool and concrete but on the opposite side.

If I have to I will build a retaining enclosure and fill it with dirt...but part
of the reason for already not doing this is the tree itself: It has grown
straight up and is very healthy. What do you think? Any/all suggestions
very welcomed!

I don't think exposed palm roots would be good in a cold climate. My reaction would be to cover them with soil, or at least mulch.

Funnily enough a while back I posted about exposed roots on one of my palms, an Arenga hookeriana. But it had exposed it's own roots:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1054602/

My 1 yr old "pup" chews on my Washingtonia Robusta too! What are they thinking?! LOL

Yeah:
I think he is trying to teach me how to trim them.
When he was itty bitty he chewed the low hanging leaves.
Now he unearths roots and trims cut fronds.
I give him old ones that I remove the barbs from
and he treats them like prized bones...but he seems
to like the barbs too...they cut me just look'n at them.

LOL Chief! We use to give her old fronds also, but she just shreds them all over the pool deck and then puts them IN the pool. It's also, in her mind, given her "permission" to "play" with the live ones on the smaller palms. So now we don't give her any... trying to keep her from damaging the living ones has become a challenge. I guess we created that though! :-)

Same problem. I found a whole side of a beautiful Med Fan Palm
shredded one morning. I screamed and whacked him with one of
the fronds (no barbs on it...and not much heft). He got so scared
he stopped permanently.

But he still shreds Washingtonias. I believe he has learned to distinguish
between the species.

Smart dog! LOL I can't get near a washingtonia without bleeding though... don't know how the dogs manage it!