We study the dynamics of 2 d spin-ice following a quench from a fully disordered initial condition (equilibrium at infinite temperature) into its disordered, ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic phases. We analyze the evolution of the density of topological defects and we show that these take finite density over very long periods of time in all kinds of quenches. We identify the leading mechanisms for the growth of domains in the ordered phases and we evaluate the (anisotropically) growing lengths involved in dynamic scaling.