Topic: Dog care in the cold?

[BLACKDOG]

Just kinda curious what kind of shelter you guys have for your dogs for the winter/ what temps you bring them inside at. 

I've got a Queensland Heeler/Corgi mix, he has fairly thick hair, and is usually quite content outside.  My job has me away from home for 24-48 hours at a time, so obviously he is left outside. I have a doggie door in the man door to the garage from the backyard, and thats where he sleeps.  I've got an old wooden desk with a foot space (enclosed on 3 sides) that he sleeps under, he has a bean bag and a couple of old blankets under there, and I hung an old army wool blanket over the opening, to help hold in body heat. 

The last 2 nights were the first time I was worried about him, as the temps got down to about 0* at my house.  Until then, the lows had been in the upper teens at the lowest, and in the garage the temp never dropped low enough for his water bowl (in the garage) to freeze.  Well, when I got home today, he seemed perfectly happy, just wanted to play ball, but his water bowl (in the garage) had about a half inch of ice on it. 

He loves the snow, he's actually laying out in the middle of the yard right now, on about 4" of it.  I'm not too worried about him freezing to death, but I also want him to be fairly comfortable too, don't want him freezing his butt off and not able to get warm. 


So what do you do with your dogs?  what temps do you bring them in at? 

[WHITE_TRASH]

Me I do nothing special.  I'll let them in if we're just relaxing around the house but otherwise they stay outside.  We have two insulated dog houses that are big enough for all the dogs to fit in either one so they can cuddle if they need to.  The Shepard mix is a princess and he whines if it gets below 40* but the pit doesn't give a rats he's happy to do whatever.  Last night my wife went and picked up a free purebred great dane and i have no idea how she'll react to the cold.  My 'puter says it's 12* at home right now so money says all the dogs are inside with the wife.  She's a softy... 

[Hawk Thor]

The Great Dane has the same fur as Boxers. They are not well suited for cold temps. My Boxer has a fleece coverall, that leaves only her butt, head and paws uncovered. If its very cold, like -15°C I put her in the coverall. Our long haired Chihuahua does NOT like the cold, she is very content just staying home and guarding the cough.

Our Rottweiler doesn´t mind the cold, she can jump in the sea and then run around and play in the snow. I have even taken her on a 4 hour hike in -20°C and mild wind and she loved it, I was mostly worried about her paws.

My dogs sleep in a kennel and have the same temperature as we do in the house.

[blackdiamond]

My wife and I are trying to figure out if we should do anything with our Rottweiler Rufus.  The temperatures have been down in the mid 20's the past few nights and it is predicted to be in the teens the next few nights.  Rufus lives outside and gerenally only comes in for part of the evening to hang out with us.  He has a kennel and insulated dog house that he sleeps in, but since the temperatures have dropped he's been sleeping in the kennel OUTSIDE of the dog house.  From what I can see the cold doesn't bother him, but I'd feel better if he would at least go inside the dog house at night.  Last night my wife brought him in the house and let him sleep on the rug while she slept on the couch to make sure he was "good" since it was a new thing for him.  We're considering sending him to the kennel country club for a few days since we don't want him to get used to sleeping inside and we're worried about the temperatures.  His water freezes in a couple of hours when filled with warm water so I know it's cold.

Any thoughts?

 

[BLACKDOG [OP]]

My wife and I are trying to figure out if we should do anything with our Rottweiler Rufus.  The temperatures have been down in the mid 20's the past few nights and it is predicted to be in the teens the next few nights.  Rufus lives outside and gerenally only comes in for part of the evening to hang out with us.  He has a kennel and insulated dog house that he sleeps in, but since the temperatures have dropped he's been sleeping in the kennel OUTSIDE of the dog house.  From what I can see the cold doesn't bother him, but I'd feel better if he would at least go inside the dog house at night.  Last night my wife brought him in the house and let him sleep on the rug while she slept on the couch to make sure he was "good" since it was a new thing for him.  We're considering sending him to the kennel country club for a few days since we don't want him to get used to sleeping inside and we're worried about the temperatures.  His water freezes in a couple of hours when filled with warm water so I know it's cold.

Any thoughts?

 

My neighbor pretty much told me not to worry about my dog.    he said his rule with his labs was that he brought them in at 0*.  Dogs are pretty self preserving, if its cold, they'll go inside.  If he's got an insulated doghouse, it may actually get too hot for him, because of the body heat a large lab generates.  Even in my dog's space under my desk, when I first set it up as it is now (with the curtain) a week or so ago, I put him outside at 9pm, and let him back in the house at 11pm.  I went out and stuck my head in his "nest" space, and it was warm in there.  If your dog gets cold, he'll go inside.  I know my dog doesn't stay in bed all the time, so that was my mild concern.  Obviously he turned out just fine, so I was curious what other people did with their dogs, hence the reason for this thread. 

[lilbuddy]

I got a purebread black lab and we leave her out a lot. Its been in the 20s here in chico at night and my mom leaves her in the house over night but during the day she stays outside. My dad works at a place that deals with Xerox copiers so he has access to HUGE cardboard boxes that are like 1/2" thick cardboard so my dad picked up a box the other day at work and we made a house for her with her blankes and her pad and we leave it in the grage. WHenever we arent around shes always posted up in that and she stays significantly warmer.

She has a regular dog kennel but she stays in the cardboard box. Its funny.

[854RUN]

I have a Chocolate Lab and if it is snowing out and we wont him inside we have to drag him in side. But that's the lab they come from Newfoundland where is butt ace cold. they have a thicker layer of fat to keep them warm in cold water so it a lot more comfortable for them to be in the cold. My dogs come in and out through a dog door all day long unless its snowing, like i said he just loves it and will even nape in the snow. we put booties on his feet when we snowshoe, there feet are really the only thing you need to worry about.

[Homefries]

I've got a Golden Retriever and she stays outside all the time.  I bought one of those igloo doghouses and I filled a burlap sack with cedar wood chips and put it into her dog house.  This time of year it is snowing and it is usually in the teens all winter long.  She stays warm and comes out smelling like cedar.

[blackdiamond]

We ended up taking Rufus to the kennel yesterday for a short stay.  It started snowing this morning so I guess he'll have an easier time of it.  Ironically, I'm probably paying money for them to let him outside to play in the snow.

 

[Stocker]

We're taking care of my daughter's critter for awhile, and he is an outdoor animal -- needs constant supervision inside and gets into waaaaaay too much trouble.  Luckily it doesn't get too cold here (teens are usually the coldest it gets) and he's quite well suited to the weather (Malamute/German Shepherd/Wolf hybrid).  Lately he's been sleeping in the woodshed and hasn't complained yet.   

[*** YELLER ***]

I have 3 dogs, 2 labs and a lab bordercollie mix and they come in at night 'cause they are spoiled but if we go outa town they stay outside and its no big deal in the winter we make sure that they are let in or I leave an old piece of carpet for them to sleep on under the carport and it gets to bout 20 * sometimes lower, but they seem to get along ok. yer NOT SO BLACKDOG should be ok 



 

[FruitaCrawler]

if you are worried about the water freezeing you can go to most pet stores and get a heated water bowl. they just plug into any outlet and have a small heating element to keep the water somewhat warm. even if they don't have any they should be able to order one for you. we have one for our cats and it keeps it liquid even with how cold it can get in western colorado