sleeping arrangements

[redneckdds]

where does your dog sleep at night? Inside or outside? weve been putting him in the kennel/crate at nights and let the kids take turns having him in their rooms. does anyone leave their dog outside overnight?

[Don]

Bodie sleeps under the covers on my left side and Squirt on my right. They prefer it by my feet but sometimes up near my chest! They been doing that since I brought them home.

[EddieF]

Our dogs stay in crates in the bedroom until they are 100% reliable to not get up in the night and pee somewhere. When Winnie gets a little older (she's 3.5 months) I will probably leave the crate door open but she can be on the bed if she wants. My last dog, a GSP, had a bed on the floor next to our bed, and spent all night going back and forth - under the covers, she'd get too warm, onto her bed. Too cold, back under the covers...etc.

[Karen]

Blaze, Tessa and Chloe sleep in crates. Courage (the old man) sleeps on my bed.

[GSPVIZ]

Mine sleep on the couch downstairs. They pretty much have full roam of the downstairs 24/7 (except for the addition, since I don't want them on that couch).3

When they were pups they slept in the crate.

[RayGubernat]

redneckdds -

All my dogs are outside dogs. Always have been...always will be.

If they are injured or ill they come in to the house for the duration, so I can care for them properly, but if they are healthy, out they stay.

RayG

[56-26]

mine sleep in his crate. Sometimes I fall asleep in beed when we are watching tv, but my wife always end up waking me up to put him away.

[wems2371]

My eleven year old lab spent her first 7 years as an outside only dog, when I was a renter. Since moving into my own house 4 years ago, she is just about perfect in the house. She won't go on the furniture unless asked, and use to sleep on the floor by the bed. The now 16 month old gsp spent her first 8 months or so sleeping in a crate for most of the night. When I let her out for her early morning pee--she got to spend the remaining hours before work in bed. She now sleeps in bed 100% of the time, and for some reason the old lab now goes into the open-doored crate to sleep. I should own stock in swiffers, vaccuum bags, laundry detergent, and windex for the nose prints on the windows. Denise

[GSPVIZ]

Actually when my Viz was a pup she slept in bed with us for a few months. She was like a doggie heater. God it was hot!

[3Britts]

All three of mine sleep in crates in the playroom at night and anywhere in the house or yard during the day.

[Greg Jennings]

The GSP sleeps in a crate. The V moves around. Sometimes with my son, sometimes on the futon/couch in the office, etc. During the day, they keep my wife company in the office.

Once in awhile, I'll fall asleep while reading with one of them still on the bed. They're TERRIBLE bed hogs.

[Sharon]

My husband sleeps in my bed , the dogs sleep in the crate or is that the other way around. Hmmm . Let me think about it for a minute.

[AZ Brittany Guy]

My Britts are outside Kennel dogs..actually they have dog doors that lead into our Barn/Outbuilding. They sleep in 55gal drums with pine shavings, 2 dogs per drum. Like Don said, if one is sick, we let them stay inside until we know they are well. In the house we have a Aussie/Brittany rescue (the matriarch)and my wife's Springer (the princess).

[Killer Instinct]

Both dogs sleep on the king sized bed... twin hot potatos - fine in winter, sucks in summer.... All I get is the edge of the bed... :roll:

[redneckdds]

thx for the replys. We live in the Phoenix AZ area and it doesnt get that cold here, comparatively speaking to rest of the US... basically, it doesnt snow where I live. My wife and I really dont want our home to become a "dog house"... one that smells like dogs when others come over. So for those that have their dogs sleep outside, are they in a heated doghouse or on the lawn or a kennel box? And at what age did you start leaving them outside overnight? the pup is 3 months now.

[ezzy333]

All pf my dogs for years slept outside in unheated houses all of their life. Many were whelped in the kennels as well . I think the coldest we got during those years was 32 below zero.

Ezzy

[AZ Brittany Guy]

Redneckdds,

We lived in Phx since 81 and always brought our dogs in at night and super hot days. Since moving to the Mtns, we have built unheated kennels and with the temps in the teens it has been no problem. I think as long as your dogs have a chance to gradually get used to the temps, you keep them dry and out of the wind, it should not be a problem. I actually think you have more to worry about with the heat. That can kill a dog quicker than cold tempratures.

[ezzy333]

Redneckdds,

We lived in Phx since 81 and always brought our dogs in at night and super hot days. Since moving to the Mtns, we have built unheated kennels and with the temps in the teens it has been no problem. I think as long as your dogs have a chance to gradually get used to the temps, you keep them dry and out of the wind, it should not be a problem. I actually think you have more to worry about with the heat. That can kill a dog quicker than cold tempratures.

Right on!

Ezzy

[Ruffshooter]

Although my dogs don't "sleep" out side at night ( I suspect that will change soon ) They are out side all day Even the short hair during winter. They have their insulated houses with a flap door also have the garage to go into as they wish (In door out door kennel. ( They choose to be outside). You ever stuck your head into the kennel box or dog box the morning of a hunt when the dogs had slept out side? It is toast y warm in there. The biggest issue I have with the outside kennel is cleaning the messes.

I put three of my dogs in crates at night because I am a light sleeper and wake at the sound of mouse foot falls. One, Mercy stays put all night so she sleeps on the queen size bed at night and I sleep on the couch. My bed makes my arms fall asleep.

The dogs don't stay out at night for a couple of reasons, one every deer, racoon, coyote, squirrel owl, etc makes them bark. So I wake up.

I think the heat is somehthing you need to worry about more. I lost a dog years back, my best ever grouse dog Black Bart, I had to go out to the Islands one day and as it would have it, That day was 104 degrees. He and the other dogs were in a shaded spot, dog houses, with 5 gallons of water each, but for some reason he passed. I don't know if something got him over excited or what. (Plus, I think he had some kind of anxiety issues of some sort.

I since made the Indoor/ outdoor kennel.

[fase3]

My GSP lady in 2yrs old and sleeps in a crate in the bedroom with us. A 3 mile morning run then out to the kennel . Another shorter run of a mile or two in the eve. Supper, sometime in the house with us and then off to bed. 8 days and a wakup call till the first quail hunt of the season. It's taking longer than Christmas to get here. This will be my 59th season of hunting Mr. Bob.

[Sharon]

Now there's a lucky dog!

[scout_on_38s]

My 2 GSP's spend the day in their outdoor kennel/run... get to come in and watch tv most evenings 6-9 and then back out to eat dinner and go to sleep. If it gets super cold or storms bad they stay in their crates in the garage.

[Kiki's Mom]

We have a couple house dogs and rotate the others in on a regular basis. Baby Beans has slept on the bed since she was a tiny pup but now she alternates between her crate in the living room and the bedroom, depending on her mood and mine When we rotate the kennel dogs in, they sleep in crates in the living room. Everybody else is outside with dog boxes that are well packed with fresh hay during the winter for warmth and lightly padded with hay in the summer. As long as they can get in, stay DRY and are completely out of the wind they will be fine. Temps can dip as low as 0 here in the mid winter. The wind chill factor often keeps things in the single digits too....ugh. If the weather gets and stays that cold we will often double the dogs up so they can help keep each other warm too. 2 dogs in a box with plenty of good straw/hay stay very toasty together.

[RayGubernat]

Redneckdds -

As I said I have pointers.

I used to live in central NJ and now live in central DE. In the dead of winter(Jan/Feb) the temps in NJ can go down into the teens and rarely, into the single digits. In central DE the temps are more moderate, typically bottoming out in the twenties.

Insulated dog houses, high octane food(30/20 fat/protein) and available fresh water and the adult dogs were always just fine. In the bitterest cold, I would put some bedding(leafy grasss hay, barley straw, wood chips or ,ideally marsh hay) so the dogs could make a little nest inside their houses. As soon as the weather warmed up, they would kick the bedding out.

My dogs are in 5X12 runs and have a fenced back yard to run and exercise in. They do just fine. Always have.

I would expect that your youngster would be fine in an outside run. Just keep an eye on its weight and general condition. If it seems to be losing weight, increase food intake, possibly add some fat to its diet and add some bedding material. I would consider a free feed system, especially since it is a growing dog.

As others have said, in your locale, summer heat is much more of an issue.

Shade and water are survival necessities for an outside dog in truly hot weather.

RayG

[mtlee]

Mine stay outside in a kennel while I'm at school. They sleep inside at night in crates. The only time I leave them outside over night is if I know I'm not coming home until the morning......

[Sharon]

You have to give up those all night parties. I remember what University was like.

[mtlee]

You have to give up those all night parties. I remember what University was like.

I've slowed down a little in Dental School...nothing like college, but I still gotta blow off some steam on Friday and Saturday night