Dogs and Cold Temps

[snakecreekkennels]

This post comes to many of you with outside temeratures below zero and for those of you not experiences these temps, I wish I was where you are!! What do you do to protect your dog from frigid temps. I'm feeling a little guilty this morning writing this as I am toasty warm in front of my computer and my dogs our curled up in their dog boxes outside.

I personally think keeping unfrozen water in front of your dog through out winter is very important. My dogs are in an old hog building out of the wind. They are able to crawl into their boxes which are bedded down with cedar chips and straw.

I'm interested in knowing what everyone else does to make sure their animals are taken care of properly during the winter months.

Marc

[Will]

My GSP is outside in a kennel with a Dog Den 2 box. He is protected from the wind by a garage and a shed on the north and west sides. The door faces south so if he gets heavy wind, it's typically a warmer wind. I use grass hay for bedding and plenty of it. He will drag out excess if he thinks it's too much. I use a heated water bucket so he has a constant supply of fresh water.

I'm a big softy I guess cause when the temps get to single digits for overnights I bring him in and he sleeps in a crate in the basement. It can be a bit of an inconvenience but I can't stand the thought of a dog struggling out there to stay warm.

I just ordered a heating pad that goes under the floor of the Dog Den so maybe that'll make me feel better about the "in-betweener" temps or for the cold days when nobody can be home to let him out for potty and he has to be outside.

[BigShooter]

We've used heavily insulated dog boxes built off the ground into the sides of a building. The entrances are maze shaped a bit like an "S" to block the wind from the bed area. Straw is used inside. Also I have used heated pads but only in a house with a door and a floor area that is large enough so the dog can rest on or off the pad. With varying temps. at times the pad can be too warm. A variety of heated water buckets or dishes have been used. When it was going to be about 15-20 degrees below zero or more the dogs would usually be crated in the house.

Mark

[shorthairguy]

I have insulated wood box's in my barn with stray and also a drop light with a regular light bulb. Havent had a problem with the water freezing in there.

[slistoe]

Just finishing a week of -30 to -35 C temperatures with wind chills in the -40 to -45 C range. I brought the dogs inside the garage for the night. If the dogs are properly acclimated they do very well outside to -30 C (-25 F). They have no heat in the doghouse. Double entrance to cut the wind, well insulated and straw for bedding. Two dogs to a house. As for water, they get water twice a day on their food. What they don't drink right then is picked up as it will freeze in 10 minutes.

If the dog is not properly acclimated to the temperatures then it would be like going outside for the day without putting your jacket on. The drawback to this is that I can't bring the dogs in as much as I do in the summer. They get very uncomfortable inside - kind of like if I was to wear my heavy parka in the house.

[Brittguy]

Just had an interesting observation this morning. My kennels have outdoor runs with doors where each run then has a 4X4 indoor run . There is a spring loaded door so the dogs go in and out at will. The building is heated most of the time at 60F. Right now it is 70F because I have some puppies.This morning the temp was 3 degrees F and I saw a dog curled up outside next to the building. I thought the door was stuck so I went out she had been laying so long that the snow was melted to the cement where she was laying. As I entered the building she came in. The door was working fine she just wanted to lay outside in 3 degree weather.

[BigShooter]

Just had an interesting observation this morning. My kennels have outdoor runs with doors where each run then has a 4X4 indoor run . There is a spring loaded door so the dogs go in and out at will. The building is heated most of the time at 60F. Right now it is 70F because I have some puppies.This morning the temp was 3 degrees F and I saw a dog curled up outside next to the building. I thought the door was stuck so I went out she had been laying so long that the snow was melted to the cement where she was laying. As I entered the building she came in. The door was working fine she just wanted to lay outside in 3 degree weather.

Some bitches will do just about anything to get away from the noise of whining puppies !

[Will]

Ok...it's official....I AM a big softie!!! It's 7deg here and Cash is comfy in his crate in the basement....LOL

[gdog]

Ok...it's official....I AM a big softie!!! It's 7deg here and Cash is comfy in his crate in the basement....LOL

Oh..your far from it. When it got really cold out..my wife would throw an extra down comforter on the bed for her....and the dog to snuggle up in.

[gspgunner]

if you own any of the K-9 condo products( Dog Den), I like to get some opinions. Thanks!

[topher40]

All my dogs stay outside year round, has been hovering around -5 to 0 around here with wind chills around 25 below for the past week. I have them in plastic barrel houses with no door stuffed full of straw. They are in my Morton building so they are protected fromt the wind. I break the water out of their rubber buckets every other day while only adding 1/3rd of a bucket of water at a time. They get watered twice a day. I cant wait to break ground on my new kennels in March, it will be heated so no more breaking water!

[woodedareas]

I live in northern Illinois where its can get very cold. We have raised Pyreenes for many years and they can tolerate the cold.In fact they prefer to be outside. None the less dogs are not live stock. They are part of our family and need special attention in all extremes of weather. I have a garage that is heated to at least 45-50 degrees where the dogs can come in and have fresh water and a warm bed. I always bring them in at night to spend the evening with me and later on toward bedtime they usually go back to their indoor kennels. Exremely cold weather can kill any animal especially shorthair dogs. I would not assume because they are in a elevated dog house that they are doing fine. If possible I would bring them inside the house during extreme conditions. Some of the long hair dogs such as Pyrenees seem to tolerate the extreme cold much better and have a preferance for the cold weather but when given an opportunity they will retreat to dry warm quarters. Perhapd Iam out of line but I am concerned about about leaving any dog outside during extreme conditions. After all arn't they are best friends?
Merry Christmas

[ezzy333]

After all arn't they are best friends?

Nope! My best friends were flying my wings in combat, harvesting my crops when I was in the hospital, and are here to help anytime we need them and a few even join me in the field with their dogs when we have time to get together. That doesn't mean I don't like our dogs or that we don't try to take care of their needs. I do think cold and heat can be very stressful on them if they are not given adequate shelter. Back in the days when we had a large kennel and boarded and trained dogs they all lived in an unheated shed with outside runs. The only dogs we had to watch closely were the vizslas. The rest handled it well. Our Brits now are outside in a kennel inside a shed that is heated to 35 degrees but with an outside run and except on the worse weather days they spend a lot of time in the run. And when we bring them inside in the evening they get hot easily.

I have found if dogs are fed well, can get out of the wind, and can stay dry they are quite comfortable outside in a well bedded house in temps down to -30 but that is about as cold as we have experienced here. However, there is nothing wrong with getting them in to a little warmer area either if you have the place to do it.

Ezzy

[slistoe]

ezzy, I agree. -30 they can handle given good shelter and proper acclimitation. But below that I have always given them respite from the elements. We see a fair amount of colder weather.

[scout_on_38s]

My dogs stay in outside kennels, Dog houses stuffed with prairie hay. If it get into the sigle digits over night they stay in their dog boxes in the garage. Otherwise they are outside all the time. Sometimes if it stays super cold during the day I'll let the 2 of them kennel together. Then they'll squeeze into the same dog house. --- Charlie