How cold is toooooo cold???

[Debi]

Last night the temp fell to 31......pretty darn burry if you ask me. Now...Addie NEVER wants to be in the house, let alone sleep indoors......never has. Plus, she picks on the cat endlessly if in too long......so she has always slept outside. Dave built both dog houses. They are amazing in design (I'm his biggest fan of all things built..lol) They have double walls, floor, ceiling...with 4" insulation inbetween. They sit up off the ground, are filled with straw now and have doors made of overlapping heavy rubber strips. Both have an overhang and are placed so that they are away from the wind direction. That said........I always start to fret when it gets cold. Dave says I am 'projecting' my feelings, not the dogs. I've seen Addie lay in the snow on a sunny day sleeping peacefully...and yes...I feel cold. lol But, Hammie doesn't seem too inclined to be an outside kinda guy, so I say he should sleep indoors. Thus starts the debate in our house. So....your thoughts. Do any of you keep your dogs outside (in cold climate)? Addie gets fur so thick and even is inbetween her 'toes'....but will Ham get that kind of winter coat??? When it gets ultra cold, we make Addie go into the garage that we heat..but only to about 45 at night. I admit...she HATES it, but I feel better. I don't like heat, so it's not like we're sweating in here either...BUT???? Don't want to be cruel. I happen to know lots of folks around here who think it's just dandy to throw the dog outside in a thin wooden box and they think nothing of it. Hey....dogs get cold, too....so it makes me upset.

 

[tl_ashmore]

Well, I live in Texas, so it very rarely gets that cold here, but I still understand where you are coming from...My dogs don't like to be cold or wet...If it is raining outside, they won't go out, if it's too cold, they won't go out. They even have a house outside, but they would rather stay in the bed or on the couch...

 

[Renee750il]

If Addie's uncomfortable, she'll let you know! It's probably a good idea to bring her into the garage when it's bitter since her water is going to be frozen outside unless she's got one of those heated water dishes. I haven't yet figured out how to make the cord safe on those, especially if the dog is a digger, so I'm not going to recommend that you run out and get one.

As for Master Hammie, it just sounds like he's a house dog. German Shepherds are like that though; they want to be right there at all times. Part of the reason Addie likes to be outside may be that it gives her a break from him! Hammie will get a thick winter coat, especially since he does spend significant time outside. You'll have fun next spring, brushing him out, and the birds will love you for all the cozy nesting material.

Your husband should sell custom built dog houses! Those sound great! And here's a suggestion for summertime: hinge the roof so that it can be raised in hot weather to vent the hot air out the top, and hang the rubber stripping on the door by a removable strip for warm weather. That way there's a fairly comfortable place to shelter out of the rain and summer storms.

By the way, a sprinkling of pennyroyal in the straw will help keep fleas away. You just don't want to put it in a kennel where you have a dog that is pregnant or will be getting pregnant, as it can cause spontaneous abortion if eaten. Women in times past actually used it for just that . . .