Question on the outside dog.

[Tommy Coyote]

I am taking care of a corgi that stays outside most of the time. He is very heavy coated. His owners just leave the gargage door open enough for him to come and go. And inside the garage he has a crate with extra blankets and his crate is covered with a blanket so he can just curl up in there.

 

He comes in at night and sleeps in the laundry room in his crate.

 

Its about zero here right now with no wind. And he seems to be just fine. He doesn't really even seem to notice that its extra cold out.

 

If he has good shelter like this how much cold can a heavy coated dog like this take? He gets a good, high quality food.

[Sue R]

Does he have good shelter outside during the day? I'd say if he had a cozy place to go curl up if and when he wants to (like a crate with a blanket covering and a cushy bed inside, out of the wind, then he sounds like he'd be fine. As long as he's not shivering, I would think that he's not having to turn on the "afterburners" to stay warm (in which case, I would bring him in or put him into a better shelter).

 

Dogs with good coats can stay amazingly comfy in cold weather. The stockier the dog and the denser the coat, the cooler the weather that they are comfy in. And, if he's acclimated to the cold, bringing him inside might find him more uncomfy due to heat. Dogs are not the only ones that are readily adapted to cold. If I remember correctly, for cattle, it is more an issue of losing sufficient heat to not overheat until the temps drop to near-freezing.

 

But, I think, as you point out, having adequate shelter for an alternative is the key.

[mbc1963]

My father's old husky/shepherd mix used to sleep out on the screen porch all winter - even when it was below zero. She would not come inside, even when asked to. I think she must have felt too hot pretty much all of her life, and winter was the one time she felt that the climate was appropriate.

 

So, I'd say the corgi could stay in the garage/covered crate a long time.

 

Mary

[ejano]

My father was a southerner and didn't have a concept of what "below zero with windchill" meant. He would like the beagles' kennels with hay and they were in the barn, but my mother would always sneak out and put my old sweaters on them....

 

Liz

[KrisK]

When I was a kid, we had a Pomeranian mix (just a little guy) who HATED being inside. He would burrow a nice hole for himself in the snow under the steps and stayed quite toasty. If he was forced to come in, he would hi-tail to the unfinished basement rather than stay where it was warm. Laddie lived to be 15-16 years old and never did become an 'inside' dog. Pomeranians are a spitz breed and he had the heavy coat that kept him warm. This was not far from where I live now, so the temperatures could easily stay well below freezing all winter. Times have changed a lot...my parents had a series of dogs after Laddie, but they lived inside - including another Pomeranian, who was aptly named Shadow for following my dad everywhere, including the bush where my dad cut his firewood all winter.

[IPSY]

Dogs who are accustomed to being outside and have the opportunity to go into shelter and have a comfy bed ( hay or whatever) they seem to do fine. Personally I dont like it though. My husband has kennels and dog houses outside for his Shepherds , but they do come in at night. We have indoor stalls for them in the basement/washroom/grooming room. They only go out during the day for short periods of time when its really cold and snowy out .

They rather be outside then inside , I can tell you that . I would have one up stairs with me from time to time and she would pine at hte door to be let outside ,even today , which is like 10 degrees and snowing ! They are just so used to it.

My dogs ( BCs X 3 + Beagle ) wouldnt like to be out all day , they might miss something good inside ! But it all comes down to where Mom is at the time , and of course what they are used too...

[Tommy Coyote]

I went back up and checked on him just to make sure he was doing OK. He was fine. His water in the garage was just freezing up after about 5 hours so that garage must stay pretty close to freezing. I think the owners leave him outside everyday (and he always has the garage to take shelter in so he isn't just outside in elements).

 

His owners are back now which is a good thing because it just is getting colder and colder. By Friday nite it will be -13. That is really cold for here.