Whew! Cold this morning...

[Chef-Kergin]

so winter is finally here.

there was 3 inches of snow yesterday, and it was 9 degrees this morning.

i've started adding warm chicken stock to aubrey's food...it's the only way to get her out of her house and to eat her food before it freezes. :eek:

i also hung a piece of burlap over the entrance, and packed the house so damn full of straw it's like a fortress in there for her, as per advice given by some members of the board.

what do you do to combat the cold?

the wife argues with me, but she reluctantly agrees it's worse to get her warm, cold, warm, cold etc by bringing her in and out of the house, or gettin her wriled up on her chain when she gets home from work, so she settles for taking her on a walk before the sun goes down before the dog's second meal.

[yellaman420]

I was reading the title and thought "hmmm...it snowed 3" here yesterday too...." then I remembered where Kergin was from......(sigh)...Sometimes I even amaze myself. =)
But I say youre on a good path with packin her house and exercising/walkin'/feeding then puttin her to bed. Gets the blood pumped up, keeps her warmer, allows the food to digest and when she hops in the straw, more residual heat is trapped in there for her to enjoy. And other than pups, sick ones, or preggo's they all go outside! That way when Im ready to run one at 530am, he's already used to the chill and doesn't hold his paws up when we get in the snow.

[SMOKIN HEMI]

It is supposed to be 70 here in Atlanta Sat and Sun...lolhttp://www.game-dog.com/forums/images/icons/icon6.gif

We need rain though.. BADhttp://www.game-dog.com/forums/images/icons/icon9.gif

[BoiBoi]

yea we got about an inch yesterday, but its been cold as all hell for the past few days. The winds have made it feel like negetive temps, but im used to it so no biggie. I basically do the same thing, pack the hell out of the house with straw, but i've actually been letting the dog sleep inside during the nite because its been real nasty and i figured why not, i've only got one right now. Now water freezing in the bowl, well thats another damn issue that i have every year, can't buy a heated bowl cause he'll chew the wires and everything i've tried doesn't seem to work, shoot when its 10 out the water freezes mighty quick. Anyone have any ideas?

[AndrewPeabody]

BC: THAT IS MEAN! 70? Screw needing rain. There is 2" and the wind chill is about 4 here in the Mighty Mitten (It's Michigan, just incase some of you don't know our state looks like a freaking mitten.)

Anyhow, is it tooooooooooo cold for the dogs to be outside ALL the time? I am watching 2 for a buddy of mine. I have a area, 10x20, seperated in half. Each one has a 10x10 area. Cement floor. Dog house in each. Straw in each. Snow in each. Realistically, is it too cold for them? I feeeeeeeeeel so bad for them and their little feet. They are 12 months old. Any opinions on that as well as the OP would be great.

Andrew

[fitzpit]

I've never seen snow before.

right now its about 75 ... will probably be wearing shorts on christmas :D
Jax FL

[Miss Conduct]

Holy sheep testicles thats cold! We got about 5" here a few days ago, but it certainly wasn't 9 degrees! Its been usually around 25 at night and 40 during the day. Its suppose to be 16 Sunday night though :(

[bullydogs]

yea we got about an inch yesterday, but its been cold as all hell for the past few days. The winds have made it feel like negetive temps, but im used to it so no biggie. I basically do the same thing, pack the hell out of the house with straw, but i've actually been letting the dog sleep inside during the nite because its been real nasty and i figured why not, i've only got one right now. Now water freezing in the bowl, well thats another damn issue that i have every year, can't buy a heated bowl cause he'll chew the wires and everything i've tried doesn't seem to work, shoot when its 10 out the water freezes mighty quick. Anyone have any ideas?I know we not far from each other. Cold is right. The wind was doing the damage. However, at night it calms down a little. Took my female out yesterday for 2hr walk....face was numb....other than that i was alright. I have lived my whole life in the Tri-State area and still not used to it. I am going south and soon. North Carolina or more south here i come.

I personally dont keep the dogs outside. I have a few friends that do. The key is the set up...somebody posted some really nice blue prints for building a insulated dog house on here..... i ll see if i can find it and give it a bump. The water freezing in the bowl is tough, like stated above the heated bowls are risky. I guess you gotta keep checking it, my one friend always feeds twice a day. He mixes the feed with Vertex and then adds alot of somewhat warm water. The dogs take care of that pretty quickly.....atleast guarantees them a good amount of water twice a day.

Hopefully, in a year or so i will be futher south. Will not have to worry about the snow so much. I could settle for 80-90's year round, i could care less about snow and freezing temps.

[BoiBoi]

I know we not far from each other. Cold is right. The wind was doing the damage. However, at night it calms down a little. Took my female out yesterday for 2hr walk....face was numb....other than that i was alright. I have lived my whole life in the Tri-State area and still not used to it. I am going south and soon. North Carolina or more south here i come.

I personally dont keep the dogs outside. I have a few friends that do. The key is the set up...somebody posted some really nice blue prints for building a insulated dog house on here..... i ll see if i can find it and give it a bump. The water freezing in the bowl is tough, like stated above the heated bowls are risky. I guess you gotta keep checking it, my one friend always feeds twice a day. He mixes the feed with Vertex and then adds alot of somewhat warm water. The dogs take care of that pretty quickly.....atleast guarantees them a good amount of water twice a day.

Hopefully, in a year or so i will be futher south. Will not have to worry about the snow so much. I could settle for 80-90's year round, i could care less about snow and freezing temps.
I'm right behind u man, would love to move down south in a few years, right now gotta stack that paper and hope for the best. The problem i'm having with water is the fact that im at work all day so i can't check it to break up the ice.

[monsta409]

i know it been cold down here in galveston but we dont get any snow at all except for in 2005 was only here or about 3days tops,all i did was use wood shavings and a thick warm cover with a piece of burlap over the door seemed to do the trick for those days i just been using old bed comforters we dont use anymore cuzz it's not that cold really,the coldest it's been here was 42 at night and around 60-70 during the day and the water never freezes...and i just put there food in there house with them,at one time i was wanting to put a heat lamp in there house but didnt want to start a fire and have burnt dog for breakfast j/k...

[hrdeluxe]

It was 5 degrees this morning where I am. The mutts didn't care one bit.

[440rider]

we feed twice a day morning and night and give a 1-4 - 1-2 cup extra each feeding during cold months....also, keeping our housing entrances turned south shields them from the north and westerly winds. By not excercising our animals too much in winter and keeping them inactive we feel they can pack on the fat from the extra calories for the colder winter months. for those in extreme weather consider heat bulbs, insulated housing or inside kennels. good luck!

[Ratler123]

Man I live in California and have never seen the snow fall in my life

[shadyridgekennel]

yea this morning was very cold. about 8 when i woke this morning.we have heavy houses with 2 rooms in them. we just stuff them with straw and have heavy duty flaps on them.the buckets ya cant do much about. 2 times a day i go out there with a kettle and pour it over the bottom of the buckets and the ice comes out and then i put just enought water from the kettle so the dogs get a chance to drink.they get fed twice a day we add calf milk replacer and cod liver oil to there feed in the morning feedings. but if its below 10 degrees out they come into the inside kennel where its kept 50 degrees.

[frenchie1936]

yep...... 76 degrees today in the ft. lauderdale area. i sure wasn't complainin. sat next to my palm tree decked out with lights and had a few cold ones.

[yellaman420]

Here are the pics...The pups over here seem to like them.

[Chef-Kergin]

here's a link to a thread where i found some insulated dog house plans

http://www.game-dog.com/forums/showthread.php?t=24924

i'm busy right now at work, but the house she has now suffices; i'll be building a new one over my two week shut down after x-mas.

right now, i only have the one dog on a chain. where her house is at, is near enough for me to run an extension cord to the back of her house. she has a 5 gallon heated water dish, that has yet to freeze. cost me 30 bucks, but hey, i'm not taking a new bucket out there every few hours. when i have more, that'll prove a chore.... it's set such that she can reach the bucket from the end of her chain, and the plug is on the backside, and burried a few inches in the ground....don't want her nibbling on the extension cord ;)

i got it at an old ass feed & seed near my house, if i can find a link for them on-line, i'll post it.

[DryCreek]

Well, we have snow thats over knee deep and our evening temps are hitting a low of -20 Celsius (-4 for you Americans LOL)

In the deep of winter we hit -35 to -40 C (-31 to -40 F.) Funny, as it gets colder the values match up, hmmmm.

The dogs houses are 2 roomed (entance hall and sleeping area) 2x4 construction with house insulation in the walls and floor. They sit on skids and are packed so full of straw the dogs basically make a den in the center of it. 2 meals a day served with warm water right now (we bump that to a cooked liver or beef stew as it gets colder) and warm water in their bowls to help slow down the freezing.

Ya gotta be tough to be Canadian LMAO

[RightHandImp]

Well, we have snow thats over knee deep and our evening temps are hitting a low of -20 Celsius (-4 for you Americans LOL)

In the deep of winter we hit -35 to -40 C (-31 to -40 F.) Funny, as it gets colder the values match up, hmmmm.

The dogs houses are 2 roomed (entance hall and sleeping area) 2x4 construction with house insulation in the walls and floor. They sit on skids and are packed so full of straw the dogs basically make a den in the center of it. 2 meals a day served with warm water right now (we bump that to a cooked liver or beef stew as it gets colder) and warm water in their bowls to help slow down the freezing.

Ya gotta be tough to be Canadian LMAO


hey hey now... i'm you're neighbor and yup yup we got it pretty cold here too. I dont mind, but my man gets outside in anything under 50 F and he is a whining, lmao! whata wimp. gotta be tough to be in the north country, period :p