Outdoor Run When is it too cold? - Page 1

All:

A little advice please.  I have 2 GSDs that I keep outside in a fenced yard and dog run (never had this luxury before) from 8am till 3pm when my daughter returns from school.  Then they are pretty much inside the rest of the day.  The weather is starting to turn in the Northeast (NJ) and this leads me to my question.  What temperature should I use as a cutoff for keeping them outside as opposed to inside the house for the day.  If they stay inside, my 1 year old female will be crated as she can't be trusted not to get into something inappropriate.

They also have access to insulated dog houses while outside.

Thank you in advance...

I do not know how low the temperature in your area can go but here where I live it can sometimes go pretty low (-20 - 30 C)

My dogs never had a problem with the cold. Insulated dog house should do just fine, provided tha the entrance can be closed with a piece of something flexible and that there is some hay or better yet some straw. When they feel cold they will look for shelter in their houses themselve. However, problem in my oppinion is not so much cold but spending too much time on the snow. It can damage their paws.

Observe them.  Do they seem happy and comfortable outside?

If they have good shelter IMHO they'll thrive outside, provided your house isn't a typical American overheated house.  I suppose they can be uncomfortable if they're inside in 78 degrees F from 3:00pm to 8:00am and then go outside to have to stay in 20 F.  Or maybe they'll sigh with relief!  (LOL)

Mine LOVE being outside while I'm at work and have the most beautiful coats in the winter-time.  GSD are tough and rugged (or they should be).  Don't be surprised if, like mine, the only time they go in their houses is in a driving rain.  They prefer to sleep in the open air, even in the cold.  I live in PA, btw.

Personally I have a cut-off of 20 degrees F to have them stay in, but that's my rule, not theirs.  And your girl will do fine in a crate from 8-3.

I am in Northern CT. Much colder here, and much more snow than NJ. I also live at the base of a very high moutain, and get very strong winds. As long as your dogs are used to the cold and grow a proper winter coat, they should be fine, providing they have good shelter with dry bedding to keep them warm, like straw, and the shelter is protected against the wind.

I spoil my dogs a bit too much, and worry a bit needlessly so my magic number for me is 20 degrees. If it is colder then that, or high winds and close to 20 degrees, I keep my dogs inside. Of course then Hawk makes me feel like an idiot when it is sub zero and he is having such a good time playing he refuses to come in and just keeps playing away.  Also, if water buckets freeze up faster than I can keep them "drinkable" , I keep them indoors.

The most important part is that your dogs are well adjusted to the temperatures. Their feet and coat must be allowed to build up the reistence to the cold. I would not take a dog who spends most of the time in the house, and expect them to stay outside all day at 25 degrees.

Snow is not a problem either, again, as long as the dog is allowed to slowly adjust to the temperatures throughout the season. I have one kennel run that is much too big to shovel out. They pack it down and their feet are fine. Of course they have a well insulated dog house to retreat to also.

i'm in northern ia.  it can get darn cold here.  i don't look at just the temperture in deciding if the dogs stay outside or not.  the wind here gets pretty wild as well and i've noticed a big difference in whether the sun is shining or its cloudy.  so, on a day that there's no wind and the sun is shining brightly, i may have dogs outside all day - even though the temps are below zero.  it depends on the dog, too.  some really don't mind the cold and others hate it.  :)  bottom line.....i look at several things. not just the temps.

pjp

Falcon12,

These are German Shepherd's right?   

They should have shelter from the sun, wind, snow, and rain, but being out is where they belong naturally.   I do bring mine in if the temp's go single digit or below sometime's but only for the overnight hour's.   

As tess said observe them, how is their coat?   Are they sporting a little more fat for winter?  Mine do.

Bringing them in and out all the time breaks down their resistance to the cold.    Then there is the mess.......LOL

So, fatten them up a little, give them proper shelter, use straw when it's muddy, but most important decide if they are to be outside dog's or house pet's.   They must have some consistancy either way.   In and out is not the way.

Their paw's will be just fine.

These are working dog's,   if they are too fragile to live outside they have become something else.   I bring mine in because of emotion, not because they would perish.

Let em be dog's.

Moon's.

get them ikkle hats scarves and booties and a nice warm coat.....

Thank you all!  Now all I have to do is figure out the difference between straw and hay.  LOL!  I was raised in Manhattan (NYC). 

Some knowledge of heat transfer gives the answer.

The GSD is a cold-weather breed. I think in general it fears heat more than cold.

Water has far higher conductivity than air, so the GSD must be kept dry in the winter. No leaks from melting snow and no way for snow flakes to enter the doghouse. The inside of a doghouse must be dry; the doghouse must have enough top cover so that no snow or rain can get into it.

The wind makes forced convection. So calmness is important. As little drift as possible. Openning of the dog house should not be facing the prevailing wind direction. A plate to block any wild gust is needed in some cases.

Size of dog house. Excessively large doghouse allows natural convection. The doghouse should be just large enough for the dog to turn around comfortably.

I think in moderate wind speed and a well-designed doghouse a GSD can take quite low outside temp, down to zero F, or even colder.  Even in Minnesota, many dogs, those with dense inner coat,  live outside.

If the doghouse fails, the GSD may die, however.

Many people say do not allow the dog to be in both warm and cold. I think they mean over the course of weeks, that lures the dog to shed its inner dense coat.

Many commercial doghouses are designed to be stocked easily on store-shelves, not for the dog. In general, many have too large an opening for cold weather application.

I make mine from 3/4" plywood.

IMO