Ideas to help keep our dogs warm during the winter

unholyangel

Btw in a loosely related manner....hot water bottles in my experience are crap. However, I found a couple of moor mud packs at Aldi or Lidl (I'm about 70% sure it was Lidl) ranging from £3.99 for a small one (which is still big enough to cover all of my lower back) or £7.99 for the biggest one (which literally covers my whole back and shoulders).

Take just minutes in the microwave to heat up (can heat them in the oven if you prefer and can also put them in fridge or freezer for a cold pack), I'd go to bed with it on and when I woke up in the morning, it was still warm! Its also fantastic for back pain/aches.

However I would make sure there is somewhere cool for the dogs to lay down too so they can move around as they need to (to warm up/cool down). You don't really want anything too hot, just something that's enough to take the chill off the kitchen during the harsher nights.

spacey2012

What you can do, is get the Summer coat shaved down, they grow a nice winter one then to replace it.

zaxdog

Our lurcher has a heated dog bed which he ignores preferring to curl up under the covers with Mr Zaxdog and I. add the two cats and it's all pretty snug :j

meritaten

er - they have fur coats and as someone else said - clipping during the summer encourages a good thick winter coat! as long as they have shelter and not wet or damp - they will be fine in the kitchen!

lisajane8482

I got told off by the hubby last year for leaving the heating on 17 during the day for the cats whilst we were at work.....

topsales

My dogs have the right idea - sleep on Mum's bed!

krlyr

I agree that most dogs will manage in the average house fine. My dogs certainly never had issues even in our old house - which was a farm cottage with no central heating or doubleglazing, and quite a few draughty doors and windows! Infact, I think they struggled with the warmth of this house when we moved (even though we're pretty conservative with heating). Mine are double-coated breeds though, so well equipped for cooler weather.

I wouldn't agree with clipping a coat - I don't see why it would encourage a thicker coat (just like cutting our own hair wouldn't make our hair grow through thicker, or a different curly, or curly instead of straight, etc. - you're only chopping the end of it off, the rest grows through just as it would) but it may affect the lay of the coat. Often a clipped dog will struggle with its coat in terms of appearance and also being more prone to knots etc. as the clipped coat doesn't sit as it should - especially in a double coated breed where the undercoat may now sit out of place under the top coat.

If the dog is thin coated or particularly prone to cold then there are lots of doggy fleeces and 'onesies' available online, they're quite popular in the greyound/whippet world as they're a dog with quite a thin coat. Equafleece is one larger brand, but there are dozens of individual sellers making custom-sized clothing.

You can also get beds that reflect a dog's heat back up to it. You could achieve similar by using an emergency blanket (the silver kind) under the dog's bedding. Providing deep bedding they can snuggle in, beds with high sides to prevent draughts, blankets that they can burrow under, etc. may help.

If it really is a big concern then it may be worth a vet trip. An intolerance of cold can be a symptom of a medical issue - one that springs to mind because my dog suffers it is hypothyroidism. Could be worth checking out, especially if the cold issue is fairly new.

Raksha

Whilst dogs have a fur coat, they would also by choice find a very small hole to curl up in, probably under ground.

Mine sleep in an unheated utility room, during the winter, if below freezing temps are forecast, I have an infra red lamp, as used for poultry, they can toast under if they choose, (and they usually do), old 13.5 tog quilts to curl up in, and vet bedding elsewhere for if they get too hot. The bulbs are 100w, so less than 1 unit of electricity a night

Sagz_2

Mine sleep in an outdoor kennel and have 3 old king sized duvets and lots of blankets that they dig into nests. As the winter gets colder they have knitted jumpers on, then jumpers and coats, then jumpers, coats and the heater (2 hours on, 2 hours off thru darkness).

They must be comfortable in there as they often take themselves off out of the house to sleep in their nests.

GwylimT

Our dog gets cold in winter as he doesn't have typical fur so no under coat, if we aren't willing to sleep naked in the kitchen without any heating then we don't expect him to do it either. He has lots of blankets on one half of his bed and the thermostat is always set so the heating will come on if the flat goes below a certain temperature.