Registered: Feb 2008
Location: Near Asheville
Posts: 981

I told a fellow hunter that I was going to bring my dog in during these single digit temps and he said the most silliest thing I think I have ever heard. He said if I was not careful that I would KILL the dog. Who else thinks this is rediculous? Not only has it been cold but the wind has been howling too.
I am sure bringing the dog in at say 7pm when it is 12 degrees and then taking it back out at midnite when it is 5 degrees would be pretty stupid but who in their right mind would do that?
Does anyone on here agree with him?
I know of 7 puppies, one mama dog, one 5 year old beardog, one 10 year old walker, and one three month old dog that has died in the past five days and I do not think that this is a coincidence! The folks whom these dogs belong to will go to their graves swearing there is no way these dogs froze to death because of the quality of their houses and bedding!
As for me, I am not taking a chance!

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Registered: May 2007
Location: fairmont wv
Posts: 11976

if you have good boxes and put plenty of straw in thier boxes i would say they will be fine it was 10 degrees here with a wind chill of minius 1 my 3 beagles were just fine i always soak thier feed in hot water for about 10 mins so they have something warm in thier bellys for the night

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Registered: May 2007
Location: fairmont wv
Posts: 11976

if you have good boxes and put plenty of straw in thier boxes i would say they will be fine it was 10 degrees here with a wind chill of minius 1 my 3 beagles were just fine i always soak thier feed in hot water for about 10 mins so they have something warm in thier bellys for the night dont know how i got 2 post on here should have been one

Last edited by hillbilly56 on 12-15-2010 at 03:25 AM

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Registered: Jun 2003
Location: ALABAMA
Posts: 5183

I don't think it will kill a dog doing that as I do it all winter every year.

I live in the City............3 dog limit for dogs living outside.

I have an inside kennel built into lower level of my house. They stay in at night and let them outside first thing in the morning.

Let them outside in the morning when it's in teens or even single digits -- have never had any issues.

Last edited by Buckshot on 12-15-2010 at 03:32 AM

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Registered: Aug 2010
Location: western Pa
Posts: 430

I have a 5 month old BMC and a 6 month old redbone. Outside by day and in by night. They have done fine. Always did the same when I lived with my folks when the weather got bad like this. I dont think that it will kill a dog.

Ask your vet?

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Registered: Feb 2008
Location: Near Asheville
Posts: 981

quote:

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Originally posted by bridger80
I have a 5 month old BMC and a 6 month old redbone. Outside by day and in by night. They have done fine. Always did the same when I lived with my folks when the weather got bad like this. I dont think that it will kill a dog.

Ask your vet?

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Registered: Feb 2008
Location: Near Asheville
Posts: 981

quote:

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Originally posted by hillbilly56
if you have good boxes and put plenty of straw in thier boxes i would say they will be fine it was 10 degrees here with a wind chill of minius 1 my 3 beagles were just fine i always soak thier feed in hot water for about 10 mins so they have something warm in thier bellys for the night dont know how i got 2 post on here should have been one

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Registered: Jun 2007
Location: jacksonville, nc
Posts: 2856

when i was a boy, my brother and i went camping and slept in an old house that was being used to house hay for a dairy. we figured we'd be warm in all that hay. wrong. we almost froze to death. we were awake all night waiting for first light. that hay has no heat in it.
i know my dogs will survive this cold weather outside with straw or whatever but if it's cold to me, it's cold to them. that's why i put heat in their barrels.

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I believe it can be tougher on a dog to acclimate to severe cold if you're bringing them in and out.
I used to to do the same thing and heard that it could kill them so I stopped doing it.
I've learned that a good box out of the wind with plenty of good bedding, and feeding a decent feed is typically enough for a healthy dog to survive the winter and I live in MN.
It is plenty cold enough here now that I'd be tempted to bring them inside, but I'm not going to.
I think bringing dogs inside during the cold does more for peace of mind for the owner than it does for the dog.
If I brought mine inside, I'd do it fulltime until spring. If you're used to sleeping in your warm bed and the old lady made you go sleep outside in the car tonight, how would you like it? What if tomorrow she decided to let you back in the bed but then the next night back out to sleep in the car? Would 10 degrees make a difference to you?
Leave them in or leave them out, but be consistent so they can acclimate to it.

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Registered: Mar 2009
Location: s.c.
Posts: 6984

It's cold for here. I walked up on an alligator tonight that had three inche of nostrils stick out of the water and a 6 foot circle of 1/2 inch thick ice next to it. It never knew I was there because it had it's eyes closed. ( Dumb and passed out I recon. like me) I got a cellphone quality pic. I'm thinking I should have closed it's eyes permanantly. Some Biologist say a gator will not injest food when it's body temp is too low ( it will cause bloat), some locals say that is why gaters have dens,they stuff whatever they catch in the winter in a hole to ferment and then gorge down when the weather warms again, might be Christmas or New Years or Easter this year.

Now, for a dog in the house, The temp will not get below 10+ here. I can tolerate a dog in the house If it needs to bond a few days. Other than that , it becomes a housedawg, and yeas housedoggs can tree coons. But alot of coonhunter countryboy types have a problem with the Guilt and Conscience thing. None of it felt the night before but the mornin after. Oh LawD , I done layed down with a dog in the bed and I'm prayin all I get up with is fleas, kind of a thing. Or a cat , for heavens sake? Guilt stricken , The last words are, I must be Gone.

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Registered: Feb 2005
Location: IL
Posts: 577

its hard on them takeing them in and out i asked my vet about this to and he says the same thing its harder on a dog takeing them in and out. just bed them real good and have a good box. you have alot of people loseing dogs this time of year and all it takes is good house and lots of straw water and some feed. take care of them hounds boys.

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Registered: Oct 2008
Location: Western Virginia
Posts: 745

never brought dogs in ever. Their tougher than a yellow pine knot man. Good dog box out the wind with bedding. Been doing it all my life and it gets raw her where I live in our mountains. Its 6+ degrees here right know my dogs are fine. The way they will freeze to death is if their chain gets in a knot and they can't get in their box thats not good. Bringing them in and out makes it harder for them to get use to it. We live inside dogs live outside. But your dogs are your dogs do what you want.

If it gets really bad I'll make them all sleep together and they get in a ball laying on top of each other and they like that haha.

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Registered: Jun 2003
Location: Lumpkin, Ga
Posts: 8757

Since you asked! My two cents worth.

I have done it both ways. I had two Bluetick Coonhounds that were raised from pups as house dogs...lived inside when they were not hunting...had a pet door so they could go out in the fenced yard or come in at will.

They were hunted in all kinds of weather and never seemed to mind the cold, ice or water of the creeks, streams or swamps they had to hunt in. They always had hunting on their minds when turned loose and never hesitated.

However I knew those conditions had to be hard on them after living the good life they did at home but they never got sick because of it. I had towels in the truck to dry them off before putting them in the dog box to haul them home.

With that in mind, I decided I would not go that route again after those two were gone. I have raised and trained several more since those two that have never been inside dogs or even been inside a house in their lives.

They all have nice dry one-dog houses with door flaps with grass hay so that they do have shelter from the elements when they need it or want it. I have noticed that they like to stay outside their houses except in the most extreme weather and at night. I have a fenced area of about an acre that they have free run of in the daytime and have noticed they seem to find a good spot there.

They are much more able to deal with the extremes when raised that way and not brought inside at all in my opinion. And...in case there ever was a reason for them to HAVE TO spend a night in the woods ..or several, they are able to do that.

My reasoning about it anyway!

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Johnny Williams

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Registered: Mar 2004
Location: INDIANA
Posts: 660

they will be fine. good solid insulated house and plenty of DRY straw. enough they can burrow into. it was 1 degree monday morning here never got over 18 monday and tuesday. my dog is just fine. i have an electric water bowl that keeps him plenty of fresh water and he gets warm table scraps at night along with his regular food. seems to do just fine with no ill effects.

i always figuired if coyotes can handle it and they dont have a house to sleep in most of the time, that mine should do just fine with what he has.

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Registered: Jun 2003
Location: Central Michigan
Posts: 6544

Actually Marc is correct it is harder on a dog's physiology to bring them in and out during cold spells than to just leave them outside.

Dogs are animals. They have survived for hundreds of years living in the great outdoors.

When I was a teenager and I started to get coon hounds. Each and every night that there was a negative temperature my father would wake me up at 3 or 4 in the morning to check on the dogs.

Now, my father was a frugal man, and he believed in adding more blankets instead of turning the heat up. I remember all too well going out in -40 degrees and putting my hands into the dog's houses. They were warmer than I was when my dad woke me up! Trust me if there was room I think I would have crawled in with the dogs. They were toasty warm. If a dog has a good house, plenty of fesh bedding, plenty of fresh water, and is healthy and fed a quality feed that dog will be o.k.

I have had coon hounds for 37 years now. I have never brought them into the house for any reason, and I have never had any problems. In fact, most of my dogs live much longer than many other people's coon hounds. The average age my dogs live to is over 13 years old.

Fact of the matter is if you want to bring the dogs into the house to make you feel better than do it, but biologically it is not necessary.

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Larry Atherton

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Registered: Jun 2003
Location: Lumpkin, Ga
Posts: 8757

quote:

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Originally posted by l.lyle
It's cold for here. I walked up on an alligator tonight that had three inche of nostrils stick out of the water and a 6 foot circle of 1/2 inch thick ice next to it. It never knew I was there because it had it's eyes closed. ( Dumb and passed out I recon. like me) I got a cellphone quality pic. I'm thinking I should have closed it's eyes permanantly. Some Biologist say a gator will not injest food when it's body temp is too low ( it will cause bloat), some locals say that is why gaters have dens,they stuff whatever they catch in the winter in a hole to ferment and then gorge down when the weather warms again, might be Christmas or New Years or Easter this year.

Now, for a dog in the house, The temp will not get below 10+ here. I can tolerate a dog in the house If it needs to bond a few days. Other than that , it becomes a housedawg, and yeas housedoggs can tree coons. But alot of coonhunter countryboy types have a problem with the Guilt and Conscience thing. None of it felt the night before but the mornin after. Oh LawD , I done layed down with a dog in the bed and I'm prayin all I get up with is fleas, kind of a thing. Or a cat , for heavens sake? Guilt stricken , The last words are, I must be Gone.

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Now don't you feel a little bit guilty for not bring that 'gator in out of the cold? Seriously, I have never seen a 'gator out with ice surrounding it. I HAVE seen them out on warm days in the winter. Have been fishing where ice was spewed up around the shore in 'gator water and no 'gators to be seen. I figured they were in holes under the banks in cold weather but what do I know. I never slept with one of the darned things! You know what they say... you never know one 'til you sleep with her! PS...how's Elvira?

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Johnny Williams

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Registered: Jun 2003
Location: Lumpkin, Ga
Posts: 8757

Now a BLIZZARD is a whole nother ball game!

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Johnny Williams

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Registered: May 2007
Location: fairmont wv
Posts: 11976

quote:

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Originally posted by intellectualist
Do your beagles sleep in the same house? I think this would help alot if they did.

I have very good houses with plenty of straw but I am still not chancing it.

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Last edited by hillbilly56 on 12-15-2010 at 08:00 PM

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Registered: Jul 2007
Location: Greeneville, Tn
Posts: 495

well i guess mine has it all wrong!!

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Registered: Mar 2005
Location: Illinois
Posts: 2043

i would think it would be harder on a dog to get used to being inside then. put out side . my vet has always stated good bedding good house and plenty of fresh water and food and your will be as happy as a lark. never heard of a healthy dog freezing to death.

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Registered: Mar 2007
Location: Nashville, TN
Posts: 133

If the temperatures get too cold, ie, wind chills 0 or below, I bring my dog in. I do it because I think it's the most comfortable and safest thing for him.
And it has never hurt one that I've had as far as I can tell--to bring them in and then let them out when it warms up some.
I also have a Hound Heater in my dog's house this winter which has been a great thing. You just have to have a good house with a door and the Hound Heater keeps them warm too.

Rocket 88

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Registered: May 2007
Location: fairmont wv
Posts: 11976

i agree with you everybody has thir own opion so most is going to do what they think is best for thier dog i came up the old school way i might bring in a little pup or a sick pup but once they get 3-4 mons old they going to stay outside

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Registered: Dec 2009
Location: United States
Posts: 26

I live in Iowa and have had coon hounds for 30 years. I never bring em inside in the winter. Feed em plenty, have good dog houses where they are out of the wind aand use plenty of straw.
I have never had a problem with frost bite, sick dogs or anything like that. It get's below zero here quite often, and I am sure I have had dogs outside at 25 below zero maybe even colder!

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Registered: Feb 2010
Location: fairmont wv
Posts: 169

I think if taken care of they will be fine outside. On the other hand mine got a good bath and he's been laying on the couch watching tv with me the last couple evenings and sleeping in the basement.

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Registered: Apr 2006
Location:
Posts: 6548

spoiled show dogs no wonder they want tree

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