The American Beagler Forum

i haven't been postin much here recently,,,, been having a heck of a duck season and now back onto the rabbits,,, life can be good.
another newbie question though. how cold is too cold???? i am in southeast louisiana,,,, we think it is cold when it gets in the 50's,,,, last night we had a freeze warning,, the temp dropped to around 33 degrees in my area,,, no ice in the water, nothing that looked frozen or dead vegetation and all that stuff. still,,, around midnight i went out and brought my five beags into the garage,,, this morning at daybreak it is, of course, a mess,,,, would like to not do this if possible,,, but if the dogs health is in question i don't mind.
my dog kennel is cement floor,,, two dog carriers serve as dog houses,,, they usually sleep on top of them but last night i noticed they were inside of them when i went out to get them.

i don't have anything on the floor of the dog carriers,,, should i put hay or straw there at 32 or 30 degrees,,, which is about as cold as it gets here,,,, maybe blankets on the bottom???

also, i feel guilty as it doesn't seem fair when my duck dog and nine year old indiana dog get to sleep in the bedroom,,,,,


so how cold is too cold to leave the dogs outside??

We had 26 below zero last week and haven't seen 33 degrees for months. My dogs have insulated indoor (unheated) houses lined deep with shavings but the real point is that our dogs have a chance to get acclimated to the cold weather all during the fall. In your case, I'm sure 30 degrees would not be life threatening to your hounds but still, if they're not used to it, I would at least line their crates with some insulating material and cover with a tarp or blanket. A little house time does no harm just the same. If I bring one of mine inside now they can't stop panting and want out. It's all relative to what they're used to.

33 would be a heat wave here. I agree w/ Steve though. Some straw in the box and they should be fine. They probably don't have the winter coats our dogs do. I brought mine in the house at 15 below last week. I put them in a crate and had to put a fan on them to keep them from overheating. My dog boxes don't have any type of door on them so when the wind gets to blowing it can get hard on the dogs. If they had doors of some sort though, I wouldn't worry much till it got down to 20 or 30 below. They can usually handle the cold far better than the they can handle heat.

what k johns said. i have good doghouses and use straw if twenty below.. use shavings most the winter.. a fed healthy dog does fine down to 30 and 40 below zero.. ive hunted them when it was -30 many times.. it could be + 33 here any month of the year.. my dogs suffer when its 80 in the summer - heat is way more dangerous for my dogs.. old dogs take it hardest heat or cold.. i have a habit of reaching in dog houses and feeling dogs when its super cold.. u can tell if they are warm enuff. i would put something for bedding in crate. i like pine shavings - hay or straw is warmer but if it gets wet its bad news. can cause skin problems.. coarse shavings never seem to get wet.. pete

Im in SE Miss. & all I do is keep hay in the houses year round. Have had kennel for 15 yrs.

Tabbycat Elkins