Bringing my dog in on cold nights?

Question

I've got a blck lab about 1 1/2 yrs old, and she stays outside in a 10x10 ft kennel. Last night it got below freezing I think. This morning it was 31 degrees. And I live in Louisiana. I didn't bring her in last night, as we (mum and I) didn't know it would get that cold. She's doing fine, though. She has an igloo dog house filled with hay, although she usually sleeps out in the open on the hay outside her kennel. I was wondering, though, how cold would it need to get to bring her inside? Do I even have to bring her in? I know 99% of dog owners around here would just leave their dogs outside no matter how cold it gets.... Anyway, how cold is too cold for a black lab with short fur? She's the slim, lanky type of lab. Not the big, blocky ones. =P I'm bringing her in tonight. I think it gets to 28 degrees tonight. 0_o

It's so funny when people assume things when they don't even know the other person or what they do with their dogs. xDDD

Just so ya' know, I don't keep her outside 24/7. I /do/ bring her inside sometimes, and just a week ago she went back outside from staying in for a month straight. I was tending to her hot spots and they're all healed up now. I take VERY good care of her (and my husky mix). She's 100% better off now than she was before. I "rescued" her from starving to death, and if she was still with her previous owner, she wouldn't even have hay or anything warm at all in her dog house, and she'd stay outside in below freezing weather. They hardly fed her and she was terribly skinny. They never even opened to the kennel to feed her. They threw it though the kennel bars and half of the food didn't make it in. And she was NEVER walked at all. So, I think I'm doing a very good job taking care of her. I even rollerblade with her and my husky mix. =)

Oh, and might I add that I keep her outside most times in the first place because she tore a GIANT hole in our kitchen wall a few weeks after I got her. The hole's about 1x2 ft...

*sigh* Oh my Gawd....
Lori, did it look like I said 99% of ALL dog owners? NO... I said 99% of dog owners AROUND HERE, meaning IN THIS AREA. Duhr... /Somebody/ can't read, apparently... I know the people around here. People fight pitbulls next door for God's sake. But I can't do anything b/c I have no proof. But you wouldn't believe the things I've seen around here.... Next time, learn to read /carefully/. Get some reading glasses if you can't see that well...

To Telisha: All I'm gonna say is 'Learn to READ'.... It's not that hard...

Oh, and by the way, my neighbors TOLD me they fight dogs. And their attitude is, "Every dog is born to fight, and every dog is born to die." Those are the exact words that came from their mouth. And they've also told me straight up that they fight dogs. Not to mention those boys on the street who were walking with a bat saying, "Where's that dog that was bleeding from the mouth?" And the many people I've seen or met while walking my dogs, who say, "Get 'em, Princess, Get 'em!", while their pitbull is pulling on the end of it's leash. AND not to mention the guy who purposely released his pitbull on my two dogs just to see a fight, which didn't happen. Good thing I'm not afraid of dogs and know how to handle things... You don't even /know/, Telisha... The next day at chool, the guy was telling his friends how his pitbull "beat up" my 2 dogs. Oh, AND I can't forget the pitbull fight I saw in the street with the guys standing around laughing and enjoying it...

Answer 1

If your dog is well fed, in good health,has a box with protection from the elements (most importantly wind, it robs the body of heat) and has had time to adjust to the colder weather it is just fine. Dogs that freeze are dogs that are not properly cared for, underfed, do not have adequate coats(designer dogs) and left without shelter. Most pet owners treat their dogs like babies and forget these are animals. They have natural defenses. Labs will swim in these temps. They have been bred to withstand cold weather.

Answer 2

I once had an elderly lady for a friend. She had a wonderful little dog. A mix of some sort. She had the dog trained well and it behaved very well. Learn here https://tr.im/q7CMV

She kept an uncovered candy dish on her coffee table with candy in it. The dog was forbidden to eat the candy. When she was in the room observing the dog he did not even appear to notice the candy. One day while she was in her dinning room she happened to look in a mirror and could see her dog in the living room. He did not know he was being watched. For several minutes he was sitting in front of the candy bowl staring at the candy. Finally he reached in and took one. He placed it on the table and stared at it, he woofed at it. He stared some more, licked his chops and PUT IT BACK in the bowl and walked away. Did he want the candy, oh yeah. Did he eat it? Nope. They can be trained that well but most, I'll admit, are not trained that well. When I was a young boy, maybe 5 years old. We had a german shepherd. He was very well trained also. My mom could leave food unattended on the table, no problem. She would open the oven door and set a pan roast beef or roast chicken on the door to cool. No problem. He would not touch it, watched or not. But butter? Whole other story. You leave a stick of butter anywhere he could reach and it was gone. He was a large shepherd so there were not many places he could not reach. Really, I think the number of dogs trained to the point they will leave food alone when not being supervised is very small indeed.
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Now if we are talking obedience training, not food grubbing, that is a different story. Way back when I was first learning obedience training one of the final exercises was to put our dogs in a down/stay and not only leave the room but leave the building for 15 minutes. The only person that stayed was our trainer, not the owners. Most of the dogs in my class did not break their stay, which would be an automatic fail. I'm happy to report my dog was one of the ones that passed.

Answer 3

I think 99 percent of dog owners let there dog sleep in every night. Any time its below freezing its to cold to stay out all night. The dog needs a wool blanket this is the only thing that does not rob you of your body heat if it get wet and all animals should have a place they can be kept from all wind. If your dog has to stay in a kennel all the time I feel sorry for it. If you can make such a judgment about other dog owners you do not even know, Then you should ask yourself are you guilty of being a bad pet owner yourself? I have five dogs and they all sleep in my bedroom at night and are members of my family. One of the ten commandments they people seem to forget is thall shall not commit false witness against thy neighbor. People who talk like you make it so hard to keep a christian attitude, you are lucky god loves all people because I sure don,t.

Answer 4

OK well I keep my dog outside 99% of the time. He has an igloo house with hay also but I put it up next to the house and on the south side so the North easier winds can't touch him. I also have a jacket I put on him. I feed him extra food to get him a little fatter.
If it gets down around 30 or so I would bring your dog in at night. During the day I will be OK for it to be out side if you are not home.
BUT if you keep him/her inside too much it will loose its winter coat.
Good luck. I hope I have helped.

Answer 5

With a doghouse and fresh hay, she would probably be OK in cold weather, say down to 20's or 30's. Any colder than that, and I would bring her in. I also have a lab (yellow) who is more slender than the purebred dogs (he's mixed, but mostly lab). Labs have a double coat that keeps their skin dry and warm, since they are retrievers and it's their job to "fetch" things in the snow, water...just about anywhere. Even though she's covered in hair, she could still suffer the adverse effects of cold weather, and it would be a good idea to bring her in when it's really cold out. Be sure to keep her hay clean and free from any other "critters" looking for a warm spot...I've seen dogs that have been bitten up by rats and mice. If you're still worried that she may get too cold, try putting a thermal blanket inside, and maybe over the top of her doghouse. (You can even get heated dog blankets. I've included a link to a place that sells them...this one is about 60 bucks, but I've seen them cheaper through petsmart or dr.s foster and smith. Good luck with your pup.

Answer 6

Bring her in during cold weather.

You hit the nail on the head, she's got short fur. How cold is too cold for you to want to stay outside? That's how I would judge it.

The only dogs that should be left out in the cold (with shelter such as you have) are dogs with good fur coats, preferably the double coated kind.
(ie: the undercoat sheds, usually twice a year while the other is all year round)

Huskies and Mals (double coated) love it and can stay out in sub freezing wheather.

Poodles on the other hand, even though they have fur, it's not the double coated kind so again I wouldn't recommend too chilly for them either.

Answer 7

No, 99% of dog owners would NOT leave their dog outside no matter how cold it gets. You should not have a dog if the dog is going to be left outside by itself all the time. While the law is starting to dictate (in most states) that you need a dog house, that does NOT in any way make you a good dog owner. I think it's time you spent the night outside in a tent with some hay on the bottom and see if you feel cold. When the temp drops below freezing you're endangering your pets life. To top it all off, just because a dog has FUR does not mean it can keep warm. Even wolves sleep packs, in a den with body heat. Please bring your dog inside!

Answer 8

My Rotti was an outside dog (granted he had a thick coat), but when it got below freezing (I live in Texas), I would bring him in...what you have to watch out for is causing pneumonia or other illnesses caused by such drastic change in temp(from warm house to cold outdoors). I learned my lesson the hard way when my Rotti was about the same age as your dog. He got a bad case of pneumonia, and I almost lost him...If you bring you dog in, she should stay in for the entire winter (of course let her out to potty), only leave her out on warmer days (if you can go out in a jacket, then she can stay out for a few hrs), but don't leave her out overnight.

Good Luck! She is a lucky dog to have an owner that cares!

Answer 9

I would bring her in if she were cold, yes. But that is me. My dog stays inside and is our family herder and protector.

I had a bird dog I used to chain outside and she had a house as well but only during the day time until we got her house trained. She was a nipper and pooper.

I always say you know how good a person is by the way they love thier pets.

Answer 10

Why make her uncomfortable? If she is used to the normal weather in Louisiana, that is cold. Dogs body temperature is normally higher than adults, so they feel the cold even more. While some dogs, and perhaps Lab's may handle cold better than other breeds, why let her be uncomfortable?