I need you to weigh in on something.
My husband and I are having a disagreement, and I’m taking it to the streets. I can’t tell you who is clearly a fool thinks what because then he’ll say that you only agree with me because you’re my readers, and not because I am so very obviously correct.
So we’re doing this the anonymous route.
The background: we have three dogs, two of whom live outside. While I was pregnant with Catie I developed a severe allergy to them, and even five years later I can’t be in close quarters with them or I’ll melt down. (inside dog is a Shih Tzu, excellent for people with allergies, FYI) So these dogs have lived outside full time for 5 years. We have a fenced yard so they run free, and they have a dog house to sleep in. Said dog house was custom built with 4 inches of insulation in the walls and it is heated.
Why yes, you did read that correctly.
Our dog house is heated.
However, the dogs do not seem to care about this, or else they just flat out don’t like it. They do not spend their time in the dog house, no matter how cold it is.
In fact, this afternoon when it is 14 degrees and snowing, this is where they are choosing to spend their time:
We’re in a real cold snap, and temps are even hitting the single digits at night, with below zero wind chills. Their water bowl might freeze, but of course I am a stay-at-home mom so I am here and able to make sure they have a non-frozen beverage available at all times. We also increase their feedings in the winter, to help keep them warm. (And apparently make an already 120-pound dog even bigger.) Their feet are also inspected for frostbite daily – by the person who believes they are fine outside, too, mind you.
So considering all of this, one of us still wants to bring the dogs into the garage to sleep at night. We have a large wire crate that they sleep in out there, and there are a couple of old blankets for added warmth. The crate is not enclosed, though, which the other person argues might make the dogs even colder in a large, drafty garage than they would be outside in their insulated and heated dog house.
Or in the snow, where they lay around because their dog house is too hot for them.
Whatever.
One of us is a country mouse and one of us is a city boy mouse.
City mouse doesn’t have an explanation for why dogs have survived outside for hundreds of years. Or for how farm animals survive in a barn.
City mouse stammers when you ask if they believe farmers bring their cows into their garages at night.
But despite all evidence to the contrary, city mouse still believes that the dogs must be cold.
They just don’t know it.
So wise old city mouse believes we must think for them, and bring the dogs inside.
Also on the list of things city mouse cannot explain? Why the freezing cold dogs literally run you over in an effort to get back outside in the morning. Or why they roll around in the snow all day. Or why they have to be physically drug into the garage to sleep at night.
Ahem.
So yeah, that’s the dilemma in a nutshell. What say you?
Tags: cooper, dogs outside in winter, Molly, pets in freezing temps, shih tzu, Wrigley
How I See the World | Heather January 8, 2010
Facebook comments:
By Christina, January 8, 2010 @ 5:50 pm
I would want the dogs in the garage.
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By Diane, January 8, 2010 @ 6:15 pm
I’m still trying to get my head around the fact that you have a heated dog house.
Just my opinion, but they’re probably fine outside. If they get cold, they know where to find shelter. Their coats have probably grown slightly thicker as a natural defense against the cooler temps, right?
.-= Diane´s last blog ..EE5K Update =-.
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By Angie, January 8, 2010 @ 6:18 pm
If the dogs are too dumb to go in the HEATED doghouse, so be it. Why did you go to the trouble of building a heated, insulated doghouse if you were going to let them in the garage? I DO find this hilarious, though, as it is a discussion I could find myself having
.
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By Shannon, January 8, 2010 @ 6:29 pm
I guess I would say outside as well. It seems like they are not happy in the garage!
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By Jenny J, January 8, 2010 @ 6:52 pm
Ha! Hilarious. I am an animal lover myself, but I believe they ALL belong outside. You know, being animals and all.
If the dogs are rolling in the snow then obviously they’re fine. If they were cold they’d be shivering in their house. Bringing them in and out does them way more harm, and makes it feel even colder to them when they go out.
And you can tell Chris that I think he is totally a sissy-I mean CITY-boy. Is he gonna join Peta and cry about whales now, too?
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By Lisa S., January 8, 2010 @ 6:58 pm
I think they are fine outside. That’s what they have become accustomed to. I also think they are smart enough to seek shelter/heat if they are too cold in the same way that they know where to find their food/water when hungry/thirsty. By bringing them into the garage (which I think is pointless), you might be creating a whole other problem for yourself…them barking/howling as well as biting on/getting into stuff they shouldn’t.
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By Amy AKA TigerMommie, January 8, 2010 @ 7:15 pm
My thoughts are that unless you are able to tell the these dogs are so dumb, they don’t know how to survive…….which, they don’t seem to be, and I think you would be able to tell that……..Then, they seem to be completely fine and HAPPY right where ever they are. I think that unless, upon your inspections, you find results of any problems that would require care, let them have their fun!
Apparently, you have a couple of SNOW dogs……….
Good Luck!
.-= Amy AKA TigerMommie´s last blog ..Wordless Wednesday……… =-.
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By Cindy522, January 8, 2010 @ 7:57 pm
Im for letting the person (or animal) decide for themselves what is comfortable for them. That they have to be dragged into the garage tells me they would rather be left outside.
EXCEPT, that it means they do not want to go in there right THEN, and doesnt indicate they might not prefer it later into the night. OR, that they are not able to put 2 and 2 together and realize the garage=warmth, and not just
couped up.
I guess I dont really care if they are cold… but wouldnt want them to die. They are domesticated animals, its NOT the same as a breed that had always lived in the wild in a cold climate.
Perhaps you should turn off the heater in the dog house, as they do not seem to like it, and perhaps its not a good alternative for them. I would think under your deck would work for them though, so they DO have options.
Could you possibly check on them during the night?
Also, if its predicted to be colder than they have been outside through before.. maybe it does make sence to force them into the garage. (again, they are not naturally wild animals, naturally finding themselves in the cold)
.-= Cindy522´s last blog ..Take the Leap to Selling from Your Own Website =-.
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By melanie, January 8, 2010 @ 8:23 pm
Sounds like they are fine where they are, but if city mouse is willing to do the extra work to keep them in the garage at night, let him drag them in. Personally, I think ALL animals should live outdoors.
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By Jennifer, January 8, 2010 @ 8:59 pm
I vote for putting them in the garage. I couldn’t ever leave them outside. My inlaws had dogs and they kept them outside in a doghouse and I always felt sorry for them when it was so cold.
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By Sara, January 8, 2010 @ 9:10 pm
I agree with Jenny-taking them in and out is hard on them! It just makes it feel colder. ifc they are always outside dogs then as winter approaches they get acclimated to cold gradually, all ontheir own. Dogs grow undercoats for that exact reason and going by that picture that dog looks like a massive hairy beast! (What kind of dog BTW?)
Anyway, dogs aren’t stupid. If they are cold they’ll go inside. If they were at the door crying to get in and you left them out then that’s one thing, but if they WANT to be outside and you force them in then isn’t that cruel too? Dog doors are cool because they get to choose for themselves, but if you offer everyday and everyday they run out to lay in the snow, then maybe you are the one that needs to follow their lead!
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By mary b, January 8, 2010 @ 10:07 pm
We have 2 dogs who spent the better part of the last 5 years outside too. They also were fenced in and have a doghouse where they would sleep (albeit unheated). Our neighbor breeds beagles & they are out all the time too. I did bring ours inside when it was super cold…teens or lower. But of course they would love to run right back out in the morning!
Now they stay inside more often, but in this weather they love, love, love to go outside and play or just lay in the snow…for HOURS. So speaking from similar experience I think they are fine.
.-= mary b´s last blog ..It’s 2010, time to set new financial goals =-.
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By Becca - Our Crazy Boys, January 8, 2010 @ 10:43 pm
I, too, have stupid dogs.
I am dying laughing at your comment about how your hubby stammers when asked about the cows in the garage…
I think they’re fine. Maybe turn off the heater in the dog house for a night… will they use it?
.-= Becca – Our Crazy Boys´s last blog ..Where’s Mom? (18 of 52) =-.
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By Heather, January 9, 2010 @ 2:07 am
Actually the heater isn’t turned on at all – still too hot for them. When I was a kid my dad used to fill our dog’s box with straw in the winter to keep him warm, and invariably it would only take him a few minutes to throw it all back outside because it made him too hot. I think all the insulation in the dog house has caused the same problem, though they do almost always go in there at night.
Except for when city mouse forces them into the garage, that is.
He always goes to sleep early; I’m tempted to sneak back out and let the poor buggers run free!
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By Darcie - Such The Spot, January 9, 2010 @ 12:02 pm
I don’t think I can give an unbiased opinion because I’m not so much a dog person. And even though I’m sure to ruffle the feathers of animal lovers everywhere: my thoughts are that if they were my dogs (which they wouldn’t be because I’m not a dog fan) they’d be outside. Always. Period. Especially with that crib you’ve established for them. I say let ‘em rough it.
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By Merrie, January 9, 2010 @ 5:15 pm
What a funny dilemma. Having a Husky who sometimes chooses to stay outside in the freezing cold, I don’t worry too much about dogs that like being outside. Mine has a house, yours have a house, and they use it when they want it. I think that pretty much solves the problem. But what do I know? lol
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By tracyM, January 12, 2010 @ 8:20 am
Oh Yikes – well, not being a dog person myself, I say let them be in their backyard of snow and their well appointment doghouse if they decided to use it.
xoxo,t
.-= tracyM´s last blog ..The Night of a Mother… =-.
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