Not sure if my puppy is cold or not! Please help! Mum's worried

1918 Views 16 Replies 12 Participants Last post by SDRRanger, Jun 20, 2014

Milliesmum

Discussion Starter · Jun 12, 2014

Hi Everyone!!

I live in Australia, and although our winters don't get extremely cold, they drop down to around 14°C (58°F) and that is freezing for me! My question is regarding my pup Millie. I have no idea whether she is cold or not! I have tried looking all over the internet for answers about temperatures that dogs can handle but all of it is in regards to snow etc. which is not applicable to us.

Millie is a Border Collie Kelpie Cross, and is only around 5 months old. She sleeps INSIDE the house, she has two big rooms to herself, the room thats a more inside the house has her bed, however the back room has a backdoor which I leave slightly open for her to go out and do her business in the mornings, which makes her side of the house quite chilly. (Around 16°C)

I go in to check on her a couple of times, and tuck a warm blanket over her every night too (Even though she always tussles that off) but the other night past midnight when I went to check on her she was no where to be found in the house, and when I went in the backyard she was sound asleep in her kennel.

I am just really worried that it is too cold for her but that just might be me being paranoid? I bought her a heated bed, which she destroyed on Day 2, and there is no point leaving a heater on as the door is slightly open anyway. Getting her into the bedroom with us is inconvenient as hubby is allergic to dog fur. (And I would like to discourage that anyway)

So any help from Aussie owners about how their pups handle winter, or if anyone can tell me if these temperatures are completely fine with dogs would be a great sigh of relief.

Thank you!!

1 - 17 of 17 Posts

Gally

· #2 · Jun 12, 2014

The temps you are talking about are really quite warm. I wouldn't be concerned unless you were getting freezing temps or below. Locally it gets down to -20 C and our dog does just fine. I have relatives in Alberta who take their dogs for walks in -40 C weather with snow and ice.

Shell

· #3 · Jun 12, 2014

As long as she has free access to a warmer area, around 14-15C+ with no breeze, then I wouldn't stress. I have short haired dogs and their preferred temperatures are around 65 F.

One option is to have a crate with a crate cover that would make for an draft-free "den" area for her. That's what my pit bull likes when it gets a little chilly since her fur is very thin, she goes into her crate which has a fleece blanket covering all but the door and with a bed to insulate her below. But that's an adult dog who doesn't chew anything

A dog door instead of propping the door open would reduce the draft into those rooms.

Milliesmum

Discussion Starter · #4 · Jun 12, 2014

Thank you soooo much Shell and Gally

Definitely put my mind at ease. I bought some insulation for her kennel for when she feels like sleeping there! Unfortunately can't install a doggy door as we are renting at the moment, but luckily the way the back door is positioned we don't get any strong wind as the veranda blocks it

Thanks again guys!

BostonBullMama

· #5 · Jun 12, 2014

Yea 14 is pretty warm, she should be fine.

sandgrubber

· #6 · Jun 12, 2014

I was in Oz for 15 yrs before returning to the US. I ran a boarding kennel outside of Perth in WA.
Not sure where you are in Oz, but for the most part, it doesn't get cold enough to bother most dog breeds. Too hot is much more commonly a problem than too cold. My attempts to keep dogs warm generally ended out with the dog avoiding the warm spot and going somewhere more comfortable. If you are really concerned, provide a little 'cave' where she can get snuggly warm . . . a smallish crate with a few doonas thrown over it will do. My guess is she'll avoid it, but if she is cold she can go in.
Both BC's and kelpies are tough critters, and at 5 mo, will be able to cope with near-freezing temperatures if they can dig themselves into a protected location (ie, no wind and rain, a blanket or pad to snuggel into).

Hambonez

· #7 · Jun 12, 2014

Your dog's fine. I think it's cute how concerned you are though, but that's cause of the kind of cold we deal with here!

In the winter we set our thermostat to 15°C (It's often like -15°C outside!). My dog will burrow under blankets (though he does it in the summer too so I don't know how much is warmth v. he likes to burrow), and we keep an electric blanket on the couch for the pets if they want to toast their bums, but we all survive the chilly winters just fine! We do put him in a sweater or coat when we go out in the winter as he's got a short coat and shivers, but like this winter, the windchills were around -29°C. I think his pee froze before it hit the ground!! They do make heated dog beds, so that's an option (though it wouldn't be something I'd recommend using in a crate because your dog would need to be able to get away from it if she was getting too warm).

Robbi

· #8 · Jun 15, 2014

58F???

Not exactly what I was expecting....

Although in Wisconsin this last winter it got down to -50F soooo I'm sorry I can't exactly relate, although Sonic does have a doggy jacket and boots.

XD your freezing is almost 100F warmer than my freezing XD

AlyssaBrandon122112

· #9 · Jun 19, 2014

I am getting a 8 week old papillon male puppy in a week. We like to keep our house at about 68º, but when I went to see him for this first time I could tell that they keep their house at about 80-85º inside, what is the best temp for him? I don't want him getting sick going through such a dramatic temperature change from their house to ours.

Kyle071785

· #10 · Jun 19, 2014

BostonBullMama said:
Yea 14 is pretty warm, she should be fine.

:laugh: Indeed...that is a nice spring/fall day here in Ontario.

Your dog is fine...our Labradoodle pup was playing in the snow when it was -10 C outside

Kyle071785

· #11 · Jun 19, 2014

AlyssaBrandon122112 said:
I am getting a 8 week old papillon male puppy in a week. We like to keep our house at about 68º, but when I went to see him for this first time I could tell that they keep their house at about 80-85º inside, what is the best temp for him? I don't want him getting sick going through such a dramatic temperature change from their house to ours.

If someone had their house set at 80-85 F (basically 30 C) they'd be dripping with sweat all the time...I doubt it was that high

these are dogs people...unless its -20C and they're out in it for extended periods they will be fine. As mentioned above, too hot is more of a problem than too cold for most.

My dog loved the Fall/Winter/Spring months...the second the temps started to creep above 22C or so...thats when the panting started and you could tell he wasn't a fan

Eenypup

· #12 · Jun 19, 2014

Yeah I can't imagine someone would keep their house above 80 F. I mean you could, but why? Even if it was your dog will adjust perfectly fine to the temperature of your house! When the temp is in the 60s both my dog & I are very happy about it!

Hambonez

· #13 · Jun 19, 2014

My house is often between 80-85 degrees -- we don't have air conditioning, and summer happens. I can imagine that might be why the house would be that hot, not that they were turning the heat that high!

gingerkid

· #14 · Jun 19, 2014

Hambonez said:
My house is often between 80-85 degrees -- we don't have air conditioning, and summer happens. I can imagine that might be why the house would be that hot, not that they were turning the heat that high!

Or if you live somewhere that's normally hot, like NV or AZ... it'd be the equivalent of keeping the thermostat down low in cooler climates? An energy-consumption thing.

Kyle071785

· #15 · Jun 20, 2014

Hambonez said:
My house is often between 80-85 degrees -- we don't have air conditioning, and summer happens. I can imagine that might be why the house would be that hot, not that they were turning the heat that high!

well I just assumed that they had the heat set at that temp as they mentioned they "keep" it that high. If you don't have a/c then obviously the temps would creep up naturally...if you have a/c and still have it set at 30C+...then why the heck do you have a/c?

gingerkid

· #16 · Jun 20, 2014

Kyle071785 said:
well I just assumed that they had the heat set at that temp as they mentioned they "keep" it that high. If you don't have a/c then obviously the temps would creep up naturally...if you have a/c and still have it set at 30C+...then why the heck do you have a/c?

You'd have A/C so it doesn't get hotter than that? Phoenix and Las Vegas (and other cities) can easily reach 45-50 C in the summer time. I mean, if I set my thermostat to 15 C, I'd probably say we "keep the house at 15 C" even though the house may get warmer than that on its own (if the oven is running, or its a particularly warm day outside or we've lit a fire in the fireplace). Plus, A/C does more than just cool the air - it also removes moisture.

Plus, IMO there's a notable difference between 80 F (26.7 C) and 85 F (29.4 C). My husband would probably be comfortable in a home kept at 80 F - he is super cold blooded and wears a sweater if its below 25 C. But 85 F would probably be too much even for him (although he'd probably complain less in a house kept at 30 C than at 15 C).

SDRRanger

· #17 · Jun 20, 2014

gingerkid said:
Plus, IMO there's a notable difference between 80 F (26.7 C) and 85 F (29.4 C). My husband would probably be comfortable in a home kept at 80 F - he is super cold blooded and wears a sweater if its below 25 C. But 85 F would probably be too much even for him (although he'd probably complain less in a house kept at 30 C than at 15 C).

I keep my house between 20 and 25 C during the winter months. Sometimes I am sure it creeps up a little higher. I am super cold all the time and during the winter when I've been outside and gotten cold it takes me forever to warm up (sometimes it's colder than -30 here). I'd kill to live where 14 is cool. Weird thing is, in the summer I can be quite happy at 15 C and leave the windows open pretty steady all spring/summer/fall.

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