It's Cold! Coats When Home Alone?

[Starkehre]

The garage is fully insulated also, which helps a bit, but leaving the backyard door open for them to go out can allow it to get quite cold in there at times.

I do similar with my back door (not necessarily when I'm out). I've been thinking of getting those heavy plastic strip things (like fish and chip shops have) as I thought that might help to keep the warmth in and a bit of the cold out. Maybe it would work for your set up too?

Of course, there's always the doggy door option. I'm not going for that simply because I don't want a hole cut into my solid wood door.

I haven't coated my boy yet, but I've had no need to leave him locked out of my home on the really cold days. He's not quite used to being coated (I didn't coat him sooner for the same reason as you Dyzney) and I wouldn't trust him being left alone with it on. I put it on him the other day, and he didn't think he could move. For a minute I was wondering why he was stood stock still in the family room, even though I was wandering around the place.

I did used to coat my previous girl (bhcs) although there was one time when I came home to find that she'd managed to get her front leg caught up in and through the neck. She couldn't stand or walk in it. Don't know how long she'd been like that. But she was the sort of dog who would just wait until you came home, rather than panic about it. She loved the warmth from her coat, so even after that I did still coat her on the cold days when I had to leave (and even when I didn't).

Yeh yeh, gotcha Ern. I thought about putting strips or similar on the garage doorway into the backyard, but Jag would have a ball with those

I know I could coat him, he doesn't have an issue with wearing one, but he doesn't seem to feel the cold either. It is more Dyzney that I prefer kept warm. But he just rips her coat straight off her. He undoes the chest strap without any problems, cheeky bugger.

Look, it is not bad cause I am usually here anyway, so if it is cold they just come inside, and they sleept inside at night anyway.

Jag is still just a tad young and cheeky to leave inside if we are out. He tends to run amock He detags the cushions and throw them around the kitchen, and I mean the huge couch cushions. He removes the dog cover off the dog couches, and basically makes his own fun.

[Wazzat Xolo]

Hey all,

My partner and I work full time so my boy Zander has to stay home outside during the day. He's a one year old Ridgeback. He has a kennel with plenty of warm blankets and a heat pad, as well as lots of shelter from the rain. I've been thinking lately that I should perhaps leave a coat on him when it gets *really* cold. Does anyone else leave coats on their dogs when they are home alone? I think I'd be a bit worried that he'd chew it, or perhaps get it caught on something and scare himself... what are other people's thoughts?

I live in Melbourne by the way... it's currently 9 degrees(ish)!

Thanks guys

My dogs are double coated at night, thin under coat for warmth and a waterproof outer coat, the coats need to be off any dog for a few hours every day ( I guess diff for every situation) as bacteria due to heat can build up and affect the dogs coat/skin. Also good idea to rotate coats if you can, to stop the build up of dander/grease, really as long as they have shelter from the wind, dogs can manage without coats, its us the humans that have made them soft!

I guess we love them too much! I know of xolos in Russia that are in the snow with no coats and just have an inside kennel run.

Edited June 7, 2010 by Wazzat Xolo

[skip]

I put furlined oilskins on my 2 little ones when I lived in Orange. Rented so they had to go outside. I hated it.

The smaller one got out of hers in the garden once but I thought it was safe.

[percyk]

our smooths are coated but the furry dogs arent

we like the jammies without the legs..theyre the polar fleece ones and have piddle room...the boys dont squirt up onto the chest area in this design

[rastus_froggy]

One only wears a coat if it is super cold (like in the minuses) as she doesn't usually like it on. One wont wear one at all and the other wears a thin jumper in the days and a thicker one at nights. But they all have very well built fully insulated kennels (insulation in the walls floor and roof) sometimes I go get in their kennels just to make sure it is warm in there . They also have LOTS of blankets which they generally pull out of the kennel into a nice sunny spot on winter days to lay on.

[cowanbree]

I must admit I find it funny that people think less than 16 is cold, that is a barmly summer day here. At the moment it is about -2 to -5 overnight with frosts and it would be lucky to be a high of 5 during the day and no coats. They do have a warm kennel though and the oldies are inside

[lanabanana]

I don't coat my lab mix at all. Ever. We are from NZ so he is used to very cold weather and he used to live outside. They live inside now.

Our wee mix has a very thin coat so at nights she gets a fleecy on - and hates it. I say "pippi do you want your jacket on" and she runs away LOL

She doesn't have it during the day. When it is cold they stay in their bed, which is Barney's travel crate (wooden) from when we shipped him from NZ and it is also in the outside washhouse behind a door so no breeze and she snuggles up to him - he is always warm.

I have tested their outside bed to make sure it is warm by getting in it and I found it was actually very snug.

They sleep out there during the day and at night, when they aren't allowed in with mum and dad they sleep in their own bedroom.

Edited June 7, 2010 by lanabanana

[tez]

Neither of my dogs have coats. Jane is a labby cross and Gus is officially a Golden Retriever cross although he looks more sight-houndish. They seem fine without them but they do have free access to the house anyway. I wouldn't trust Jane with coats as she is a terror with ANYTHING so the coats would be shredded in minutes me thinks!

Edited June 7, 2010 by tez

[lanabanana]

LOL yea, my little dog is generally a wrecker (you should see their bedding) but she doesn't chew her coat - she must secretly love it even though she runs away when it comes out of the cupboard

[Riley James]

Our ridgeback boy is coated on cold days and double to triple coated on rreally cold nights.

He really feels the cold and will cry and sook if no coat on and its cold.

He is a chewer but doesnt seem to try to chew the coats.

But he does try and chew everything else (I coat a lot of his things in aeroguard to stop him eating them)

Cheers Janet

[TangerineDream]

Tango doesn't wear a coat and is outside from 6am till 7pm at night up here in the hills NW of Melbourne...can get down to -4C but he has a big kennel with a hessian bag over the door, plenty of blankets inside and plays zoomies in the mud a lot during the day <sigh>...I also feed him cooked rice and oatmeal with his evening meal in winter to keep his blood a bit warmer, and add Weetbix and warm milky water to both breakfast and dinner...that works well - his coat thickens up quite a bit and gets longer as winter progresses. Never seems to be too cold but is harder to keep weight on in winter.

[Dame Aussie]

My two both have medium length double coats so we've never bothered, should we?

[matilda1]

My two JRT's wear coats when it's cold and wet even though they have a cosy kennel.

Occasionally one will take his coat off and on average I need to buy new coats every season as eventually they get chewed through rough and tumble and play.

My ACD doesn't wear a coat as she is inside still (only 10 weeks) but I don't think she will need a coat even when grown up as she has a double coat as it is.

[Adnil444]

Normally I coat my dogs during the colder months if they have to be outside, which is when we are out only.

However, as one of my dogs is young, and he still has not grown out of chewing stage , I cannot coat either of them for probably another year.

A couple of years ago we installed a infra red heater in the garage for them for these situations. The garage is solely the dogs area anyway, they have cosy beds in there, but it just takes off that chill and makes it warmer for them. The garage is fully insulated also, which helps a bit, but leaving the backyard door open for them to go out can allow it to get quite cold in there at times.

It is ceiling mounted so nice and safe.

Wow sounds very nice indeed. I'm in the same situation - one younger dog who is still into pulling things apart (toys, towels, blankets etc). I will also have to wait a while - they do have kennels which are undercover and the deck is a real suntrap. ;)

[natamalie]

Thanks for all the advice guys! I'm going to have a go at leaving a coat on him and hopefully it will stay on and not get chewed! Luckily my housemate leaves home much later than we do for work so he will be able to check to see if it has survived before he sets off and perhaps fix it if it has come askew.

It's going to be 13, rainy and windy tomorrow. Yuck!

[natamalie]

What a miserable day here in Melbourne!!

I've left Zander with a coat on and plan to nick home at lunch to check that he's ok. Fingers crossed it stays on because it's freezing!!

[HeavyPaws]

My Dane refuses to wear a coat, but she's cared for fine when we visit her "brothers" and "sisters" {family's Danes}

They're spoiled dogs, they have their own indoor set-up for winter, which is the old horse shed beside the house. There's four open boxes {large stalls}.

Each dog has their own one, floored with straw with washable heat-sealing clark rubber stuff underneath that, with a queen-size thermal blanket over the top of the straw, toys scattered and water bucket at chest height.

Titan, the oldest Dane at 9, has his own thermally heated doughnut bed. The other dogs as puppies were put in his stall with him to absorb some good manners, you'd go in every morning and see the big old man curled in his bed with a puppy sprawled on top of him, both snoring like champions.

Last year they got the internal system replaced, so it wafts warm air through each stall, but not enough to really heat it up. To me, wearing just a single layer of clothes, it's cosy enough to make me want to lie down with them

In winter, the dogs prance around the back door and charge into their stalls like a herd of buffalo. They know where the best beds in the house are and sometimes I'm jealous, having to go into my cold bed and warm myself up.