Puppy And Cold Canberra Days

[koalathebear]

Elbie's inside at night in his crate. During the days he's spending more time outside in preparation for when OH goes back to work - I rejoined the workforce yesterday after having been off work for some months. So far Elbie's been pretty well-behaved for the several hours at a time he's been left alone in the yard but this morning was particularly cold and OH said that he saw Elbie curled up on the back step shivering and he felt bad so let him in.

We won't be able to do that when we're both at work. At five months, Elbie's getting quite big but clearly he's still feeling the cold - any suggestions about what we can do? We can't have a heated kennel because I wouldn't want to leave Elbie alone with electric cables. We also can't leave him in the house alone because our laundry is combined with our kitchen and we definitely can't leave Elbie alone in the kitchen. We could put bedding in the kennel but he'd probably rip it up if he's left unattended.

Edited July 6, 2010 by koalathebear

[Skitch]

Get him a nice warm coat . Even my big fuzzy ACD mix gets a coat when it's cold!

You could also crate him indoors until he is older. Of course this would require that someone come home on lunch breaks etc which may not be possible depending on your situation. We do this with our iggy pup because I wont leave him outside due to the weather and also the fact that we've had someone try to pinch him!

You could always consider doggy day care too.. can be expensive but would definitely give you piece of mind.

[koalathebear]

Unfortunately we wouldn't be able to come back at lunchtime so we can't crate him during the day - we both work too far away. He's likely to be left alone for 8-9 hours during the week. We'll investigate a coat for him - has anyone successfully put their kelpie or border collie in a coat unsupervised for a day? If so, which ones are recommended?

[Genabee]

Skitch - someone tried to pinch your dog???? That is our worst fear! You poor thing!

I know the brand Drizabone do dog coats. (Which I think is sooo cool!). They are made with oiled cotton, to repel water. Some come with sheep skin lining, others just plain cotton. The down side to them is, that if you wash them, they need re-oiling. I guess it depends on how dirty it gets and how important the water-proofness is. They aren't the cheapest of dog coats, but I think it would be an investment purchase. They look as though it would take a fair bit of wear before it shredded!

I don't know how a bigger dog would go with it on all day, by my old maltese used to have an entire wardrobe of coats and jumpers... she had a dressing gown and several party frocks too! She wore clothes more often than not and it never bothered her. I think it is like getting them used to their collar - it annoys them for a little while, but they get used to it.

We haven't tried coats or jumpers on Genevieve yet, but I have recently bought a couple on ebay to try. We will invest in a drizabone for her once she is fully grown (and I trial the cheaper numbers on her first!).

[Jumabaar]

Unfortunately we wouldn't be able to come back at lunchtime so we can't crate him during the day - we both work too far away. He's likely to be left alone for 8-9 hours during the week. We'll investigate a coat for him - has anyone successfully put their kelpie or border collie in a coat unsupervised for a day? If so, which ones are recommended?

My Kelpies can all wear coats when necessary. I would start when eating or generally supervised to make sure there isnt any chewing lol. Dont rule out allowing him inside though- I live in an open plan house and have three kelpies that are indoors when I go out (They occasionaly bark at the dog next door so dont want to get a complaint). They all sleep 95% or the day away in my (read their) room and dont venture out to the rest of the house. You could try locking him in the laundry/kitchen for 5minutes and seeing if he does get into mischief and extend the time....... If all his bedding is in the laundry he will probably just hang out there.

ETA: I use weatherbeata coats on the dogs when necessary (generally just when they are sick, injured or we go anywhere super cold because they are sooks and dont venture outside much voluntarily when cold lol)

Edited July 6, 2010 by woofenpup

[Primedogs]

Instead of a heated kennel have you considered a snuggle safe heat pad or something along those lines, they're suposed to be bite resistence and don't have any eletrical cords or hot water to worry about if he does chew it.

and for bedding do you have any old towels, or sheets that you can use as cheep bedding to fill his kennel with as that way it doesn't matter if he rips it up.

[Skitch]

Yes Wizzle it was very horrible.. he was out in the yard when all of a sudden we heard some banging and raced out to find a young man who had partially climbed over the fence holding our little iggy by the collar! He took jumped back over and took off soon as he saw me. Swear if I wasn't two seconds faster he would have been over the fence with our dog and out of sight.. so horrible to think about. He has not been outside unsupervised since. You cant be too careful in my area apparently it's pretty common.. .

You can pick up coats relatively cheap on Ebay koalathebear.. you could get a few cheap ones to find out how Elbie likes them! No point buying an expensive one only to have him trash it LOL. A friend of ours has a young kelpie that wears coats almost everyday when it's cold with no problems.. a bit of training and you should be right .

[Di*]

Elbie's inside at night in his crate. During the days he's spending more time outside in preparation for when OH goes back to work - I rejoined the workforce yesterday after having been off work for some months. So far Elbie's been pretty well-behaved for the several hours at a time he's been left alone in the yard but this morning was particularly cold and OH said that he saw Elbie curled up on the back step shivering and he felt bad so let him in.

We won't be able to do that when we're both at work. At five months, Elbie's getting quite big but clearly he's still feeling the cold - any suggestions about what we can do? We can't have a heated kennel because I wouldn't want to leave Elbie alone with electric cables. We also can't leave him in the house alone because our laundry is combined with our kitchen and we definitely can't leave Elbie alone in the kitchen. We could put bedding in the kennel but he'd probably rip it up if he's left unattended.

Can you install a pet door?

D

[wuffles]

Ours don't feel the cold, in fact, the colder it is, the happier they seem. They both have a nice thick undercoat, unlike little Elbie!

When we fostered a greyhound, she had her coat on all day while we weren't around -- a soft Weatherbeeta one.

The other suggestion I'd have is a Hound House kennel. Ours used theirs when it was cold, it was much warmer than our other kennel. I would just put a towel in there for a bit of snuggling. Unfortunately, they managed to destroy the Hound House, so now they make do with a trampoline bed (which I came home to find upside down yesterday)

[persephone]

I wouldn't leave a coat on an unattended young puppy all day - too many things could go wrong (maybe).

Make sure there is HEAPS of bedding in his kennel ... lots! old towels , old blankets lots for him to tunnel, in/snuggle in. If he doesn't like his kennel- why not put his crate outside, under cover... with a strudy cover over it?

leave him LARGE bones that he cannot possibly chew up ... just to play with. a couple of elbie-sized cardboard cartons for him to sit in/chew up ....

Lreave him interactive toys- like well stuffed kongs ... treat ball/s tennis balls, soccer balls ( teach him that they can be chased/bumped around teh yard ...our youngsters love em :rolleyes: )

as long as he somewhere draft free and in a sunny spot - a kennel FULL of bedding ( NOT just a flat mattress on the floor- they provide no warmth, really) he will be fine. Our pups are all outside .. and it gets to minus 5 here of a night/morning They are lying in the sun now,soaking it up - it is 7 degrees.

[persephone]

but he'd probably rip it up if he's left unattended.

at least he would be keeping himself warm!!

[poodlefan]

Fill the kennel with straw.

Or partition off your kitchen from your laundry with a decent baby gate, add a dog door and make a warm bed in the laundry.

[flux]

We left Jazz alone in our kitchen + laundry area, with a puppy fence (inherited from a friend thank goodness, I hear they are $$$?) sectioning off the kitchen walkway from the rest of the house. We denco-rubbed the parts of the kitchen leg she tends to enjoy chewing on, lifted up the bin and gave her plenty of excuses not to chew the furniture - breakfast in a cube and/or big bone and we tried to walk her before we left for walk so she would be more sleep inclined during the day. Just in case that 2c might help you out. Good luck with it!

[Vehs]

Yup pad his kennel up with something - my dog used to have the hessian bag mattresses... he ripped up two all over the lawn and I just threw some old towels inside instead. Now that he's older he's got nicer quilts and towels (I find the hessian makes him smell)

[Genabee]

We denco-rubbed the parts of the kitchen leg she tends to enjoy chewing on

Does denco-rub work????? What a bloody good idea! Watch out chair legs, here I come!

[heroeswit]

We denco-rubbed the parts of the kitchen leg she tends to enjoy chewing on

Does denco-rub work????? What a bloody good idea! Watch out chair legs, here I come!

wish I could use denco-rub it would be so easy but since I have allergies its a no go just like dog flea stuff with tea tree in it(you'd be surprised how many things have tea tree, menthol, eucalyptus in their ingredients') maybe I'll just have to fix my allergies but it sounds simple to use if it works

[dancinbcs]

A correct size kennel placed as close to the back door as possible should keep him warm enough. Use old towels, blankets, hession bags or straw for bedding so it doesn't matter how destructive he is with it. Op shops are often a good source of cheap dog bedding.

Most dogs will not use a kennel unless it is right next to the back door. Turn it to avoid any wind entering it and it shoud be nice and warm once he curls up inside.

[wuffles]

A correct size kennel placed as close to the back door as possible should keep him warm enough. Use old towels, blankets, hession bags or straw for bedding so it doesn't matter how destructive he is with it. Op shops are often a good source of cheap dog bedding.

Just wanted to mention, be careful if you think he will EAT the blankets/towels rather than just destroy them as they could cause a blockage. Mine actually do eat pieces of what they chew up so they don't get towels/blankets any more

[I love dribbly dogs]

Just drop him off at my place and Ruffles can keep him warm

Seriously though, as long as you provide somewhere warm and dry he will use it when he realises he has to stay outside. I used to put a heated wheat bag in the kennel with Ruffles until she decided it looked tasty.

The girls cuddle up and lay in the sun if they get cold.

Plus Indira is a tibetan dog with a freakishly warm thick coat so no probs there.

[KumaAkita]

I was going to say the same thing - Elbie can play here with Kuma!

He doesn't like his kennel and would rather find a warm spot to sleep in all day.

If its raining he gets the laundry, bathroom and hallway - all tiled areas.