Neighbours’ outside dog

[mpage23]

Hi everyone,

 

My neighbours are a young family and have a 9 year old kelpie that used to belong to the grandfather, but he died and they ended up with the dog.

 

He spends all his time outdoors and also does not get walked. He is a bit ignored really. I looked after him when they were away on holidays and ever since then, I have been walking him for them. He is a lovely dog.

 

He sleeps outside on the upstairs verandah, overlooking the backyard. He sleeps in the corner, with the back of the house behind him and a brick wall to one side. The verandah does have a roof so is protected from the rain, but is still exposed to wind and cold. The dog’s bed is one of those pad / flat mattress type beds. He does not have a kennel or blankets, or a bed he can nestle down in.

 

I have never owned a dog myself, so I am just looking for some opinions regarding these sleeping arrangements.

 

Should he have a kennel? Will he be cold in Winter? He slept in this same place last winter and I felt bad for him. Now I have gotten to know the dog, I feel even worse!

 

Am I worrying unnecessarily?

 

Located in Sydney.

 

Thanks!

 

- Martha

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 24, 2018 by mpage23

[RuralPug]

You may be worrying unnecessarily.  Really a lot will depend on what the dog himself chooses. You could donate a large warm kennel and heaps of fluffy blankets and he might ignore them all entirely for his chosen spot on the upstairs verandah. 

Because it is an upstairs verandah (balcony??) I assume that there is a railing or low fence or some sort of barrier - this may be enough to keep him out of the wind and brick walls do retain a lot of heat.  Without seeing the actual roofed balcony in question it is hard to determine much.
Sydney has what I would call a fairly moderate climate - ice and snow is not common in winter like, for instance, Canberra.The dog might be perfectly comfortable.

The sleeping arrangement is not what I would choose for any dog in my care, but I have had dogs in my care, that chose to sleep outdoors, only retreating indoors at night on rare occasions. Provided that they were not nuisance barking at possums etc. I let them choose (any that did bark were crated indoors).

You can try asking your neighbours about his sleeping arrangements - perhaps they are just trying to replicate as best they can what sleeping arrangements he had at the deceased owner's home or perhaps they have tried other things and this is what the dog prefers. You won't know unless you ask.

Good on on you for walking this dog and enjoying his company.

[juice]

Can you fit a kennel on the verandah? if so perhaps they would let you get him one, they go really cheap on gumtree. You could buy him a warm coat for winter, just make sure it fits ok and he can't undo any straps.

My dogs used to live outside, but they had kennels with warm beds, coats and heat pads, as they got older they came inside at night.

I have an elderly neighbour with a a kelpie she acquired off her nephew and they are country people so she was outside with nothing too, i gave them a coat last winter, and a martingale collar as she is a strong dog for the lady to walk ,i also suggested a kennel, she now gets to sleep in the garage at least with a warm coat. its hard not to offend people.

Edited April 24, 2018 by juice

[Rebanne]

mention to your neighbours you have a couple of old blankets that you were going to get rid of and would they like them? (get some from an op shop, if they don't want them they can go back) Other then that I'd leave well enough alone. Get them off side and they might not let you walk the dog any more. Kelpie's have lovely thick coats naturally. What if they put a dog coat on him for a while, then forget? Wearing a dog coat would have made his body not prepare as well for winter, so he would be worse off. I never coated my GSD's in winter even when they were older. They had beautiful, natural coats. My next door neighbours Golden Retriever lived his whole life with similar sleeping arrangements, no kennel, bedding at the, sheltered, back door.

[gillybob]

Was he a working dog? If he was you might find that he is used to being outside, a lot are chained outside when they arnt working.