I saw this today and was frankly a bit perplexed. There's a saying up here: "The Arctic favors men and dogs and frowns on women and horses." If I followed this, I'd never walk my dog. In fact, I see a lot of people up here who skijor (cross-country sled while being pulled by a dog) or run with their dogs or do stuff with their dogs when it is way colder than this. The Yukon Quest is run at temperatures way below this.
I would not let a short hair Chihuahua out at those temperatures but that's not a good dog for up here anyway. Dogs that size are eagle bait. Literally. But I've got an Aussie shepherd/mastiff pup who's about 5 months old and about 35 pounds.
We've had a rash of early cold weather so 10 has been about the high for the last week and a half and yet I go walk the dog or let the dog out. Last night I walked the dog at about -5. We were out for about 30 minutes and he did just fine. Ran up and down the trail.
What do you all say? Is it me? Or is this chart too restrictive?
Originally Posted by Bwana:
If that chart were anywhere close to the truth, every dog I've ever owned would have tipped over from hypothermia. I have a German Shepherd that lays out in the snow when it's well below zero. That dog has a coat like a Bison.
My Doberman is pretty close. Now keep in mind, they have access to a nice heated garage and a covered twin mattress at anytime, but they choose to be out there. In fact, when I bring them in the house, they get pretty hot and I generally don't keep the house over 68 at any given time. I like it cool as well. My bedroom is like a polar vortex with a bed full of thick covers.
Energy companies in the south/southwest: you don’t have to cool your house to 70
Energy companies here: you dont have to heat your house to 70
We set our house at 66 and my dogs have all been fine. And my dogs have also all loved the snow. They run around like mad and roll in the snow and they spread snow all over when they get inside. Of course when theyre covered with snow, they want to sit on your lap even if theyre a 110 lb mastiff (Previous dog).
Which is why this chart just made no sense to me and I wondered if it’s where I am or if theyre just off. Sounds like it’s a combination of: it’s dog dependent but they’re off in saying 10 is life threatening.
Nice part of dogs and cold weather: dog shit freezes so it’s easy to scoop and throw into the woods. And the cold keeps the smell down. Bad part: if the dog shits on the shoveled sidewalk, it freezes to the sidewalk and has to be chiseled off. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Carr4MVP:
Just another example of people acting like dogs are children.
You have no idea. My wife and I own a pet sitting business. It amazes me how much money people are willing to spend on their dogs and how much they spoil them [Reply]
Originally Posted by FlaChief58:
You have no idea. My wife and I own a pet sitting business. It amazes me how much money people are willing to spend on their dogs and how much they spoil them
I am not spending 1200 on a doggy appendectomy. [Reply]
Going to be my first winter with a dog , Shih-poo will let you know what his no go temp is so far no issues at 0 celcius with rain, supposed to hit -12 this week. [Reply]
Pocket hand warmers - that's my newest discovery. Don't go for a walk anymore without them in my pocket. Found them in online pharmacy few month ago and next time will order a whole box probably. Works even better if you put those inside your gloves. [Reply]
That's my newest discovery. Don't go for a walk anymore without them in my pocket
Heh, when I was a district manager on the retail end of a national auto parts store, we were always needing giveaways for various events. I figured some hot hands and toasti toes would be some good items to put in a grab bag. I was in charge of 93 stores, so generally when I asked for something from a manufacturer, they sent it.
I called their regional and asked if he could "send out a couple." He said no problem. About a week later, a freight truck pulled up and the guy unloads two fricken pallets of product. I'm looking at these things going, WTF am I supposed to do with this! I was expecting a big box of each, not a pallet of each.
I had to wrangle those bulky bastards into my garage. I saved plenty for giveaways, gave a bunch to stores. Every swinging dick I knew was loaded up with them and I still had a ton. I finally ended up donating them to a shelter for the homeless and by God, I could once again fit two vehicles into my garage.
I wish I could say that was the only time that happened. The same thing happened with Mothers wax, Seafoam and crap oh dear, blue shop towels.
I was out of town and I got a panicked call from my wife. She said "your shop towels giveaways just arrived, what am I supposed to do with them?" I thought that was a weird question and said "just put them into the garage." Se said, you don't understand!" I got home and that load had to have taken up most of the UPS truck, case after case of towels. Once again, I was expecting a couple of cases, not enough to fill up a distribution center.:-) [Reply]
Same with my Bernese Mountain dog. Heck, she sits at the window and cries to go out when it snows. Will play in the snow for hours. Absolutely loves it. [Reply]
Originally Posted by FlaChief58:
You have no idea. My wife and I own a pet sitting business. It amazes me how much money people are willing to spend on their dogs and how much they spoil them
I never understood the people who treated their dogs like kids but then I became one. Dogs are things that love you unconditionally. Dogs act like permanent 3 year old kids. They depend on us for everything.
Hell my dad's shepherd would come down stairs and scratch on the door right when he was first starting to get a seizure. Sometimes he'd still be talking normal when we got there and then he'd stare off and we knew.
I became one of those people. It may not be a human life but my two dogs are lives I'm responsible for. I hope I never become the kind of person that judges the value of a life based on how much money they cost... [Reply]
Interesting chart. Tufts University has one of the finer vet schools in the world (https://www.vetport.com/which-veterinary-school-is-best), speaking as a proud faculty member at UC Davis, whose Vet School often is called the best. :-)
We're on our 4th Samoyed, having run with them in Chicago and in Davis. As a Northern Breed, they are pretty hearty against the cold. Davis doesn't get anywhere close to cold enough to be worrisome for them, but when we had Laska and Koko in Chicago, they enjoyed the cold weather in Chicago.
That chart looks fairly reasonable to me, though. Note, you can subtract two points for an acclimated Northern Breed.
For myself, for most of my adulthood, when it was 40 degrees or so, I would put gloves on and just run in a short sleeve regular weight jogging shirt and shorts. However, during the pandemic, I've lost a third of my body mass via longer and more frequent jogs and better diet, having gone from 285 pounds down to about 190. Now, when it's 40 degrees, I prefer long sleeves and warmer fabrics. I also have to wear sweaters and jackets more lately just during the day, just to fight the chill, something I didn't have to do when I was heavier. [Reply]
I think I found the limit for my dog, at least for now. We’ve had an early cold snap. It hit 0 today and is forecast to be colder tomorrow. My regular wood guy has been swamped so he’s set to bring wood in a few weeks but I need some now so I got some rounds from a friend and spent this morning splitting wood at -10. My dog ran around for 45 minutes while loading up the truck and doing all kinds of stuff. We got home and I started splitting the wood. After about 10 minutes, he started barking, clearly wanting inside. Later, he went walking with me when it was about -5 or so. We walked to almost 2 miles. Took about 40 minutes and he was fine but I did notice that at the end he was lifting one leg at a time for a few seconds before putting it down and lifting another leg. So I estimate that at about -5 or -10, he has about 45 minutes outside. As he gets older, that may change but: 1) that’s good info for now, and 2) it’s world ways from 10 above being life threatening and keeping him inside. [Reply]
