When is a puppy old enough to sleep in a kennel outdoors?

Tootle

I was wondering at what age can a puppy sleep in a kennel outdoors and any tips for making the transition from indoors to outdoors.

crotalus667

depends what type of dog, what type of kennel , age of dog

Tootle

Thanks for reply. Small dog, Yorkshire terrier x. Not sure what you mean by type of kennel? A small wooden kennel? As far as age goes, that's the question, what age is appropriate?

morganafay

Personally I would get a shed and put the kennel in the shed, then you could close up the shed at night to keep the dog warm. Then maybe bedding like straw would be nice and cozy.

Is it a tiny Yorkie cross, like teacup Yorkies, or a bit bigger, like a Westie size? And does it have its fur clipped short?

Dunno what age it is now, but I'd think May would be a good time to transition it to living outdoors. Is it outdoors during the day anyway? I'd first start by letting it out for a few hours and then for the whole day, and then after a few weeks, leaving it out at night too. It should be fine, as long as it's maybe 4 or 5 months old now?

Also I guess your garden has a fence around it? Otherwise you'd have to try to train it to stay in the garden, which is really difficult and annoying.

toadfly

Is it essential that the dog sleeps outside? Yorkies are not outside dogs, they are way to small for the cold. Also they dont have a very thick coat to keep them warm. I have two and there is no way I would put them outside, they would freeze. Why get such a small dog if you dont have an inside dog?

Tootle

No it's not essential he sleeps out doors. I suppose I come from a home where pets are outdoors. If he's not able to sleep outdoors, then I won't. I know my neighbours have a pug and he has slept in a kennel since they got him as a pup but comes inside when they are home. I was planning on trying the same. I'm really open to any suggestions.

Eibhin

I know there is a great divide in opinions about keeping dogs inside and outside.
As a previous poster said...I think Yorkies are too small and coats too thin to keep outside at any time of the year. THey are real creatures of comfort and love to curl up somewhere cosy and warm. And they take up so little space too:D
If it were a working dog I would say yes keep it outside but def not a yorkie!! That's my tuppence worth anyway!
I have 4 dogs...all sleep inside!

PaulB91

as a Yorkie myself (OK not the breed just born and dragged up in the county) I would say keep him indoors - poor thing - you don't know what might be lurking in your garden at night time - i.e. a large tom cat

Tootle

Thanks for all the comments. It's interesting looking at the responses. I asked the dog trainer and she said in another couple of months (ie at about 5months), so she wasn't saying no. I myself am divided but my other half, who's from a farm wants it to live outside. I think one half of me doesn't want the house to smell of dog!

Micky Dolenz

What do ye mean by an "indoor" dog?. Surely an animal covered in hair, living in a kennel with proper bedding would be ok.

PaulB91

Micky Dolenz wrote: »

What do ye mean by an "indoor" dog?. Surely an animal covered in hair, living in a kennel with proper bedding would be ok.

Really makes me laugh this country, any animal with hair and a kennel with bedding can live outside then is it?

Funny that cos i kept mice as a kid and my mom wouldn't let me bring them in at night during the winter - they literally froze to death, and they where in a proper "mouse house" with plenty of bedding inside a garage.

Dogs are DOMESTICATED animals, and yorkshire terriers where never outdoor dogs, they where bred by mill workers in Yorkshire and part of the "Toy" breeds i.e. not working dogs, not meant to be kept outside - they only have thin coats.

Tootle

Does it make a difference that he's a yorkie crossed with a Jack Russell? Someone said JRs were bred as outdoor dogs. I appreciate all the advice.

toadfly

Tootle wrote: »

Thanks for all the comments. It's interesting looking at the responses. I asked the dog trainer and she said in another couple of months (ie at about 5months), so she wasn't saying no. I myself am divided but my other half, who's from a farm wants it to live outside. I think one half of me doesn't want the house to smell of dog!

So why get a dog? Are you planning "it" being outside all the time even when ye are home or just while ye are out at work etc?

Yorkies are not able for the cold. One of ours her hair is really long at the minute but even with that it isnt thick enough, it is hair rather than fur and there is no heat in it. She would be freezing just going outside to the toilet.

toadfly

Tootle wrote: »

Does it make a difference that he's a yorkie crossed with a Jack Russell? Someone said JRs were bred as outdoor dogs. I appreciate all the advice.

I wouldnt think so, our second Yorkie is a cross between a Yorkie and a JR (we think) and he has the same type of hair its just his is shaved at the minute as he was badly matted when we got him a month ago. I wouldnt put either dog outside to sleep.

toadfly

Have a look at this scroll down to living conditions...

http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/yorkshireterrier.htm

PaulB91

TillyGirl wrote: »

Have a look at this scroll down to living conditions...

http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/yorkshireterrier.htm

it's blocked from my work - couldn't paste it in as a quote could ya?

toadfly

here you go...

Living Conditions

The Yorkie is a good dog for apartment life. They are very active indoors and will do okay without a yard. The Yorkie is sensitive to the cold and prefers warm climates.

kylith

Tootle wrote: »

Does it make a difference that he's a yorkie crossed with a Jack Russell? Someone said JRs were bred as outdoor dogs. I appreciate all the advice.

I grew up with a JRT cross that lived outside very happily, in fact she'd demand to be let out at about 10pm. My current pair of dogs also sleep outside with no problems.

If the dog is of a breed that is hardy, as Yorkshire Terriers should be, then they should be ok outside. Yorkies are a working terrier, the ones I knew growing up (only about 15 years ago) were easily as large as a Jack Russel; the problem is that people have bred smaller and smaller Yorkies with finer and finer coats that just aren't any good for insulation or protection.

So it will depend on the type of dog that you have. If it's crossed with a JRT I'd say that it'll be fine outside once the weather's warmed up a bit and it's gotten some meat on its bones.

Don't listen to the crowd who say that you shouldn't keep dogs outdoors at night; it's complete balderdash. The vast majority of Ireland and the UK's native breeds have been specifically bred to cope with the weather; people have only started to keep dogs indoors very recently. I think it's terribly unfair to deny any creature the chance to go to the toilet whenever it might need to. The excessive heat in the house will also thin the dog's coat making it more prone to the cold as well.

toadfly

kylith wrote: »

I grew up with a JRT cross that lived outside very happily, in fact she'd demand to be let out at about 10pm. My current pair of dogs also sleep outside with no problems.

If the dog is of a breed that is hardy, as Yorkshire Terriers should be, then they should be ok outside. Yorkies are a working terrier, the ones I knew growing up (only about 15 years ago) were easily as large as a Jack Russel; the problem is that people have bred smaller and smaller Yorkies with finer and finer coats that just aren't any good for insulation or protection.

So it will depend on the type of dog that you have. If it's crossed with a JRT I'd say that it'll be fine outside once the weather's warmed up a bit and it's gotten some meat on its bones.

Don't listen to the crowd who say that you shouldn't keep dogs outdoors at night; it's complete balderdash. The vast majority of Ireland and the UK's native breeds have been specifically bred to cope with the weather; people have only started to keep dogs indoors very recently. I think it's terribly unfair to deny any creature the chance to go to the toilet whenever it might need to. The excessive heat in the house will also thin the dog's coat making it more prone to the cold as well.

Dont agree at all but each to their own.

kylith

PaulB91 wrote: »

Funny that cos i kept mice as a kid and my mom wouldn't let me bring them in at night during the winter - they literally froze to death, and they where in a proper "mouse house" with plenty of bedding inside a garage.

Jesus! There must be no wild mice anywhere in the country then. That means that I must have been hallucinating when I saw that one the other day.

PaulB91 wrote: »

Dogs are DOMESTICATED animals,

As are chickens which sleep outdoors, rabbits which sleep outdoors and cats which you probably have no problems letting roam around the countryside all night, sleeping wherever they want. Domesticated animals that have been bred to have warm coats keep nice and cosy outdoors.

PaulB91 wrote: »

and yorkshire terriers where never outdoor dogs, they where bred by mill workers in Yorkshire and part of the "Toy" breeds i.e. not working dogs, not meant to be kept outside - they only have thin coats.

The mill workers didn't breed them to be pretty, they bred them to kill vermin; to work. And you can bet your bottom dollar that the mill workers didn't keep them indoors, and even if they were indoors it would have been just as cold outside as in in the days before central heating.

PaulB91

kylith wrote: »

Jesus! There must be no wild mice anywhere in the country then. That means that I must have been hallucinating when I saw that one the other day.

So was that a "pet mouse" raised indoors?

kylith wrote: »

As are chickens which sleep outdoors, rabbits which sleep outdoors and cats which you probably have no problems letting roam around the countryside all night, sleeping wherever they want. Domesticated animals that have been bred to have warm coats keep nice and cosy outdoors.

dogs in ye olden dayz used to live and sleep in with their masters - yorkies ain't bred to be kept outside and don't have warm coats

kylith wrote: »

The mill workers didn't breed them to be pretty, they bred them to kill vermin; to work. And you can bet your bottom dollar that the mill workers didn't keep them indoors, and even if they were indoors it would have been just as cold outside as in in the days before central heating.

how much you want to bet? what's the point of having a dog to kill the vermin in the house and keep it outdoors? bit like having a choclate fire guard

kylith

PaulB91 wrote: »

So was that a "pet mouse" raised indoors?

It was a wild mouse, designed by nature to be resistant to cold with a nice thick coat, much like a dog designed by people to keep warm in a cold country.

PaulB91 wrote: »

dogs in ye olden dayz used to live and sleep in with their masters - yorkies ain't bred to be kept outside and don't have warm coats

The 'teacup' Yorkies have been bred too frail indeed, but there's one or two around my way that are what I'd consider a 'proper' Yorkie which certainly does sleep outside, and has a lovely warm coat. As I said; if it's a hardy breed with a good coat then it should be fine outside in a good kennel with bedding.

My uncle keeps terriers as ratters on his farm, they sleep outside; in fact they're no more allowed indoors than the cattle are. Ask him about letting dogs sleep in your bed and he'd look at you like you had two heads.

PaulB91 wrote: »

how much you want to bet? what's the point of having a dog to kill the vermin in the house and keep it outdoors? bit like having a choclate fire guard

They were bred to kill the vermin in the mills. What use would a dog be for keeping down vermin when they're locked up indoors? How would you keep the rats out of the grain if the dog's in your bedroom?

PaulB91

kylith wrote: »

They were bred to kill the vermin in the mills. What use would a dog be for keeping down vermin when they're locked up indoors? How would you keep the rats out of the grain if the dog's in your bedroom?

ahh those famous outdoor woolen mills, where the sheeps was connected straight to the loom didn't realise they used grain in the manafacture of textiles?

PaulB91

kylith wrote: »

My uncle keeps terriers as ratters on his farm, they sleep outside; in fact they're no more allowed indoors than the cattle are. Ask him about letting dogs sleep in your bed and he'd look at you like you had two heads.

my uncles too kept dogs for ratting on their farms, in Yorkshire, and they wouldn't talk to you if you said you kept your dogs outside - ps cattle are kept in sheds overnight

andreac

I dont see why you would want to put a little dog like a yorkie outside anyway?

What harm is it to sleep inside?

They are only small and you would hardly even notice them in the house.

I def wouldnt be putting any dog under 6 months old outside, even more so with a yorkie.

Tootle

Wow! Lots of conflicting advice. I don't know how to do the quote thing on this but someone asked "why get a dog if you want to have it outside?" Well I am very outdoorsey myself. I go camping as much as possible. I'd like the dog to be used to the outdoors. It'll be inside with us when we are home.
We have always had cats as kids and they were never let inside. They slept either outside in a cat house or in the garage. Is there a huge difference between a cat and a small dog?
I can assure you this dog will get plenty of attention, it's not a case of leaving him outside.

ppink

It always make me wonder how dogs have managed to get themselves into the books of "man's best friend" and what would happen if it was cows not dogs that fulfilled this role.......would we all want to move them into our homes.

PaulB91

ppink wrote: »

It always make me wonder how dogs have managed to get themselves into the books of "man's best friend" and what would happen if it was cows not dogs that fulfilled this role.......would we all want to move them into our homes.

if a cow had helped mankind to tame the wild then maybe so -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog

The dog quickly became ubiquitous across culture across the world, and was extremely valuable to early human settlements. For instance, it is believed that the successful emigration across the Bering Strait might not have been possible without sled dogs. Dogs perform many roles for people, such as hunting, herding, protection, assisting police and military, companionship, and, more recently, aiding handicapped individuals. This versatility, more than almost any other known animal, has given them the nickname "Man's best friend" in the western world. Currently, there are estimated to be 400 million dogs in the world.

Over the 15,000 year span that the dog had been domesticated, it diverged into only a handful of landraces, groups of similar animals whose morphology and behavior have been shaped by environmental factors and functional roles.

there is scientific research which states that humans would not have evolved to the stage we are at now without the dog, in fact we could still be living in caves hunting by our lonesomes - maybe the world would be better of if man had adopted the cow :rolleyes:

ppink

So did man manipulate the dog......and now he is also filling an emotional void for some.

sorry OP this is off topic!

i am just interested as to how we have managed to use dogs! and of course I am still asking myself how I now look into the dogs eyes and cant put him out........who is manipulating who now:D

PaulB91

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog

Humans would also have derived enormous benefit from the dogs associated with their camps.[29] For instance, dogs would have improved sanitation by cleaning up human waste and food scraps.[29] Dogs may have provided warmth, as referred to in the Australian Aboriginal expression “three dog night” and they would have alerted the camp to the presence of predators or strangers, using their acute hearing to provide an early warning.[29] Anthropologists believe the most significant benefit would have been the use of dogs' sensitive sense of smell to assist with the hunt.[29] The relationship between the presence of a dog and success in the hunt is often mentioned as a primary reason for the domestication of the wolf, and a 2004 study of hunter groups with and without a dog gives quantitative support to the hypothesis that the benefits of cooperative hunting was an important factor in wolf domestication.[30]
The cohabitation of dogs and humans would have greatly improved the chances of survival for early human groups, and the domestication of dogs may have been one of the key forces that led to modern humans.[31] Anthropologists Tacon and Pardoe argue that the effects of human-canine cohabitation on humans would have been profound, and hypothesize that some of the effects could have been moving from scavenging to large game hunting, the establishment and marking of territories, living in optimally sized social groups, hunting/working in synchronised teams, and negotiating partnership bonds.[29] The human-dog partnership set both species on a new evolutionary course.

PaulB91

http://www.rspca.org.uk/allaboutanimals/pets/dogs/environment

Environment



Make sure your dog has a suitable place to live
Facts

• Living in a cold or wet place can cause a dog to suffer and may lead to illness.
• A dog needs regular opportunities to go to the toilet or it will become distressed.
• A dog must be able to avoid things that scare it. A dog may suffer if it is unable to hide.
• Dogs are intelligent. If a dog is bored, and doesn’t have enough to do, it may suffer.
• A dog needs regular opportunities to exercise.
• Dogs are inquisitive. A dog may put itself in danger if it is left to explore unsupervised.

Things you should do

• Provide your dog with a comfortable, dry, draught-free, clean and quiet place to rest undisturbed.
• At least every few hours provide your dog with access to an appropriate place where your dog can go to the toilet.
• Provide your dog with access to an appropriate place where it can exercise at least once a day. Read our FAQ on exercising your dog.
• Give your dog constant access to a safe hiding place where it can escape if it feels afraid.
• Make sure your dog has access to suitable objects to chew and play with.
• If dogs live together, you should provide enough extra resources (e.g. toys, beds and hiding places) to stop them from becoming competitive and fighting.
• Make sure the size and temperature of any place you leave your dog (including your vehicle) is appropriate.
• When you transport your dog, make sure it is comfortable and safe at all times. Read our FAQ on transporting dogs in cars safely.
• Make sure that where your dog lives is safe, secure and free from hazards.
• Keep your dog under control and do not let it stray.