small dog in outside kennel overnight in this weather?

vibe666

i noticed last night that one of our neighbours had left their small dog (not sure of the breed, but looks like a fat jack russell) in its outside kennel overnight.

when i left the house 1st thing this morning at 6:30am it was -14 and i really don't think its healthy or safe for a small dog to be outside in that weather, it must have been freezing.

it does obviously have a kennel, but thats hardly sufficient in this kind of weather, even with blankets etc.

don't laugh, but the reason i was out there (at 12:30 in the middle of the night) was to get our old cat litter tray cleaned out and put fresh litter in it because one of our two cats doesn't like going out in the snow and she's all bloated as i dont think she's able to cope with going outside to go to the toilet.

andreac

God thats awful so sad too. Another thing is that god knows if the poor thing even has water as it would be frozen over in minutes.

Do you know your neighbour well? Could you talk to them? How could anyone leave a dog out in this or any pet:(

portgirl123

hate to say it but your neighbour aint the only person whos dogs are out in this cold. loads of people around my way the same and they honestly cant see anything wrong with this. in Jan when we had this bad weather a family in the next town from me, left their yr old yorkie out and next morning was dead. this is true cos they live next to my auntie. sure what did they do, when out and got another.
My dogs and my cats refuse to go out in this weather and thats the way i like it

vibe666

andreac wrote: »

Do you know your neighbour well? Could you talk to them? How could anyone leave a dog out in this or any pet:(

yeah, quite well but not sure if its well enough to say something to them. i have to say something though, its not right to leave the dog out when its like this.

toadfly

portgirl123 wrote: »

left their yr old yorkie out and next morning was dead.

I'd believe it, my two wouldnt survive out in the weather these last few weeks. They are rattling without the heat on nevermind outside all night.

Make me so mad.

Tranceypoo

Hmm, are you my neighbour??!! I know one of our neighbours across the way leaves their less than 1 year old Beagle out in his shed at night (they also have a nice electric collar on him which looks like it's strangling him), they got the dog for their mysterious teenage daughter (I say mysterious because I've never seen her despite living in the house nearly a year now) I met her (the mum) out one evening and got her onto the subject of the dog and suggested he should not be out in this weather, he's only a pup, so cold etc etc, my husband said they have him inside at night now, I hope it's true but he may also be saying it to make me feel better because he knows how cross I get about it. As other poster said, a lot of dogs are being left out in this weather, I can't bear thinking about it.

vibe666

i'm going to have to say something to them, the poor little thing must be frozen.

Lucyx

I just hate seeing threads like this. what is wrong with some people?
I put furry blankets on my dogs bed in winter and she sleeps in the bedroom with me. I'd sooner put myself outside than her.

and the thoughts of that yorkie dying from the cold. thats a nightmare.

you've got to say something to those people vibe666. I know its very hard though and they may give you filthy looks. Be prepared for them telling you to feck off

ppink

Maybe you could just say to them you have heard of different small dogs actually dying outside in this weather and you are just letting people know that all animal welfare folks advise dogs are kept indoors in this extreme weather........you'd hate to see them getting up in the morning to a dead dog. Some people really just dont know any better, not nice but that is the truth. Of course you do get those who could not give a hoot either!!

Zapperzy

ppink wrote: »

Maybe you could just say to them you have heard of different small dogs actually dying outside in this weather and you are just letting people know that all animal welfare folks advise dogs are kept indoors in this extreme weather........you'd hate to see them getting up in the morning to a dead dog. Some people really just dont know any better, not nice but that is the truth. Of course you do get those who could not give a hoot either!!

I would avoid mentioning animal welfare folks, some people have an attitude that all those involved in some way in animal welfare are know-it-alls. Sure you see it even here on other forums joking about us animal welfare folk loving animals more than humans and what not!
I would just stick to you have a friend who's small dog died because of the cold and she got talking to other people and found out it's not an uncommon thing to happen in this very cold weather, mention that temps have been known to drop to minus 15 (or similar, whatever your local weather is like) at night.

Sadly some people just don't understand that a thin wooden/plastic kennel is not enough to keep a dog warm overnight. Presuming that this is what they keep the dog in?

DailyBlaa

My old field spaniel stays outdoors in all weathers have to hunt her back to her shed at night wont stay there. With this cold weather I make sure she has plenty of straw for her bed. I would consider her very hardy but I could not understand leaving any small dog or pet outside in this type of weather without very good bedding and more importantly if the kennel is open some form of wind break so stop the bitting cold wind at night.

Discodog

The ISPCA have asked that dogs should be bought inside but they should of done a proper PR & Media campaign. It is illegal to keep any animal in inadequate conditions & they should be prosecuting as this would gain more media attention & maybe make owners think.

lrushe

I got my bf to put an extra layer of insulation in our dogs' kennel back at the start of November as normally when the weather is milder my dogs sleep outside or are outside when I'm out, they have yet to use the new kennel however as there is no way I could leave them outside in the weather we are having lately, they have been inside ever since.
I've no problem with people keeping their dogs outside at night but come on even the most ignorant pet owner must know that if their car doors are frozen shut in the morning there is no way their dog could be ok sleeping in the same temps.

January

There was a post on another forum I frequent last week about a lady who's dog died outside in the middle of the night, she didn't think it was the cold because the dog wasn't curled up in a ball to try and get heat.

ISDW

Even all of the huskies are sleeping inside the house every night at the moment, and usually a couple of them will take themselves off out at night to play and sleep. Last night 7 of them were on my bed, but as our heating is broken at the moment, I really didn't mind:D

Seriously though, there was a discussion on a husky forum previously, as to whether huskies from here would be able to work in Alaska and places like that. My opinion is that if they were acclimatised to it gradually, they would be fine, but they are not used to the kind of temperatures that we are currently getting, and their coats aren't thick enough. Now if this weather went on for a while, I think they would get used to it, and would be fine, but you can't expect dogs who normally live in temperate conditions to suddenly cope with the extremes we've been having, no matter how thick, or how many coats they have.

meathstevie

As long as the dog has plenty of food, water, dry shelter out of the wind with sufficient bedding to keep of the cold ground I honestly can't see no reason why it wouldn't do ok.

By shelter I don't mean a flimsy plastic kennel standing directly on the ground or a wooden kennel with gaps in the sides wide enough to post the golden pages through.

Dad was saying that the sister's Yorkie wouldn't go for a propor walk somedays with the cold, she's just stop and want to go back home. Very very cruel leaving a dog outside to sleep in this cold snap. Cnuts of owners should be shot.

toadfly

RoverJames wrote: »

Dad was saying that the sister's Yorkie wouldn't go for a propor walk somedays with the cold, she's just stop and want to go back home. Very very cruel leaving a dog outside to sleep in this cold snap. Cnuts of owners should be shot.

Ya it's true Yorkies hate the cold. Was out for a walk the other day in the snow, Tilly starts limping so pick her up clear the snow from between the pads of the feet but was still limping so himself carried her home. As soon as she got inside the house and beside the fire she was grand!

I know JRT's are hardier than Yorkies but it's still pure cruel leaving him out in this weather.

They love their comfort alright Fifi only sleeps at the end of the bed that has someone in it. Before the sister moved out years ago the Fi would sleep in the sister's room, when she got up the Fi would dash into my room, when I got up she'd run into the ole lad's room :pac: F all wrong with a dog's life really, as long as your not one of the ones outside in -10 degs.

vibe666

meathstevie wrote: »

As long as the dog has plenty of food, water, dry shelter out of the wind with sufficient bedding to keep of the cold ground I honestly can't see no reason why it wouldn't do ok.

By shelter I don't mean a flimsy plastic kennel standing directly on the ground or a wooden kennel with gaps in the sides wide enough to post the golden pages through.

it was -14 this morning when i went out to the car at 6:30am. i don't think any amount of blankets is going to be sufficient for an unheated dog kennel in those temps.

i went camping with my wife and some friends in may this year and due to some unforeseen weather at the time, the temps dropped to -1 overnight. luckily for us we had many layers of bedding and a big thick fur blanket to huddle under, but even with all that it was bitterly cold like i've never felt in my life and i love the cold normally.

i was out xmas morning last year in -18 in just a t-shirt cleaning ice off the car windscreen and i was fine for 10 minutes, but sleeping for hours in cold conditions where you can't keep your core body temp up is another thing entirely.

we ended up in the tent under all our blankets fully clothed and it was still too cold, so i had a towel wrapped around my head with only my eyes showing to try and keep my head warm and it was still way too cold.

anyway, my point is -14 is potentially killer cold for anything.

after all that i haven't actually seen anything of my neighbours or the dog this evening, no lights on at home so who knows.

gowayuwilya

RoverJames wrote: »

Dad was saying that the sister's Yorkie wouldn't go for a propor walk somedays with the cold, she's just stop and want to go back home. Very very cruel leaving a dog outside to sleep in this cold snap. Cnuts of owners should be shot.

We should start a campaign to bring all animals indoors...why stop at dogs what about the poor lil cows, foxes and even the goldfish being left in the cold water these days...tut tut

toadfly

gowayuwilya wrote: »

We should start a campaign to bring all animals indoors...why stop at dogs what about the poor lil cows, foxes and even the goldfish being left in the cold water these days...tut tut

It's people with this kind if ridiculous attitude that is the cause if so many animals dying every year.

I just don't get it.

vibe666

TillyGirl wrote: »

It's people with this kind if ridiculous attitude that is the cause if so many animals dying every year.

I just don't get it.

its called idiocy and unfortunately its very widespread and quite often contagious. :mad:

dvet

gowayuwilya wrote: »

We should start a campaign to bring all animals indoors...why stop at dogs what about the poor lil cows, foxes and even the goldfish being left in the cold water these days...tut tut

Nearly all cows live indoors in winter time and early spring every year, even in mild winters. It would be rare enough to see any in fields from Oct through to March, or longer depending on the weather.

Cherry Blossom

gowayuwilya wrote: »

We should start a campaign to bring all animals indoors...why stop at dogs what about the poor lil cows, foxes and even the goldfish being left in the cold water these days...tut tut

I'm usually surrounded by cattle everywhere and I haven't seen a single one in the last 3 weeks because they are all inside, some wild animal has taken up residence in my nans old house and I had 3 inches thick of ice in my water trough in the field this morning :rolleyes:

dvet

adrenalinjunkie wrote: »

I had 3 inches thick of ice in my water trough in the field this morning :rolleyes:

Hate that! Have you tried floating a ball in the water trough? It moves around on the surface, and stops ice from forming..Usually works... but then again, it might not be enough to stop a 3-inches-of-ice scenario!! :rolleyes:

Cherry Blossom

dvet wrote: »

Hate that! Have you tried floating a ball in the water trough? It moves around on the surface, and stops ice from forming..Usually works... but then again, it might not be enough to stop a 3-inches-of-ice scenario!! :rolleyes:

Won't work because it froze over completely, pipe leading to it froze as well and came apart at a joint and as its contracted with the cold I can't make it reach to put back together! Was out with a 10 litre bucket of boiling water then decided sod it as it will be the same again in the morning and the horses are only out a few hours a day now anyway! :rolleyes:

lrushe

dvet wrote: »

Nearly all cows live indoors in winter time and early spring every year, even in mild winters. It would be rare enough to see any in fields from Oct through to March, or longer depending on the weather.

This is true, I know for a fact that my uncle definately brings his cows and sheep in at this time of year.