How cold is too cold

[chic]

I am starting to leave my eight week old chow to sleep outside. How cold is too cold for the dog>

Thanks

[mrstu]

Why are you leaving your chowling outside to sleep, is he not your pet? Wouldnt he be more comfortable in the house. I think a pet should be kept in the house and not outside. Just my opinion. An eight week old chowling is too young to sleep outside -- their bodies are just too little to regulate temperature well. Remember when they are with their mothers, they sleep right up close to her and their litter mates for heat.

why would you get a little chowling only to keep it outside, does not make sense to me.

[kingalls]

At eight weeks, your Chowling is too young to be outside on his own - no matter what the temperature.

[Laura]

I agree with everyone else. Why in the world would you want your baby and it is a baby...to sleep outside all alone? Bless it's heart.

[Larry Harris]

Chows at any age need their people, they do not do well outside tied up alone.

Your chowling will be a lot happier inside with you. Best to keep him in a crate this will keep him out of trouble at night. Please remember at that age they have a little bladder and can not hold it long.

Larry

[bubba]

is there a doggy door ? where the chow can enter the house and leave as the chow choses ?
or a proper dog house available ,

""
And remember that the outdoor dog needs
as much companionship as the indoor pet. To
keep your outdoor dog healthy and happy and to
prevent continuous barking and other signs of
boredom, give it lots of love and attention.""

http://www.pressenter.com/~hdouglas/doghouse1.pdf

http://www.allaboutdoghouses.com/docs/f ... -plans.htm


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

somes yard dogs , somes house dogs .. if this chow is a yard dog then so small a puppy needs a proper sleeping place where he can get out of any inclement weather..

http://www.pressenter.com/~hdouglas/doghouse1.pdf

... i have to go out and chase my chow into the house in the winter,, it can be 20 F or 15 F and the chow boy wants to stay outside , of course he was a strong 2 year old with a thick coat.. not a tiny puppy ...

in summer chow knocks on the door wanting in .. in winter he just as soon stay outside and watch/guard.. he thinks its his job to watch for the fox and the deer when they pass by..
he espically likes it if it snows .. but a cold rain he just as soon be in the house.. he knocks on the door until i let him in ...
here 's plans for a good house for a yard dog ,, i think at 8 weeks he should spend lots of time with you , bonding..

http://www.doghouseplans.com/

http://www.ronhazelton.com/howto/doghou ... uction.htm




http://www.wayneofthewoods.com/doghouse.html

Now you are in the dog house with these chow lovers for leaving a tiny 8 week pup out side alone ,, go out and get in the dog house with him RIGHT NOW

[chic]

Thank you the dog will remain inside.

[SWANCIN]

Thank you the dog will remain inside.

I noticed the temps (per weather.com) dip quite abit in the evenings where you are, even so early in the season. Glad to hear the pup will be indoors

[mrstu]

I did not mean to sound unfriendly, i just imagined this little furball baby outside by itself. Glad you are keeping it inside.

[Jeff&Peks]

Like everyone else said an 8 week old puppy is way to young to be outside at night. If it gets as cold as you say in a year or so you will probably have trouble getting him/her to come in at night the cold is where he will want to be. Young or old, day or night you never trap them outside untill you get to know your Chow and his habits. Mine prefers to be out side so I have to leave the sliding glass door open all the time, I froze last night. When he gets a little older I think a dogy door is your best bet.

Why do people adopt Chows/Dogs then want to keep them out side, are they supposed to be a lawn ornament.

[Laura]

"Why do people adopt Chows/Dogs then want to keep them out side, are they supposed to be a lawn ornament."

Very good question. I had a neighbor before we bought this house who owned a yellow lab mix and it lived in the back yard 24/7 365 days a year regardless of the weather. It drove me insane. Yard ornament is the exact term I used and I could hardly bear speaking to these people and rarely did. Dogs are social creatures and poor Maggie was just there...in the yard alone with nothing to keep her company or occupy her time except for the squirrels. I will never understand why people would do that. If you want a yard ornament buy a plastic knome. If you want a dog expect to treat it as a family member. And yes I do understand that some dogs love to be outside but there is a difference in banished to the yard and in/out by desire.
This isn't directed to you Chic(?) just a general comment regarding Jeff's post. I do hope that you will keep your baby in at night though.

[debraschow]

And that's just it, he's 8 weeks old, he's a baby, ripped from his family and has all his hopes in you.

[Victory]

I'm a bit late replying to this and I saw that you wrote that you would keep the puppy inside. I would like to encourage you to keep him inside or with you as much as possible for the rest of his life and I say this for the following reasons; the time between 8-12 weeks is so VERY important to his socialization. I will say that all the way up to 8 months is very important. You want the baby to bond to you and being outside will not encourage this, but actually encourage just the opposite, he will become more independent and less likely to see you as the leader.

This is true of any canine 'kept' outside, but for the breeds which I call assertive, (chows, akitas, rotties, dobies etc,) it is even more important to establish that 'pack' formation. We humans call it family connections, and it is the same thing for canines especially canines of the breeds listed above and many others. And even the less dominant/independent breeds often resort to unpopular behaviors when left outside ie. digging, escaping, barking, howling etc.

Dogs of any breed are not wolves, coyotes, foxes, or other wild specimens. For any where from 60,000 to 140,000 years humans have bred these canines to be dependent on us, this is not just dependence for food, shelter and care, but for the companionship that is natural to them, we have bred into them the need to bond with us, instead of each other. When we deny them this, WE cause problems in the individual canine, that they often pay for.

Not only do canines need to be within the family they crave being with their pack leaders and that should be their humans.

This is not only true of dogs, but of every animal we've domistcated as close partners, many horse owners will tell you the same thing, and cats for all their aloofness, do really miss their humans too. Just watch one get scared and see where it runs too.

[Shane]

The main reason in my are why on of the reasons why pups and even some adult dogs aren't kept outside is because of high puppy theft.


Shane

[cheriekynb]

Shane, I totally agree with your comment! Sid is 14 months old and even his yard has locks on the gate. I realize someone could just hop the fence but I'd like to watch someone try to pick up that 65 pound brute and lift him over the fence.. HAHA..

The only time Sid ever stayed outside all night was when I stayed with my parents recuperating from a broken ankle. That's when Sid got his 2 gigormous hot spots!! Never again has he spent one night outside.

[Shane]

Shane, I totally agree with your comment! Sid is 14 months old and even his yard has locks on the gate. I realize someone could just hop the fence but I'd like to watch someone try to pick up that 65 pound brute and lift him over the fence.. HAHA..

Cheriekynb, these poeple now a days getting bold with it. My boss breeds Bullmastiffs, She just had a litter that were bred in March of this year. Everyone that took interest in them she told that they were on "high demand". So this particular dude say yeah okay.

He carried the pup home. He says that the dog gets along with the Rottweiler that he own's. So he noticed that the next door neighbor had a another dude over fixing stuff(can't remember what kind of stuff). Then he noticed that the dude was asking all kinds of questions. He said that he thought that the dude was kinda funny. However, he left the pup outside with the Rottweiler (fully grewn), when he checked the next day,.....dog gone, while the Rotty sitting around waiting to be fed.

Shane

[coleywoley]

I don't understand leaving as dog outside myself although growing up thats what my parents did for the most part. Our neighborhood dog is filled with dogs that are chained in backyards and never played with or fenced up and left alone. We have quite a few who don't even bother with chaining and fencing just let their dogs run wild through the neighborhood and hope they don't get in trouble. I have a hard time even letting my dogs outside alone even in our fenced in yard to go potty let alone for an extended time.
As to the question at hand I am just curious were you planning on leaving her outside only at night or all the time? If it's only at night, is there a reason you would prefer her to be outside then? If so that seems like something everyone here would be happy to give advice on if they can!

[jerryo]

At the risk of throwing some more gasoline on this indoor/outdoor fire, I think it's great when you can give the Chow its own choice of where to be ie a doggie door or something. At Bama ChowFest this weekend Benny, Lady and I camped in Bama's backyard (down by the river, no van). I set up their tie-outs so that they could go in or out of the tent as they pleased. Lady slept outside the first night, but moved onto the foot of my sleeping bag part way through the second night. Benny came in and looked around a couple of times, but chose to sleep outside the entrance both nights. He just seemed to think that his natural position was guarding the tent door, just as his ancestors must have done for thousands of years before. It was kinda touching.

But a puppy is a WHOLE different story. I agree that it needs to be with its family. And they're too dang cute to be anywhere but next to me IMO.