# How are dogs at shelters kept warm in the cold? (to Basic Care)



## Zeeva (Aug 10, 2010)

How are dogs at shelters kept warm in the cold especial when it gets below freezing? 

Here they wrap the kennel up twice in tarp, the dog has a sweater, a blanket and a dog house...

It got to around freezing last night.

I just need some ideas...


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## brembo (Jun 30, 2009)

Get an el-cheapo Dogloo. Heave some cedar shavings in there and witness how a GSD ignores the cold. Ever wonder where the calories go with dogs? They (should) eat about 2x the calories we do. That energy has to go somewhere and generating body heat is one of the ways.

The key is to create an area with little to no air-flow that the dog can curl up in. Their bodies crank out enough heat to keep them comfy. If you are very interested in the subject, have a look at the vein structure in a dog's paw. It's "wired" so that the veins act as a heating jacket.


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## shepherdmom (Dec 24, 2011)

Zeeva said:


> How are dogs at shelters kept warm in the cold especial when it gets below freezing?
> 
> Here they wrap the kennel up twice in tarp, the dog has a sweater, a blanket and a dog house...
> 
> ...


The rescue I help at has insulated heated dog houses for the dogs that are not up front in the heated kennels.


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## Magwart (Jul 8, 2012)

The public shelter here puts overhead heat lamps in the outdoor kennels at night and wraps the kennels in tarps. They also have igloos with blankets for most of the outdoor kennels.


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## Kaimeju (Feb 2, 2013)

Zeeva said:


> How are dogs at shelters kept warm in the cold especial when it gets below freezing?
> 
> Here they wrap the kennel up twice in tarp, the dog has a sweater, a blanket and a dog house...
> 
> ...


We had a border collie and a lab mix when I was a kid who lived outside all year round in central Illinois, where it gets below freezing for a significant portion of winter. My mom always used cedar shavings in their dogloos and they were fine. Heated water dishes were essential. Also feeding them more in the winter time is important.


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## angelas (Aug 23, 2003)

Our shelter is small but ALL dogs spend the night indoors and have heated flooring inside.


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## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

Here, animal shelters are all indoor kennels/runs. The dogs are walked outdoors or individually brought to outdoor pens for exercise/potty.

My uncle has an outdoor dog (Lab) and a cabin in northern MI (it was already 11 degrees 2 weeks ago). He has a dog house, I'm not sure if it's insulated, but it looks custom made. It's not very big. I think if they are too big, they just trap cold air. He packs the kennel with straw and dry ferns he picks in the woods. His dog has always been an outdoor dog so she develops a thick coat. He said he used to put a carpet flap over the door to the dog house but she would just rip it off.


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

We have outdoor runs at our shelter. I have never seen them tarp them. 

Every time I put a worn out dog house on my tree lawn. I do it a couple of days before trash day, and someone comes by and picks it up. Maybe its some puppy mill. Maybe it goes to the shelter. Hard to say, but if some dog is a little more comfortable in the winter, I'm all the happier.


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## TAR HEEL MOM (Mar 22, 2013)

Every shelter I have ever been in (all in N.C.) have indoor/outdoor kennels where a guillotine seperates the two spaces. At my shelter, we leave the guillotines up so the dogs have double the living space until it gets below 40 at night. Then we call them all to the inside and close the guillotines when we leave for the night. NC Animal Welfare Act (shelter regulations) says that the ambient temperature can not be below 50 or above 80 so I'm not sure how (legally) any shelter in the NC mountains can have outside only runs without some way to heat.


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## Nigel (Jul 10, 2012)

TAR HEEL MOM said:


> Every shelter I have ever been in (all in N.C.) have indoor/outdoor kennels where a guillotine seperates the two spaces. At my shelter, we leave the guillotines up so the dogs have double the living space until it gets below 40 at night. Then we call them all to the inside and close the guillotines when we leave for the night. NC Animal Welfare Act (shelter regulations) says that the ambient temperature can not be below 50 or above 80 so I'm not sure how (legally) any shelter in the NC mountains can have outside only runs without some way to heat.


This is how the Humane society does theirs here.


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

The shelters I'm aware if are all indoor and unless volunteers get to the dogs they don't see outside ever.


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