# How cold is too cold



## clark77494 (Sep 5, 2014)

How cold does it have to be not to walk my GSD? 
Ginger lives inside and is never out of our site unless we take her to the boarding kennel. 
I walk her 2 miles in the morning and 2 miles at night around the lake. It goes down to the 20s sometimes. I live near Houston Texas so not as cold like up north.:snowing:


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## Pax8 (Apr 8, 2014)

I still walk my dog unless it is dangerous like too icy on the sidewalks. If it does snow here in Dallas, I'll probably get some of the temporary rubber boots to protect his feet from the ice and the salt the city will throw down. Though I will admit, we may not walk as often as we do when it's warmer. It's easier to get myself going for one or two very long walks when it's cold instead of two to four shorter walks.


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## Castlemaid (Jun 29, 2006)

I don't think you need to worry about it getting too cold for your dog in Texas. We still go out for to play fetch for half an hour with the temps down to -30's (C or F), still do 30 to 50 min walks when it is -20C ( 0 F ). 

When we first hit those temps, my dogs will sometimes do the 'cold paw dance', but these temperatures are normal for this area, so I expect my dogs to acclimate. I don't let them dwell on it, we MOVE and have fun, and they forget about the cold. After a few days they do get used to it, and it doesn't bother them anymore. My older girl is 10 now, and I noticed from last year she seems to get colder faster, so for her, we just do short potty outings when the big cold arrives, but Gryffon has never shown any signs of being cold apart from sometimes trying to lift his feet up those first couple of times outside. 

By the way, last night I was outside in the back field with Gryffon playing Chuckit with a Glow-in-the-dark ball. About 10 minutes in, he went over to a frozen-over ice puddle, jumped on it a few times landing with his front feet to break the ice, then lay down in the water to cool off: it was -10C (15F). 

Though we have already had temperatures down to about 6 F this year, he never missed a beat - the cold seems to energize them if anything.


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## Kyleigh (Oct 16, 2012)

Having lived in Ottawa, ON for the last 20 years, I have to chuckle at the question from the OP from Texas! Kyleigh just loves the winter and we get some wicked cold days - February 2014 was the coldest winter in 20 years in Ottawa (-23 was the average for about 2 weeks, wtih wind chill factoring in to about -30 / -40). 

Never stopped her! As long as your dog is moving (not a slow walk!) then they will be fine. Ky and I have been out in -23 for a solid 2-3 hours, hiking in the woods - she's running around like a nutjob and I'm drinking hot chocolate and coffee by the gallons.

Your dog should be just fine, and will probably welcome the cooler temperatures!


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## Vaks (Dec 30, 2011)

Never too cold  lolll 

Blizzak, -30c


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## Nigel (Jul 10, 2012)

They can handle it no problem. I procrastinated getting my last load of firewood last year and once I got the free time to go, the temperature was 0F. I took Zoey with me thinking I'd just put her in the truck if need be, however it wasn't really necessary, she had fun. I threw sticks periodically while working and she'd run along through the snow as I carried the wood back to the truck, turned out to be a fun day.


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## Debanneball (Aug 28, 2014)

Kyleigh said:


> Having lived in Ottawa, ON for the last 20 years, I have to chuckle at the question from the OP from Texas! Kyleigh just loves the winter and we get some wicked cold days - February 2014 was the coldest winter in 20 years in Ottawa (-23 was the average for about 2 weeks, wtih wind chill factoring in to about -30 / -40).
> 
> Never stopped her! As long as your dog is moving (not a slow walk!) then they will be fine. Ky and I have been out in -23 for a solid 2-3 hours, hiking in the woods - she's running around like a nutjob and I'm drinking hot
> chocolate and coffee by the gallons.
> ...


Ditto! I am from Marmora, chilly here today, frost on ground, Fritz outside laying in it, didn't want to come in.....


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## clark77494 (Sep 5, 2014)

Good to know. We were at the one mile lake this morning it's 37F (3C) outside and we were the only ones there! Not a single walker or jogger! 

Lavoris mouthwash has been around since 1903 and that's what my Grandparents use to use!


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## Galathiel (Nov 30, 2012)

My dog doesn't even notice the cold ... I do though! I think as long as you can stand it outside your GSD will be fine as well. Mine notices the heat a lot more than cold.


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## Bridget (Apr 5, 2004)

I don't think it really gets too cold for a GSD to walk, but it may be too cold for you! My standard was always if it was under 13 degrees, we didn't go out.  Problem is as I have aged, I am not wanting to go out if it is under 25!


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## middleofnowhere (Dec 20, 2000)

OK, I lived in SW WY for several years. Got stopped on the way home about 100 miles to the west (saw all the vehicles pulled off to the side of the road and decided it would be prudent) At home with wind-chill it was 80 below. Maybe not that cold in Evanston but maybe just 60 below. That was too cold. Toilet trips were maybe 10 minutes and at that point the dogs started alternating legs they would hold up. 

Otherwise, not too cold. We walked at 20 below. If it was windy and daylight, snow goggles helped keep my eyes from aching.

Buck up, Houston!


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## Hineni7 (Nov 8, 2014)

My dogs LOVE the cold weather! Can hardly wait for the snow to arrive (it will be their first snow)... They much prefer cold/cool then heat, for sure... Although Akivah misses being able to go swimming (water us frozen)...


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## Susan_GSD_mom (Jan 7, 2014)

clark77494 said:


> Good to know. We were at the one mile lake this morning it's 37F (3C) outside and we were the only ones there! Not a single walker or jogger!


In mid-Michigan, we are not as cold here because we are close to Lake Huron, but we still get very cold. Even down near 0 F, human joggers are out, they just dress for it. As it began to get colder here, the dogs got excited every morning, crazy in the house, because they knew they were going out in it. They LOVE it! We have had snow, but no accumulation yet (unlike the UP, lol), but when it comes, they will go out and not want to come back inside.

Susan


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## Susan_GSD_mom (Jan 7, 2014)

I have to share a quick snow story here--a couple decades ago I had a WL DDR boy who obsessed over his kong. He had chewed the smaller end down so that only the largest ring was left, and he carried it EVERYwhere with him, even out into the snow. One winter he had it outside, and lost it in the deep, deep snow. I have never seen a dog so frantic! He could not find it, the temp was down about -15 F, and I think because it was so cold and the snow so deep (and he was so panicked about it), he couldn't smell it. We had a very upset boy for much of the rest of the winter.

Come spring, when everything finally started to melt, he spotted it, the faded red showing up through the melting snow. I wish I had had something to record his joy and ecstasy when he saw it! For a long time he didn't let that old kong out of his sight. I still have it now, tucked away where I can pull it out and look at it every now and then (and shed a couple tears, of course).

Susan


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## Castlemaid (Jun 29, 2006)

Ah Susan, what a cute story! 

I have to chuckle too at posts about people from the Southern areas worried about the cold - though I can understand how if a person is not used to it, the cold can seem scary. I'm the same about hot weather. I think the hottest temperature I've experienced is 94F - I hate hot weather, and I dont' see how I could possibly function anywhere that gets that hot and hotter regularly. I just about pass out when people in Texas or Florida talk about going IPO training in 100F+ temperatures!!! And the pics they post! They actually look like they and their dogs are having fun!!! (Can't be for real, can it?)

But here it gets to -30, -40 as read off the thermometer, that's before you factor in the windchill - I just bundle up (like, three pair of pants - I have my extra baggy sweatpants on hand for my third layer), and don't give it much thought.


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## Galathiel (Nov 30, 2012)

Hey! Don't laugh at us! This is the same area where everything shuts down when we get a dusting of snow. Forecast of snow? We all run to the store to buy a month's worth of supplies ... just in case.

To be fair, not only are we not acclimated to cold weather, we also don't have the equipment to venture out in it safely (no trucks to clear roads in my whole area, no snow plows, no tire chains).


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## Traveler's Mom (Sep 24, 2012)

You tell um' Galathiel !!!

Our home heat down here isn't a furnace, it's reversed air conditioning. Some people have fireplaces but they decorate them with planted palms


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## AngelaA6 (Jan 20, 2013)

Canada just dumped a cold front on WA..after a summer of upper 90's to it being 19F now I think I'm permanently glued to my space heater and blankets.

My boy doesn't even notice the cold. The snow we had last year...I expected happy romping puppy but he just ignored it completely...until the snowballs started to fly haha.


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## Lark (Jan 27, 2014)

For me (not my dog), I decided that under about 10F is too cold for me. We live in Michigan. I don't think he has ever seemed uncomfortable in the cold, but he doesn't seem to like heat.


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## Susan_GSD_mom (Jan 7, 2014)

Speaking of cold...

Already here in Michigan they are talking about the polar vortex, that this first burst of winter is a result of another one...

I don't hear any more talk of the jet stream dipping down--have they changed the name to 'polar vortex', or is that something totally different?

Just curious, because in my decades of hearing weather reports, until last winter I had never heard the term 'polar vortex' before, and now I never hear the term 'jet stream' any more. 

Anybody know the answer?

Susan


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## Lilie (Feb 3, 2010)

I live in Pearland, Tx. It has never been too cold for the dogs to get outside and romp around. It's been too cold for ME, but not the dogs!!!

The only time I ever restrict them is when we have ice on the ground. The dogs aren't used to ice and can injure themselves running around.


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## Emoore (Oct 9, 2002)

Lilie said:


> I live in Pearland, Tx. It has never been too cold for the dogs to get outside and romp around. It's been too cold for ME, but not the dogs!!!
> 
> The only time I ever restrict them is when we have ice on the ground. The dogs aren't used to ice and can injure themselves running around.


That's funny, Lillie, you have your location listed as South Texas so I pictured you as being a lot farther south than Pearland.


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## rinkleroot (Jul 8, 2014)

I'm presently baby sitting two adult gsd's here in North Carolina, I have a large fenced yard for them to play and run in and I've converted my 16 x 12 utility shed into a dog house for them (can't let them in the house, they won't get along with my 2 dogs) but was wondering if they'll be okay when the temps drop below freezing? I've thought about adding an electric oil filled radiator in the shed, they do have dog beds and blankets and the shed is insulated, any advice is appreciated!


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## Lilie (Feb 3, 2010)

Emoore said:


> That's funny, Lillie, you have your location listed as South Texas so I pictured you as being a lot farther south than Pearland.


Hey! I'm less than 45 miles from the Gulf!!! That's a far piece south! LOL! If I go any further south, I'll be living on a Rig!


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## QballK (Nov 2, 2014)

We live in the snowbelt of Upstate NY. 
Even during Icestorms and Blizzards our dogs prefer to be outside.


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## Susan_GSD_mom (Jan 7, 2014)

rinkleroot said:


> I'm presently baby sitting two adult gsd's here in North Carolina, I have a large fenced yard for them to play and run in and I've converted my 16 x 12 utility shed into a dog house for them (can't let them in the house, they won't get along with my 2 dogs) but was wondering if they'll be okay when the temps drop below freezing? I've thought about adding an electric oil filled radiator in the shed, they do have dog beds and blankets and the shed is insulated, any advice is appreciated!


I would be afraid to put an electric heater in with them, who knows whether they might chew... 

A 16X12 shed is pretty big, it won't hold their body heat very well. Is there any way you can box off a smaller area within the shed, with a top included, and put their beds and blankets in there?

Either way, they won't freeze, but they would be more comfortable if you could do that.

Susan


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## BowWowMeow (May 7, 2007)

-40F was the coldest temperature I have ever walked my dogs in. Chama and I had to keep moving at all times but Rafi didn't even seem to notice.


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## clark77494 (Sep 5, 2014)

Kyleigh said:


> Having lived in Ottawa, ON for the last 20 years, I have to chuckle at the question from the OP from Texas! Kyleigh just loves the winter and we get some wicked cold days - February 2014 was the coldest winter in 20 years in Ottawa (-23 was the average for about 2 weeks, wtih wind chill factoring in to about -30 / -40).
> 
> Never stopped her! As long as your dog is moving (not a slow walk!) then they will be fine. Ky and I have been out in -23 for a solid 2-3 hours, hiking in the woods - she's running around like a nutjob and I'm drinking hot chocolate and coffee by the gallons.
> 
> Your dog should be just fine, and will probably welcome the cooler temperatures!


 In Houston one year we got 100 degree plus days for 32 days straight. Sure beats 23 below!


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## clark77494 (Sep 5, 2014)

middleofnowhere said:


> OK, I lived in SW WY for several years. Got stopped on the way home about 100 miles to the west (saw all the vehicles pulled off to the side of the road and decided it would be prudent) At home with wind-chill it was 80 below. Maybe not that cold in Evanston but maybe just 60 below. That was too cold. Toilet trips were maybe 10 minutes and at that point the dogs started alternating legs they would hold up.
> 
> Otherwise, not too cold. We walked at 20 below. If it was windy and daylight, snow goggles helped keep my eyes from aching.
> 
> Buck up, Houston!


 When I take Ginger for a walk on the 100 degree plus days I bring a 32 ounce water bottle, she will drink a Pint at the one mile mark and the rest at the 1 and 3/4 mark. When she gets home she will drink some more!


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## clark77494 (Sep 5, 2014)

Castlemaid said:


> Ah Susan, what a cute story!
> 
> I have to chuckle too at posts about people from the Southern areas worried about the cold - though I can understand how if a person is not used to it, the cold can seem scary. I'm the same about hot weather. I think the hottest temperature I've experienced is 94F - I hate hot weather, and I dont' see how I could possibly function anywhere that gets that hot and hotter regularly. I just about pass out when people in Texas or Florida talk about going IPO training in 100F+ temperatures!!! And the pics they post! They actually look like they and their dogs are having fun!!! (Can't be for real, can it?)
> 
> But here it gets to -30, -40 as read off the thermometer, that's before you factor in the windchill - I just bundle up (like, three pair of pants - I have my extra baggy sweatpants on hand for my third layer), and don't give it much thought.


 Ginger has jumped into the lake a couple of times because of the heat and had to pull her out because of gators in the lake. I will post a photo of Ginger in my brother in law's swimming pool, she loved it!


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## Ace GSD (May 30, 2014)

hey guys my 8 mos old most of the time complain when i turn on the heater. is it ok if i leave him in the patio for couple hours ? its only 28-34F ish here.. its just that i grew up in a tropical country so thats cold for me lol.


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## Castlemaid (Jun 29, 2006)

Go ahead and leave him outside if he is comfortable. It sure isn't too cold for a few hours. I bring my dogs to work with me, and they stay in the car during the day. I consider -10, -15 C 'not too cold'. Now if it gets to -20C (around 0F) for the entire day, then they stay home - THAT I consider too cold to be outside all day.


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## Ace GSD (May 30, 2014)

Castlemaid said:


> Go ahead and leave him outside if he is comfortable. It sure isn't too cold for a few hours. I bring my dogs to work with me, and they stay in the car during the day. I consider -10, -15 C 'not too cold'. Now if it gets to -20C (around 0F) for the entire day, then they stay home - THAT I consider too cold to be outside all day.


He seem perfectly comfortable . it seems liek he love winter much more over summer.


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## Nigel (Jul 10, 2012)

Our daughter would take Wilee our malamute with her while taking out the trash. One night, after putting the trash bag on top of the can instead of inside and running back to the house, Wilee got left outside. 

The temps dropped into the single digits and it was snowing pretty hard, when I woke up for work, only Daisy our lab was ready to go out for the morning potty break. I looked through the house thinking he may be stuck in one of the kids rooms, but couldn't find him. Finally I turned on the deck lights and and I could just make out a large lump in the 6-8" of fresh untracked snow. I ran outside thinking the worst, but he popped his head up, shook off the snow and began "working" on getting every last bit of clam chowder from a can he had gotten from the trash. There was several other cans nearby, all thoroughly cleaned with puncture holes in them, he was fine, nothing wrong with him, not from the cold or any cuts from the cans, all in all I think we tend to baby them too much, they are much tougher than we realise.


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## clark77494 (Sep 5, 2014)

Nigel said:


> Our daughter would take Wilee our malamute with her while taking out the trash. One night, after putting the trash bag on top of the can instead of inside and running back to the house, Wilee got left outside.
> 
> The temps dropped into the single digits and it was snowing pretty hard, when I woke up for work, only Daisy our lab was ready to go out for the morning potty break. I looked through the house thinking he may be stuck in one of the kids rooms, but couldn't find him. Finally I turned on the deck lights and and I could just make out a large lump in the 6-8" of fresh untracked snow. I ran outside thinking the worst, but he popped his head up, shook off the snow and began "working" on getting every last bit of clam chowder from a can he had gotten from the trash. There was several other cans nearby, all thoroughly cleaned with puncture holes in them, he was fine, nothing wrong with him, not from the cold or any cuts from the cans, all in all I think we tend to baby them too much, they are much tougher than we realise.


 Dogs are very smart. I forgot to fill the water bowl before leaving for Church. The 32 oz bottle I use for her walks was on the floor next to the leashes. She bit into the water bottle and licked the water off the floor!


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## Ace GSD (May 30, 2014)

clark77494 said:


> Dogs are very smart. I forgot to fill the water bowl before leaving for Church. The 32 oz bottle I use for her walks was on the floor next to the leashes. She bit into the water bottle and licked the water off the floor!


Mine is smarter, He would just open the cap, put in straw and drink it.


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## Kyleigh (Oct 16, 2012)

clark77494 said:


> In Houston one year we got 100 degree plus days for 32 days straight. Sure beats 23 below!



I think I would take the cold over the that heat any day!!!!!

I remember 30 some odd years ago I was in South Carolina in May and the friend's I was visiting put an electric blanket on my bed, and had the heat in the house at 25. They were cold and I was dying of heat LOL I was outside in shorts and T-shirt loving the weather and they were in long pants, sweaters and jackets! 

It's amazing what we get accustomed to!


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