# What size igloo doghouse?



## S19977 (Feb 19, 2011)

Looking to purchase the Petmate one from Tractor Supply. I am thinking the large is the right size, as the XL may be too big to maintain body heat? He is 11 months old, 70lbs, standard height I presume. 

thanks


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## ponyfarm (Apr 11, 2010)

Really? Maybe just try keeping him the house..I bet the heat is just fine. . I know not everyone can, cant help on dog house size. Whoops, missed the debate on keeping dog outside. Carryon!


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## S19977 (Feb 19, 2011)

If you have nothing to contribute, please stay out of the thread. No one really cares what you think. 

Carryon


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## chelle (Feb 1, 2009)

How cold is it where you are in the winter? Will there be any other heat source? Will you try to insulate it with anything? Too many variables.


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## ChristenHolden (Jan 16, 2010)

Is there a reason he can't come in? He would be much happier warn and cozy with his owner.


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## Wolfgeist (Dec 4, 2010)

ChristenHolden said:


> Is there a reason he can't come in? He would be much happier warn and cozy with his owner.


That is one happy, comfy, well loved dog. :3


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## mrudderman24 (Sep 5, 2011)

Hi S19977, better get an XL to be safe. Some dogs just do not like the igloo style, though. So be forewarned. The rest of you responding with questioning the OP, get a life. From her previous posts, her dog is in daycare throughout the week and the dog sleeps inside at night. There is nothing wrong with outdoor kennels. Just answer her question and keep your 2 cents to yourself.


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## chelle (Feb 1, 2009)

mrudderman24 said:


> ...... The rest of you responding with questioning the OP, get a life. From her previous posts, her dog is in daycare throughout the week and the dog sleeps inside at night. There is nothing wrong with outdoor kennels. Just answer her question and keep your 2 cents to yourself.


Wow, kinda harsh.  She really didn't provide enough info about the conditions the dog will have to deal with to get good feedback. There's a big difference between 30 degrees and negative 30 degrees. We also don't have the 411 about daycare, sleeping inside at night, etc... geesh.


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## mrudderman24 (Sep 5, 2011)

chelle said:


> Wow, kinda harsh.  She really didn't provide enough info about the conditions the dog will have to deal with to get good feedback. There's a big difference between 30 degrees and negative 30 degrees. We also don't have the 411 about daycare, sleeping inside at night, etc... geesh.


Well I didnt mean to come off harsh and I'm not trying to hijack this thread. I apologize. I guess my point was she was asking a question regarding a product. Thats it. I dont know what it is about this board but posters love trying to tell other posters about what bad owners they are. Or find to find a reason to any-way. I gurantee the people throwing the poo are far from perfect owners themselves


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## S19977 (Feb 19, 2011)

Thanks for the support mrudderman


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## chelle (Feb 1, 2009)

mrudderman24 said:


> Well I didnt mean to come off harsh and I'm not trying to hijack this thread. I apologize. I guess my point was she was asking a question regarding a product. Thats it. I dont know what it is about this board but posters love trying to tell other posters about what bad owners they are. Or find to find a reason to any-way. I gurantee the people throwing the poo are far from perfect owners themselves


I know, I know. You'll find there are hot-button issues and one of them is often leaving a dog outside. Especially in the bitter cold. But this thread doesn't have enough details about just how cold, how long etc. Heck, with more details, some might recommend a totally different type of housing. The only thing that clued me in was should she go for a smaller igloo to better enable the dog to retain more heat. That's why I wanted to know just how cold of conditions. I live in an area it gets stupid-cold. I don't know where she lives, though. Our daytime highs here in winter are often single digit and colder. An igloo alone, no matter what size, would not be proper in those conditions. 

S19977, maybe if you could provide a few more details you could get more specific advice? Although the majority here do keep their dogs inside, there are also those who have them outdoors as well. Mine are inside, but I'm not necessarily against outside provided that they are sufficiently warm. Again, it gets veeerrrrryyyyyy cold here. Crazy, stupid cold. No dog can be outside here in the dead of winter for any period of time in a doghouse. Hopefully you're in a much better climate than I am.!


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## Rerun (Feb 27, 2006)

Here's the thing. Dogs can, and do, do quite well in VERY cold temps (yes, colder than Iowa even). Should they, is it ideal, people will argue and debate that as long as there are dogs being kept as pets. I don't personally make my dogs live outside. But they do spend a good chunk of time outside and as such, we've done some accomodating so they aren't out in mud, rain, wind, etc. We have a huge fenced in backyard, it's great for playtime. But we also have a huge kennel that is concrete and mulch (about 3/4 concrete and 1/4 mulch for potty purposes). It keeps them clean, dry, and they have two doghouses they can go in. We have four dogs, but we rotate a couple in, a couple out, for 3/4 of the yr. In the dead of winter (say December through February; but it's weather dependant so sometimes it's more through March as well) the dogs are inside save for potty breaks and some playtime. 

We have a large dogloo, I don't know the exact dimensions but our oversized (adopted) 95 lb very tall, large (not fat) male GSD goes in it just fine and can stretch out. It's the biggest size of this model: Unexpected Green-ish Find: Dogloo Indigo Igloo Dog House | Apartment Therapy Re-Nest

Personally, I think the just rounded looking ones without that little "hallway" jutting off, look way too open for a cold, snowy, windy area. But that's JMHO. I'm sure dogs do fine on those, too. these igloos can run upwards of $200 in stores for the big hallway version, but we hunted in CL and found ours for $5. Not kidding. It was in seriously dirty condition, they'd used it for chickens. No one else wanted to clean it so they couldn't sell it, and they were apparently too lazy to clean it as well. So we did and it's perfect now. 

Since ours aren't using these for actual cold weather use, we have another house we use for rain/wind, etc and it's the regular barnhome type house ($5, same place, not sure of actual brand name - I didn't look it up). My female GSD's are 99% indoor dogs, so they don't really ever use the dog houses in the kennel. My Malinois and male GSD both prefer the igloo. Infact, the mali will try to argue with my GSD about getting in the igloo but he always loses (he's a small mali, just under 60 lbs, and my GSD doesn't take any crap from him because the mali is still just a pup yet at 15 mo old). Point being, they both prefer the igloo over the other house. Maybe because it's more den like, warmer, not really sure why. Like I said, they aren't out there in the dead of winter. So thus far, they both prefer it even when it's just raining.


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## chelle (Feb 1, 2009)

Rerun said:


> Here's the thing. Dogs can, and do, do quite well in VERY cold temps (yes, colder than Iowa even).


I don't know too many dogs that would "do quite well" in -10 degrees without far more than an igloo, doghouse, etc.


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## Rerun (Feb 27, 2006)

You may not know them, but they are out there. In most societies outside of America and other highly developed countries, dogs are not indoor pets. Take the GSD for example. Our trainer/breeder has GSD's imported from Slovakia and they did just fine and dandy as outdoor working dogs (schutzhund dogs) with just a doghouse. They still do, and night temps here though not regularly below zero do go below zero with wind temps and middle of the night temps. They have dogloos and wind break in their kennels. They are, of course, acclimated to it. I can't speak for other countries with cold temps but generally, dogs are outdoor animals. They do quite well in the cold in comparison to humans.


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## chelle (Feb 1, 2009)

Rerun said:


> You may not know them, but they are out there. In most societies outside of America and other highly developed countries, dogs are not indoor pets.


I guess I'm even more glad to live in America then. My babies will always spend the night inside, in my house, in their warm little dog beds. :wub:


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## Stosh (Jun 26, 2010)

I haven't had a dog yet that will go inside the Igloo so I finally gave both of them away. They've all loved their travel shaped crates but for some reason didn't like the Igloo shape. By the way, our last gsd LOVED sleeping outside at night even though she had access at all times to the garage, laundry room and house.


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## WNGD (Jan 15, 2005)

9 year old thread but I'm glad it's not closed. The OP may be long gone but the discussion is still worthy


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