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Just wondering how to keep my dogs from getting so cold. I have a couple igloo doghouses, and a couple 55 gallon barrels, my dogs act like they are freezing. I am looking for some ideas on how to keep my dogs warmer. Thanks for any ideas.

We don't get as cold as you do, so our barrels and igloos work fine... My boyfriend goes to CO each year and he says that the guy he hunts with has his barrels buried in the ground? We couldn't do it here because we get waaaayyyy too much rain, but I guess it works there. I don't quite understand how it works.. but they are buried somehow...

They feed the dogs the highest fat/protien dog food they can and always soak it in hot water... Helps I guess because the dogs don't drink enough in the winter either... It must work.. My Oregon dogs spend a few weeks to over a month in the Bookcliffs each year and haven't frozen yet...Knock on wood

The cheapest way that I have found that works pretty well is making your own dog house out of some 2x4s or some 2x3s and plywood. Today i made the interior walls with cedar closet lining. I heard it help repel the bugs. Anyways the most important part is to fill the walls with blown in insulation. It's pretty cheap and if the walls and everything are nice and tight, ya don't have to worry about moisture to much. I didn't use anything on the roofs besides plywood and shingles, but n the past I have lined the roof with that bubble wrap/foil insulation, but I don't think that it is as necessary as insulating the floor and walls. Just depends on how cold it gets there. It also never hurts to get some of the long ceder shavings for them to curl up in at night. I just insulated my dog houses today, so I have all the dimensions. Just let me know if you would like a copy of the plans.

Grzyadms4x4 wrote:I just insulated my dog houses today, so I have all the dimensions. Just let me know if you would like a copy of the plans.

Zach

Will you email them to me? I am in need of a couple new dog houses.. If you are going to make them, you might as well do it right

outwesthounds@yahoo.com

that would be great if you could email me a copy of your plans. kkadtb@yahoo.com
Thanks

if you use igloos or barrels - close the end up with plywood- cut small entrance and add a flap -this will hold bedding in and keep the wind out -- keeping bedding dry is most important thing-- need to drill some small holes in bottom of barrel to let any moisture drain--

ive had good luck with heavy rubber flaps -- like a truck or tractor tube- have used mud flaps or floor mats from an old truck

--a little extra fat helps alot - get highest fat in dogfood you can when its cold -

Another great reason to keep all your dogs together. I keep only male dogs and they are in an acre dog run. I have one 8 foot long dog box, insulated just like a house. They all stay in there at night. Stick your arm in there and its as warm as can be. The best thing I've ever done with my dogs in the past 25 years is to start keeping them together in a large dog run. No barking because they are bored, no fighting because there aren't any females around, no sore feet because they are running on rocks and dirt all the time playing and staying in shape. I'll never go back to a kennel.

I use 2 inch foam board to insulate my dog houses I sandwich too pieces of plywood together.Works real well I also put the roof of the house on with hinges so i can change the straw regularly.I use stray in the winter not hay. Hay will hold moisture where the stray doesn't seam to.I use cedar shavings in the spring and summer repels fleas and ticks.Ive got flaps over the openings i use heavy felt my dad gets from the papermill works good.But the dogs do like to chew on it.Another thing i also do is build the base that is going to sit on the ground out of pressure treated lumber keeps it from rotten after a few years you will see the difference.

I use mud flaps on hinges to make my openings. You can find them in any ditch along side the hiway. Cheap and heavy, some dogs will chew on them, but as thick as they are they have to work at it for a long time to get any were.

i do like pete said My iglo dog house i put a plywood front on it with a rubber flap and the wood houses have them to. the dogs stay nice and warm

When it gets cold I will put two dogs together in a kennel and they seem to keep each other pretty warm.

Been using wood dog houses close to 35 years here in the U.P. of Michigan. Like Pete noted, the papermill felt makes a good door flap for those dogs that do not tear them off. For dogs that will not tolerate a door flap I position their dog house door so it faces south away from the prevalent northwest wind. My dog houses are on pallets, keeping them off the ground. I also keep the snow shoveled away from their entrance. It helps prevent them dragging snow onto their bedding. My dog house doors are all 12" X12" and that help's a little, too. Like Pete I use wheat or oat straw. Don't use barley straw as the seedlings can cause problems.
On average, I double my dogs feed when the hard winter sets in and as previously mentiond...add warm water to their feed in winter. Water freezes too quick for their water pans to provide much. I also check my dogs a couple times a day...watch closely for any dog not eating with their normal vigor, etc. Even a dry nose can be an early warning.

Sure guys I'll email you with them. Might be a day or two though. Work's kinda busy.

also use a small watt light bulb in a community house, heat from the bulb keeps them warm.

put straw in and the dogs willl stay warm, pack it in and let the dogs root around they will knock excess out. I have also used cedar shavings in the bottom-it does repel insects ie fleas, ticks etc..