How do you prepare your dog for extreme weather outside (rain, snow, high heat, very cold, etc.)?
Do you buy clothes and shoes and that kind of thing? Or do you have some kind of shelter structure similar to a carport? I am just curious, because I am training my dog outside, but my husband argues that during weather like this it will be difficult, so I am trying to figure out a game plan for when it occurs. I live in Oklahoma, so it can go from rainy-to sunny-to snowy here some days. I want to be prepared for Maxie’s sake as well as my own. He is a Maltese and so his fur isn’t very thick and they are prone to being weak to extreme weather. Thanks!
Yes, he is an indoor dog.
And I mean when you take the out to potty, not just taking them out in general. I wouldn’t make my dog go out in the rain or snow just for exercise. We can do that inside on those days.
I’m sorry, I didn’t proofread very well before I posted my question. I am training him to use the bathroom outside. He is primarily an indoor dog, and will never be living outside.
Tagged with: carport • clothes • exercise • extreme weather • fur • game plan • rain • sake • shoes
Filed under: Weather
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My dogs don’t wear clothing. They have fur coats. I don’t wear fur, I have to wear clothing.
When the weather is extreme keep the dog inside as much as you can…
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You are just training him outside or do you keep him outside all the time. The Maltese is not a breed that can thrive outside.
I do have a Terrier mix and her coat isn’t that thick so we do put her in a jacket when it gets really cold. We have weather like yours here in our state. But that is only on the coldest nights when we take her outside or on walks on the coldest days. We do tend to keep our poodle in a sweater all winter, he shivers so bad outside without it. We spend more time doing indoor activities in the winter
ADD: When I answered you hadn’t updated yet. If you are just training your dog to go outside, just make sure he has a clear area to go potty in and don’t keep him out more than a few minutes at a time. We got our poodle in october of 2007 and he was out the door did his business and came right back in, he did not want to be out in that cold
When the weather is too extreme don’t make her go outside. Especially being a Maltese she’s not suited to be out in all weather types.
The dog is living in the house, right?
Some smaller, senior or short coated dogs do need a coat in cold and wet weather, yes. Just use your head–if it’s very cold or very hot, you have to spend less time outside and this may mean more but shorter trips.
Dogs adjust somewhat to temperature over time, but they are never good at heat.
Yeah, I got my dog a sweater, he is half maltese. If it’s really cold, I put a small t-shirt on him, then a sweater on top. As you know, Maltese don’t do well in the cold.
You can also get him doggy boots. They are comfy and stretchy. My dog didn’t like them at first, he does now. It keeps the snow off their feet.
Smaller breeds such as your Maltese should not be outside dogs. Labradors are one of many breeds that can be trained to be outside dogs. You don’t really train a dog to be an outside dog as far as weather is concerned, all you have to do is have him/her outside during warm weather and leave it at that - the dog will get used to the temperature changes. My dad used to breed Labradors, and still owns a few of them now, and they are all outside dogs. However, you should listen to your husband about this one. Small breeds are not good outside dogs, and can affect their health greatly, sometimes even being fatal. Would you leave your infant outside all the time in extremely hot or extremely cold weather with nothing to protect him/her from it? Or even your child? Small breeds should be treated as infants and toddlers when it comes to such things as weather. If you want an outside dog, get a Labrador or German Shepherd.
EDIT: When I posted this, you had not yet edited your question. For training your Maltese to go outside, I would make sure there is a path clear of snow and make sure it has booties and a warm wind breaking coat on, and have it outside no longer than ten minutes. For hot weather, you should let it be outside no longer than thirty minutes with fresh cool, not cold, water easily available to him.
Growing up I had 2 short-haired dachshunds. I grew up in New England, so we had some cold, snowy winters.
Smooth hair dogs benefit from having sweaters. Mine had knit turtle neck styles. Today there’s far more to choose from….
We also had pee-pee paper for the dogs to go on in the house and an enclosed backyard. If they wished the dogs could just run out, do what they had to and run back in. Like many dogs, they would urinate in their yard but not defecate.
If your dog is uncomfortably cold, he’ll let you know. Take him back inside and set up some pee-pee newspapers with a plastic sheet underneath.
Give Maxie some cold-weather alternatives so he isn’t dancing around holding himself…..
Ollie will be coming up on his first winter and I’m a little anxious for it. We live in Southern Ontario so our winters are very similar to those in Northern Michigan (live about 45 minutes away from Port Huron)… AKA very chilly and lots of snow! I have a mutt - he is a Boston x Beagle mix. Bostons are notoriously bad in extreme weather but Beagles tend to fair well so we shall see how things go.
For just taking Maxie out for a potty break, get a jacket that you can easily fasten around the chest (a lot of dogs get really skittish over the pull-over kinds). There’s no harm in picking up the jacket to have in case you run into a really cold day. Since you’re in Oklahoma I wouldn’t worry about the boots. The main reason why people use them here in Canada is to protect pup’s paws from the salt that’s used to melt snow on the sidewalks. If you don’t have too much salt on the roadways it shouldn’t bee much of a problem. Like you said you’re only taking him out to use the bathroom so it’s not like you have to eskimo bundle him :)! And if it makes you feel any better my boss has a maltese who does just fine in the -20 Celsius weather!
In extreme weather, i would suggest teh following:
heat - go for walks early morning or late evening and find shady walks or trails
rain - let him use the carport, many dogs don’t like standing in rain
cold and snow - get him a little coat. If he has to walk on sidewalks or streets where they have used salt or some other de-icer consider little boots.
It depends on the breed of dog. I have three Australian Shepherds and they will go out (short of a hurricane) in any weather. Most breeds can handle bad weather just fine if they just go out for waste elimination. You should get your dog a sweater for cold days and just dry him off as soon as he gets in if he gets wet. Dogs are pretty tough, even the little ones.
We have a big fenced area for our dog yard and it connects to our barn so the dogs have a huge inside area to sleep in and stay in when it rains or is cold or its to hot.
For bedding we use cedar chips and straw. We use to have blankets for them but they will drag then outside and leave them in the rain. We use to also have a small pool for them to play in when it was hot until they chewed it up.
The dogs stay in there area for most of the day if we are gone or at work, but always come in side at night to eat and sleep.
EDIT: My dogs don’t normally where any types of cloths. I agree for your breed you may want to keep her in doors while the weather is bad.
Oklahoma rarely gets cold enough for it to be too cold for a dog to go out for a potty break, but you could try a sweater or coat for her if she seems uncomfortable in winter (shaking, refusing to go outdoors). I have a coat that I use for my Poodle after a her winter groomings, but she really doesn’t need it unless she has a pretty fresh groom…she loves playing in the snow on nice winter days, and she does fine. Just monitor the dog for signs of being uncomfortable-you may find he loves winter, too.