little dogs - cold weather

Hi All,

It is quickly gettng cold up here, and it seems my Abbey doesn't like it at all.
Abbey has been having accidents in the house, and I think it is linked to teh fact that it is cold outside. When I let her out to go, she either runs from the door, or goes out onto the deck and comes right back to the door.

Any suggestions? I was thinking of trying to get her to go on paper, if needed. Any idea how to do this? She is quickly ruining our carpeting...

Thanks!

 

When it gets really cold and snowy I don't let Rocky out. I've trained him so that in the winter he uses puppy training pads. I usually put one in my garage (we have a door from the house into the garage) and when he has to go he gets let out in the garage.

When I was training him I just put the pad in the garage and told him to go. The first few times he'd miss the pad so I'd soak it up with the pad and the next time he went out he would use it beacuse his scent was on it.

 

That's a great idea! We have an inside door to our garage as well. I am going to get some of those pads and start tonight.

Thanks!

 

The pads also clean up very easily. The ones Rocky uses have a palstic backing so nothing leaks out. Just fold it up and toss it in the garbage.

 

How about a nice warm sweater to make going out a little less chilly? I have bought a couple for Rusty, since we have to leave at 6:30 in the AM to take him to doggy daycare and me to work. And he REALLY hates it, especially all the rain we get up here. He shivers like crazy, and he's so low to the ground, he gets soaked just walking in wet grass.

 

I do have a sweater for Abbey for when we go on walks, I never thought about putting it on when she goes out for a quick one. I might. But also what I have noticed is that Abbey will still go for a walk in teh cold weather, but she doesn't like the back yard any more. So I am not walking her more often, 3 times daily. And the accidents are beocomg more in frequent.

 

Perhaps she could be getting a UTI or stomach bug??

 

Sams - what is a UTI?

 

Urinary Tract Infection--- bladder infection, or if they go on for too long, kidney infrction. They usually cause frequent need to urinate, which can sometimes cause accidents.

 

It has been raining, snowing and very cold here and Fancy my little dog has had a few accidents to since the weather turned cold. I know with her it's simply that she does not want to go out and get wet or cold and maybe a little jealousy of the new puppy. My big dogs have had no problems though in fact they loved the snow!

 

Ok. I was talking to the vet when I made Smokey's vet apt. I breifly ran by him that one of my friends dog was having frequent accidents since the weather changed. He said it could be that she's cold all the time. In that case her body will be tense and shivering and that may cause her to put more pressure on her bladder and internal organs, causing more frequent urination, or defication. When a dog is relaxed, the bladder and colon automatically have muscle contractions and process the feces' and urine normally. But when the dog is in uncomfortable conditions and remaines in a tense or muscle tightend state, the muscle contractions and "normal" body functions are interuped by pressure from the dog being tense. he said that keep her warm, if she continues to urinate, or act as if she needs to but nothing is happening, or just dribbling, take her into your vet. She probably has UTI (urinary tract infection) which is also common during this time of year. Dogs end up havingto hold it longer because of changes in routines from the holidays.

I hope I said that right.....
So maybe a doggie sweater would help?

 

Sams, thanks for that info. We just moved over the summer, and this is our first winetr here. I have my thermostat set to 68 dutring the day while we are gone, do you think that may be to cold for Abbey?
I also got her trimmed about 2 weeks ago, so her coat is shorter. I don't think it safe to leave her with her sweater on while I am work, so maybe I should turn up the heat?

What do you think?

We will be going to the vet next week for our regular check up, I am going to ask about the UTI then.

 

It could be. I would leave out one of the Dr.Foster & Smiths heat pads for her. one that requires no electricity, but uses the dogs body heat to send it back....know what I'm talking about??? Lemmi see If I can find it for you....hold on..

 

Here's one but it is a plug inone... not the one I'm looking for...

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/p ... &N=0&Nty=1

I use this for when I have puppies tooo it works great in the winter time for ALL my dogs


http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/p ... &N=0&Nty=1

Ahh....here it is...These are the ones I use in the outdoor kennels. They use the dogs body heat to reflect it back to him. So double heat! They work wonders. It thought it was a bunch of bulll till I sat on it and my butt got really warm!!

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/p ... catid=3363

 

I bet she is cold... My pit gets cold... Last night our heat went out I got up and it was about 65 in our house...he was curled in a ball on the couch...(not allowed on our bed) and when I got the heat re-set he went into the bathroom where the vent is the most active and laid with his head right in the hot air blowing till I left for the morning... They get cold easy I think when they sleep...

 

Smokey doesn't get too cold because of his double coat, but last night we went from 60'F to 32'f in less than an hour.....Froze our butts off.....
So I had to blanket all the horses and make sure all the buckett (water) heaters were in the kennles....

 

Jack's been bundled up for most of the week last week and now this week... Boy yesterday he got turned out in the indoor arena and ran his butt off...I had to walk him before putting him back up again to cool him off...he almost broke a sweat... It's getting to the singles at night here and just barely over 20 during the day... Lucky for us all three Boerboels are together and snuggle into one dog house during the day...the sleep inside in crates at night... They're getting a little too accustomed to it too...

 

lol.. Ahhh. the joys of Texas. Only rarely does it get that cold here.....

80-90 during the day, and 30's at night!!!

 

well just the opposite for jake, he loves the cold, so he has been much more active, I think his perfect daytime temp would be no higher than 60. my hsuband has been getting our house up to 76 with the lfire place and Jake is just about dying from heat.


honeybear

 

What an awesome bed, Sams. I may get one for Bonnie. She doesn't seem terribly cold when we go outside, but she has always sought out sun from the windows to lie down in, just like a cat.