When do you put heating on...for dog??

[Leypt1]

Cost of living crisis obviously

We can waddle around in our fleece onesies until kingdom come but our lurcher has relatively low body fat and we're worried about him

The ambient temperature of our house is maybe 16/17 on a cold (4 degree) day like today but his sleeping room is north facing and one of the colder rooms

How are you keeping your dogs warm? Are you taking them into consideration in your decisions on heating? Is it something to worry about?? Do your dogs happily sleep in jumpers?

He is inept at pulling blankets over himself so we tuck him in at bedtime but it only lasts as long as he stays in one position

Would he wear an Equafleece? We've got one with a coat designed for cold so she's fine and the other is usually curled up on someone so he's ok too.

Why does he not have a onesie too??

I think the whole fur thing held!! But if I felt they were cold I'd dress them if possible, or/and then I'd put the heating on in their room 'auto at whatever temperature I thought was ok for them

My dogs are really feeling the cold atm. I've added extra blankets to their beds so they can make little nests. I'd like to get them cave beds but can never find any big enough.
At night they have a heated blanket to use, with my supervision, they love it.

As a child our greyhound lived in their own shed at night 10'x10' in a secluded part of the garden. There was virtually no heating in our house during the day except a fire for a few hours in the evening. Dog had a coat, a wooden huge bed along one wall with blankets and mats. In winter a hot water bottle was wrapped in a blanket and went in the bed too. Dog lived to be ancient and never had any health issues due to this way of living. A UK home. So I think your lurcher will be fine. May need more food than usual if burning lots of calories keeping warm.

I have 2 dogs. They sleep in crates - with no doors. Their crates are covered with a throw to block out the light. They each have a duvet to lie on. They are warm and comfy in their dens. They have beds to lie on in each room but they both prefer their comfy crates. They both have fur coats so don’t need clothes to sleep in.

Thanks!! This is helpful. We're looking into getting him an equadog fleece, tragically he's such a weird shape that the first time we measured him he didn't seem to fit any of them? But we'll try again. Will also try loads more blankets in case it triggers his burrowing instincts, and a hot water bottle... he's hoping he doesn't try and nibble a hole in it 😬

He does have a crate but decommissioned. Could be interesting to set it back up and see whether he goes for it

16/17 degrees is too cold for people too, which is more of an issue. Carry on like that through winter and you'll become unwell and also damage your house. Can you genuinely not afford to put the heating on? There are grants. Contact your local authority for information. Do it now before Sunak really puts the screws on.

Oh yeah and ofc animals are designed to be outside - because, you know, they're animals - so I wouldn't be worried about them feeling cold. You need to be worried about yourself!

I have a lurcher.due to these dogs not having standard dog fur but one layer of hair and no body fat they really suffer with the cold.my boy sleeps in my bed when I'm at work with heating set to 18.then at night he sleeps in his own bed which is old duvets in covers and cushions he has stolen! He won't wear jumpers but loves blankets :)

Naive does not cover it lol. Seriously do you not understand that people literally cannot afford it, there aren't magic grants, jesus christ. I'm already over a grand in debt to the power company, the £66 just reduces that, well not really, because I have to put the heating on now and again to get clothes dry.

Get out on the streets and protest then. Smash some shit up. A good brisk riot will keep you warm. There are demonstrations in many urban centres at 1pm tomorrow. Joining one of them will do more good than buying a bloody dog coat and pretending that 16 degrees is an okay temperature for your house.

But local authorities do have grants. For now. Get them while you can. £200 + in some places. Look on the website for how to apply.

Heated pad? My friend has one for her cat.

a hot water bottle i n the bed?, or just put the heating on intermittently

Definitely a coat or jumper. My dog loves her Equafleeces.

@EnormousBulkhead even without the cost of living crisis the heating in our house only comes on when the house drops below 16 degrees. I promise you my house isn’t damaged and we have all survived just fine.

I have an older small dog and keep him in a jumper during the day if I am out. He also sleeps on the bed with me so at night he virtually gets into bed with me if he is cold. If it gets really cold I will put the heating on low during the day for him.

mine wears a fleece from spuds dog coats and has a duvet which he can get under himself

We size up for a 'lounging' inside equafleece. I figure that's more comfortable to lay around in if it's roomier.

My childhood pointy dogs had baskets in an outhouse. My dad would "tug them in" with a blanket for the night.

Our 13 year old Labrador is really feeling the cold, we have the heating on and she is tucked up in the warmest room overnight.

4 dogs sleep in an unheated utility room. When it gets cold I put flat rocks on the wood burner to heat up then wrap them in old towels and put them in their bed - they're still warm the next morning (the rocks, that is).

Disclaimer - I am not a dog person due to issues with our pet as a kid, but I do have cats.

Putting the heating on, whilst you're out, to heat the full house to keep a dog warm over 16 degrees is insane.

They will learn to snuggle if you give them a blanket or duvet, they're supposed to be smart, right? Hot water bottle. Jumper.

Do you dress them in several layers and wellies to go out in the snow?

Springthings make coats for the long thin dogs that fit well and are very very warm. They also make jumpers to fit so just speak to them and send in your measurements.