My dog’s getting older, and I’m a little concerned about her staying warm.
Firstly, my house is pretty cold upstairs. The walls have very little insulation. My dog has always slept in the bedroom with us, but where her bed is located, against the wall, it’s pretty cold, and there’s not really a warmer spot in the room to which to move it.
Hubby and I discussed different options last night for keeping her bed warm. We thought about an electric blanket, but I’m worried she may chew on it. (She’s a good dog. She only chews on what is hers, but I figure she might assume that the blanket is fair game since it would be in her spot.)
Do you guys know of any other options for keeping a dog bed warm, other than electric items?
You’ll find some electric heating pads on this page, which are intended for automotice use. However, with a suitable 12 VDC power supply, these could be run indoors, and the low voltage precludes the possibility of electrocution should the animal chew through it.
I wouldn’t use any electric blankets or heating pads, dogs will chew. She is probably a lot more comfortable than you think, just give her plenty of old blankets to build her nest in, and keep her out of any drafts.
Well, it’s an electric item, but you could try putting a small reading lamp that takes a regular incandescent light bulb nearby and aiming it at her bed. I think the type that has the socket inside a narrow funnel-shaped shade will throw all the heat from the bulb out in one direction. If the light is objectionable, you could cover the bulb with a heat resistant paint without cutting down the heat too much, I think.
We have a new puppy, and we’ve had some success with a hot-water bottle wrapped in an old towel. No guarantee he won’t chew it, but at worst he just gets wet, not zapped. (He’s not chewed it so far.)
What kind of bed does she have now? In a big old uninsulated house, the main problem is drafts, not ambient temperature. A basket bed, or box bed–anything that’s up off the floor a few inches, with sides–will stop drafts quite well and be quite a bit warmer than sleeping on a blanket directly on the floor. You can even get her a completely closed-in bed.
Does she act cold? Does she move stiffly in the mornings? Remember that she does have a fur coat. Don’t assume she’s cold just because you would be cold…
You could also put a dog coat on her for the night, or dog pajamas http://www.mypethaven.com/dog_pajamas_and_robes.htm . PJs sound silly, but old dogs do get chills - like old people - and appreciate warmth especially at night.
Extra blankets help too; maybe she’ll “nest” in them as some dogs like to do.
The walls in this house are as cold as ice. If you want to know what the weather is like, put your hand on an outside wall, and it will give you a pretty accurate picture of it. Unfortunately, with the way the room is shaped (dormers) the dog’s bed has to be along an outside wall.
The bed she has now was made by my grandmother. It’s essentially a giant pillow. I put a couple old blankets below it to try and lift it a little. I once tried putting a blanket on the bed for her to snuggle down in, but she refused to go into her bed as long as it was there. (Who knows what goes through their little doggy brains sometimes.)
She will not sleep in a closed-in bed. She refuses to go into anything like that. (I bought her a cool doghouse and she wouldn’t go near it.)
She does move a little stiffly in the mornings, but she usually hops up on the bed with me, so it probably gives her a chance to warm up.
Do NOT give her a heating pad, and I would recommend against the electric blanket, also. Not because of the chewing issue, although that’s one possible problem, but because it’s so damned easy to burn an animal with those things. We only use them for very, very extreme cases of hypothermia, and then only on low settings with at least three towels between the pad and the animal, and with someone checking the animal every ten minutes or so to make sure it’s not getting too hot.
I can’t remember what they were called, but I once saw a catalog that had blankets made of some kind of space-age material that reflected and held in heat. They were marketed for cats, and the idea that the animal’s own body heat would be reflected up on it, making the bed feel warm and snuggly. Something like that would be worth looking for.
Sounds like the same stuff sold in outdoor/camping stores as “space blankets.”* I was going to suggest it too. Also my parents’ cat likes to sit on a piece of styrofoam, also a good insulator. You can trust a cat to find the warmest spot in the house.
Or you can try a space heater to heat the whole room, I suppose…
DISCLAIMER: Yes, I know this is Florida, but it gets cold here too, sometimes.
When my friends, who have a 14.5 year old Boston terror, returned home from Christmas, they discovered their furnace had crapped out. The thermostat informed them that the temp was about 51 degrees in their house. Doesn’t sound too bad – my friends just put on more clothes. But the old dog was tottering around, shivering.
So they nuked their rice sock and put it near him.
Take an old sock, preferably one with no mate, and no holes in it. Fill it with really cheap rice and tie a knot to close the open end. Pop it in the microwave for 3-5 minutes.
You can use it for yourself as a hot compress on achy muscles, to warm the foot of your own bed, or to hopefully, get your dog to snuggle up to it. Stays warm for a good 30 minutes, and you don’t have to heat it so hot as to worry about burning your dog’s skin.
WARNING! I was using a rice sock on my rescued pup, who had some muscle tightness in his neck. He liked it so much that when I left the house, he sniffed it out, chewed it open and spewed rice all over my house. It looked like a wedding exploded in my living room. (And the bedroom, where I found the sock and some rice in my bed.) Turns out, he ate about 1/2 pound of uncooked rice! (Gasp of shock from my vet when I told her.) The rice had been nuked several times, so it didn’t puff up in his tummy or anything, but he did poop rice for a couple days. There were no ill effects, besides the mess he made, flinging rice around the house. (And how funny is that visual?) I’d try it while you’re home and see how your dog reacts to it.
How about insulating the section of wall right next to her bed? On the inside, I mean. Put up a chunk of drywall, or a segment of house insulation, or just a big sheet of styrofoam?
Also, fleece is nice and warm, whether natural sheep fleece or polyester. Add a chunk of fleece to her bedding?
Great minds think alike! I did this last night. I got one of those long body pillows, and laid it up against the wall, pulling her bed out slightly. She wouldn’t go near it for a while, but I finally coaxed her over to it.
Fleece may not be a good idea. A lot of her toys are made of it, and she may get chew-happy.
I think the space-blanket idea is the best one. It’s the least intrusive. She’s a little resistant to change, and I don’t want to upset her routine too much.
You don’t mention what breed she is, but unless she’s a short-coat chihuahua, Mexican hairless or some other nude breed, relax. A big pile of blankets or towels to nest in was a fine suggestion. She’s wearing a fur coat, after all. Dogs’ hair is hollow and traps heat next to their bodies. That’s how sled dogs in Alaska can survive temperatures colder than 40 below zero, while sleeping in a shallow dent in the ice, curled up against howling winds. Sure, your dog’s fur may not be as thick as a malamute’s or husky’s–but your house shouldn’t be THAT freaking cold either, wall or no wall. Throw some more coal on the fire, Cratchit! <:^D)
Don’t assume she’s cold just because you would be cold…