Does your pet suffer from night-time chills?
JANUARY is the coldest month of the year in Ireland. If you check historical data, you’ll discover that it’s the month with the coldest average temperature, at 5’C, and the coldest-ever temperatures in Ireland have always happened in January (It was minus 19’C in Sligo on 16th January 1881).
So it’s no surprise that this is the month when people worry most about the impact of the environmental temperature on their pets. These days, most dogs and cats have access to an indoor environment overnight, but some animals do live outdoors, and I regularly have queries from concerned people with questions about neighbours’ dogs.
Just last week, someone phoned to tell me that their neighbour’s dog was always outside, even on the days of the recent storms and bitterly cold overnight temperatures. I asked her for more details, and she explained that the dog was a long haired, working Collie dog, and that he was kept in a large kennel, but that he was never allowed indoors. When I asked her how the dog seemed to be coping, she told me that he seemed fine. He was a working dog, and he never looked cold or unhappy. But still, she felt that it was wrong that the dog was outside, and she wondered if she should call the ISPCA to lodge a complaint.
This is a tricky area to pass judgement. I agreed with the person who had called me: it does seem inhumane to keep a dog outdoors, away from all heating source, in the thick of the coldest time of the year.
After all, my own dogs love the warmth: they are kept indoors in a centrally heated house, and they enjoy sitting close to heat sources (such as an open fire).
And my dogs don’t like staying outside on cold days; they queue up at the back door to come indoors again.
However, all may not be what it seems. Sometimes animals are better at coping with cool temperatures than we might think. It’s easy to judge their situations from a human perspective, but the reality may be different to our expectations.
We can learn a lot from observations by vets who live in the coldest climates, and from people who work with animals in cold weather conditions. The first point is that many variables affect a dog’s ability to tolerate or thrive in cold climates. These include breed, type of coat, age, diet, body condition, and very importantly, the temperatures that a dog has become acclimatised to. These variables make it impossible to generalise for every dog in every situation.
So take a small, fine-haired Chihuahua who has never spent more than a few minutes outside on a cold day. It would be cruel – and dangerous – to expect such an animal to cope with being kept outside overnight in a kennel during January.
Then take a thick-coated working Collie who herds sheep on hillsides in the daytime, and sleeps all year round in a straw bedded kennel. An animal like this is as familiar with outdoor temperatures as a wild fox, and there’s a high chance that he’ll be perfectly contented and comfortable with his basic night time accommodation.
So it’s difficult to make absolute judgements about any animal; it depends on so many factors.
Having said that, vets around the world have written broad suggestions on acceptable conditions for animals being kept in kennels. As an example, here in Ireland, guidelines have been drafted on acceptable conditions for dogs being kept in breeding establishments. Typically, these suggest that temperatures should be maintained between 8C – 28C in sleeping areas for dogs and cats. Perhaps these should form some sort of broad basis for assessing what’s fair for an “average” dog.
So if anyone encounters a dog that is being kept in an environment where the temperature falls significantly below 8’C, then at the very least, the situation should be investigated further, and questions should be asked. What is the animal familiar with? What sort of coat do they have? What size are they? (smaller pets are more sensitive to the cold than bigger animals). And how do the animals seem in their day to day lives; is there any sign that they are unhappy?
Animals should be monitored individually to ensure their comfort and to ensure they can adequately maintain their body temperature. If any animal appears too cold (e.g. shivering, or huddling together for warmth), measures must be taken to ensure their comfort and safety.
I came across a greyhound last week who lives in the porch area of a house; he had started to howl at three in the morning and the owner wondered why. On a hunch, I suggested they install an overnight heater to take the chill out of the area; the dog immediately started to sleep comfortably through the night.
There are some essential guidelines that everyone who cares for a dog should be aware of. First, as a bare minimum, every animal should have access to a dry shelter with bedding (e.g. straw) where they are protected from wind and rain. Every dog should be fed plenty of food so that they have a rich enough energy source to generate internal body heat. After that, it’s a case of individual judgement. But if in doubt, when the night time temperature drops below 8;’C, bring them indoors. If they could, the animals would thank you for this.