Doghouse heaters

I'll also take suggestions for any other way to keep her warm out there...

Is there any way that your dog can be left inside?  I'm not sure how cold it can get where you live, but I personally have difficulty with a dog being outside for eight hours. 

That said, I know that some people who kennel their dogs use milk house heaters, which are very safe and used in cow barns.  I guess google it and see what you get. 

I didnt' know the first thing about dog house heaters so I googled it and found this one;

http://cozywinters.com/shop/dog-house-heater-ac.html

They seem quite expensive.

Paula

What kind of dog do you have?  Dogs that are, um, normal (like medium sized, regular coat dogs that are descended from working breeds), can keep themselves very warm if offered a moderately insulated, enclosed space - those plastic houses are fine, especially if you've got the flappy door.  In very cold temps you can put straw in the house and the dog will burrow in and have no problems at all.  Nothing works better than straw by the way - you can get a huge bale at Lowes or Home Depot for about $5.00.  And as a bonus you can store the used straw and lay it out with some grass seed every thaw, through the winter, and you'll have the best lawn on your street in the spring.  []

My big concern in freezing weather is making sure water stays liquid.  Spend that money on a heated water bucket - they cost about $35.

OK, now if your dog is a highly engineered breed - really big, small to toy sized, smooshed faced, or very smooth coated - or very young or geriatric - I submit your dog really should be kept in the house while you are gone.  Will your dog stay out of trouble in a bedroom?  Or you could get a large crate - not the greatest solution, but I used to work full time and had to keep my dogs up.  You just spend a lot of time before and after to make sure they spend that time in the crate good and tired!!  []

I've got a boxer with a non-smooshed muzzle.  She's just a wuss about the cold and does not have a double coat.  I'm in southern Illinois, so it doesn't really get all THAT cold.  I was going to get the heated water bowl too.  I was thinking of something along the lines of certain types of heating pads made for dogs for outside use or maybe even one of the ones for inside use (the dog house is under a covered porch and never gets wet).  The problem isn't that she'd get into trouble in the house, she's very good inside.  The problem is that some days I'm just away too long and I can't come back to let her out usually.  On exceptionally cold days I plan to leave her in and figure something out, but I can't do that normally.  I'd only be leaving her about about 3 days a week.  I only foresee this going on until January, after that the number of long days should be greatly reduced.  I don't really have a choice right now about how long I'm away.  If I were to get some straw should I keep the blanket in there too?  The doghouse is a good size, if a tad on the small side.  The comfortable fits in there but can't stretch out or anything.  Maya is the brown one in the picture.

Really, it wouldn't be a huge problem for her to wait that long to go out, three days a week.  Once every other week I have to leave mine inside for about that long when I take the kids to visit grandma and run errands with her.  They do just fine all sleeping on our bed.  It's not the best option but I won't let them run loose like my neighbors dogs.

I'd be worried about whether her abbreviated nasal cavaties were properly warming the air she's taking in.  I think she WOULD be OK in the doghouse, but consider that she'd probably choose to stay hunkered down in the doghouse the whole time you were gone if the weather were that bad.  So she'd be holding it anyway.

My experience has been that a blanket is a bad idea.  If it gets wet from tracked snow or rain it will chill her rather than warming her.  You can get a waterproof pad that fits in those houses if she prefer to lay on squishy stuff.  Fresh straw is most effective and comfortable. Even the Humane Society recommends it, if you just can't bring your dog inside.

I'll get some straw.  She just loves blankets, so I'll still leave her one on the porch.  It's just that some of those days turn into 9-10 hour work days.  It would be horrible for her to have to go potty in the house, she just this year finally became completely trustworthy and we've worked so hard together.  If the weather is going to be that bad she will be in the house, I'll find a way.  I just can't do it every time that I have one of those miserably long days.  She loves smelling the smells out there and laying in the sun, so at least one of us is having a good time.  This time of the year I'll trade places with her any day, lol.

As a dog owner in the far north, I will second the idea of straw. That's what we all use up here, even in -50. The dog houses don't have door flaps, either. If you have a door flap in very cold weather the dog's breath creates condensation inside the doghouse, a really bad thing that will make your dog wet and miserable.

If it's very cold put the dog house up on little legs about four to six inches off the ground.

Oh yeah, and if your dog is going to be out in cold weather, he/she needs to start acclimating first. You can't just toss a house dog out in the cold. Their bodies have to adjust coat and all that.

For extra heat, what about the little microwavable discs?  They're supposed to be used in dog beds w/ puppies or older dogs and last like 5 hours or more and there's no chance of fire or burns.
 
Another option would be installing a dog door to a small kennel area for pottying, say 4 by 4 or 6 by 6, so she can potty outside but still stay inside.  If you rent, you could use a sliding glass door insert they have so you don't have to put a hole in the wall.

I have a hard plastic heated mat that is for indoor/outdoor use.  The cord is wrapped in a metal spring so the dog won't chew on it.  I've had them for quite a few years.  I have no idea of the brand name, but it looks like this:
 
[linkhttp://www.dog.com/itemdy00.asp?T1=020463+SM&Cat]http://www.dog.com/itemdy00.asp?T1=020463+SM&Cat[/link]=
 
I can say they've been basenji tested and approved.
 

Those are great suggestions everyone.  Thanks a lot, I'll go to my local farm store and see what they have tomorrow.

I've used the heatable discs for pups, cats and plan to use them this year for some of the older dogs in their beds.
 
 

to keep our outside dogs warm we use 100 watt light bulbs(if you can get them in blue or a dark color then they are not so bright) we place the bulb in a big metal coffee can with wire covering the front and the highest part of the dog house and the wire for the light is put thru the roof
it has always worked great for us and never had a dog get burnt
another way is to get an old car heater and make a covering for it attached to a thermostat so it comes on when the temp drops
i used that for my boxer and it worked great
and ditto on using straw it is the best for keeping a dog warm, make sure u give them enough to burrow in
a lady i used to work with has her great dane out all year round and here in canada it gets cold in the winter, he only comes in on really cold days and all she uses is staw

Don#%92t forget when placing doghouses you want them facing away from the wind.