Anonymous
Post 01/26/2026 10:57     Subject: What do with outdoor pets?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Dogs, cats, chickens, rabbits? Those sort of animals. Can they stay outside in this cold weather? What do you do if they are truly not indoor animals?


Dogs ????
If you leave them outside in this your are a horrible human.

Really? Are you one of those nut cases who call animal control when your neighbor leaves his husky outside. Is your favorite expression, "if you're cold, they are cold, bring them in?" Many breeds of dogs love the cold and thrive in it. This is their weather and they love it. They prefer to be outside in the cold instead of in a warm house. Husky, Malamute, Saint Bernard, Samoyed, Newfoundland, Bernese Mountain Dog, Great Pyrenees, Tibetan Mastiff, Norwegian Elkhound, Keeshond, Akita, Chow Chow, Anatolian Shepherd, German Shepherd, Swiss Mountain Dog, Kuvasz, Norwegian Elk hound, etc., are all physically built to withstand freezing temps, snow and ice. It's almost cruel to have them inside in the winter. You can't define all dogs with one blanket statement and you obviously know nothing about dogs or likely cats either who also do quite well in the cold when they have to. Many indoor/outdoor cats will choose to stay outside in the cold for long periods of time. Educate yourself before calling anyone a horrible human.


There’s a show called The Last Alaskans (?) where they document the last families who have permission to live in the northernmost regions of Alaskan Wilderness preserves.

Even the people who have sled dogs give them all individual, well-built outdoor shelters where they can retreat every night. I forget whether or not they are able to den up in multiples while still chained on their lines but it seems logical that they would have that opportunity. That’s natural dog behavior if they get along.
Anonymous
Post 01/26/2026 10:53     Subject: What do with outdoor pets?
I keep an elderly cat in an outdoor building with no heat because she gets bullied severely in the main house. She’s like 19 now but still comes out every day.

I gave her an insulated box of the kind that we used to get with one of those meat subscriptions, cut out a door and put blankets and rotate old clothes inside like hoodies with zippers broken etc. (this was a question asked recently here)

Then when I got a much larger box I cut a door in that and covered the 1st box. She has a warm place to be, plus even though the building isn’t heated, it’s safe from wind and weather. Just cold.

She’s hanging in there, still very excited to get her wet food every day since she’s losing her taste for chewing dry food.
Anonymous
Post 01/26/2026 10:50     Subject: What do with outdoor pets?
Horse barns have isolated heated areas for the winter indoor riders and viewers. Lots of parents of young riders often also bring along younger siblings for the duration of winter lessons.

There is no heat for the areas with the stalls because of the fire risk. All the hay and wood is a recipe for disaster. Interestingly, they do often have night lighting and places will keep a radio on to make the horses feel like they have “company”

Horses can’t actually be stalled together but they also get crazy squirrely when kept regularly in dark and isolation.

Horses seasonally wear heavy winter blankets. We have gone through so many of them as all horses are different sizes. We just donated them to the local farm shelter as we went through them.



Anonymous
Post 01/26/2026 10:45     Subject: What do with outdoor pets?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Dogs, cats, chickens, rabbits? Those sort of animals. Can they stay outside in this cold weather? What do you do if they are truly not indoor animals?


Dogs ????
If you leave them outside in this your are a horrible human.

Really? Are you one of those nut cases who call animal control when your neighbor leaves his husky outside. Is your favorite expression, "if you're cold, they are cold, bring them in?" Many breeds of dogs love the cold and thrive in it. This is their weather and they love it. They prefer to be outside in the cold instead of in a warm house. Husky, Malamute, Saint Bernard, Samoyed, Newfoundland, Bernese Mountain Dog, Great Pyrenees, Tibetan Mastiff, Norwegian Elkhound, Keeshond, Akita, Chow Chow, Anatolian Shepherd, German Shepherd, Swiss Mountain Dog, Kuvasz, Norwegian Elk hound, etc., are all physically built to withstand freezing temps, snow and ice. It's almost cruel to have them inside in the winter. You can't define all dogs with one blanket statement and you obviously know nothing about dogs or likely cats either who also do quite well in the cold when they have to. Many indoor/outdoor cats will choose to stay outside in the cold for long periods of time. Educate yourself before calling anyone a horrible human.


They should be brought in. So tired of neighbors with outside cars. They constantly posts cats are lost when they found new homes with owners who will feed and care for them. They expect others to do the hard work and expense.
Anonymous
Post 01/26/2026 10:43     Subject: What do with outdoor pets?
We have a property with acreage and an outdoor pen about the perimeter of the main house, with a $1K Home Depot hard shell shed inside.

After a really cute experience with a service that tied goats around the property at the edge of the woods and ate all the poison Ivy, I had planned to get goats and own them.

2015 January snowfall collapsed the roof of the shed and buried the entire fence so you couldn’t see it anymore

That was when I realized I was way out of my league, now it’s just all overgrown in there because it turned out a standard riding lawnmower can’t get in the gate, either. Oh well
Anonymous
Post 01/26/2026 10:31     Subject: What do with outdoor pets?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Dogs, cats, chickens, rabbits? Those sort of animals. Can they stay outside in this cold weather? What do you do if they are truly not indoor animals?


Dogs ????
If you leave them outside in this your are a horrible human.

Really? Are you one of those nut cases who call animal control when your neighbor leaves his husky outside. Is your favorite expression, "if you're cold, they are cold, bring them in?" Many breeds of dogs love the cold and thrive in it. This is their weather and they love it. They prefer to be outside in the cold instead of in a warm house. Husky, Malamute, Saint Bernard, Samoyed, Newfoundland, Bernese Mountain Dog, Great Pyrenees, Tibetan Mastiff, Norwegian Elkhound, Keeshond, Akita, Chow Chow, Anatolian Shepherd, German Shepherd, Swiss Mountain Dog, Kuvasz, Norwegian Elk hound, etc., are all physically built to withstand freezing temps, snow and ice. It's almost cruel to have them inside in the winter. You can't define all dogs with one blanket statement and you obviously know nothing about dogs or likely cats either who also do quite well in the cold when they have to. Many indoor/outdoor cats will choose to stay outside in the cold for long periods of time. Educate yourself before calling anyone a horrible human.
Anonymous
Post 01/25/2026 18:56     Subject: What do with outdoor pets?
What about the pair of wild rabbits that live under my porch?
Anonymous
Post 01/25/2026 16:08     Subject: What do with outdoor pets?
Cats?!

I can't imagine my poor sweet kitty being outside in this weather. It actually makes me sad that there are strays stuck in this and you're wondering if it's okay to leave them out????
Anonymous
Post 01/25/2026 11:49     Subject: What do with outdoor pets?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:None of these breeds should be outside in these temps, OP, even the "northern" breeds (I have a Siberian sled dog), because even though the breeds originate from cold places, the animals you have and their immediate ancestors have acclimated to the more temperate environment of this region. So unless you personally flew all your animals from a very cold climate very recently... they need to be at temperatures they can sustain.

Take a cue from neighboring stables: my kid's riding center has a heated barn, and puts pajamas AND heavy blankets on its horses, with deep bedding. If you haven't prepared something of that nature, you need to bring them into your home.

My rabbits are indoor pets with their own enclosure. My double coated dog is indoors (but likes to sleep on the cold tile in the sunroom). My tropical parrot has two bird-safe electric heaters in her cage and if we lose power she gets priority placement in front of the cast iron fireplace insert.

Pictures of the horses or it didn’t happen,


The “pajamas” are these stretchy things - I don’t think they make them warmer. It’s popular with some breed people. Blankets, yes. They’re basically like parkas but heavier duty.

Most horses actually grow really warm coats on their own, but for horses that work for riding over the winter especially partly in indoor arenas, we clip their coats (like a buzz cut) so they don’t get so sweaty and are easier to keep clean. Then they need more blankets when it’s really cold.

But I’ve never heard of a heated barn…anywhere. I mean maybe the PP is in Calgary or something? Lots of barns have heated areas. There is no heated barn in the DC area, I feel 100% confident. There is a kind of extreme indoor barn/arena/whole situation in Ohio and it has to have major ventilation systems.


I'm the horse pajama PP. My bad, maybe the barn part of the building is not heated. If feels a lot warmer than outside when I go in to groom the horses, but I guess it's the warmth from the animals, plus the warmth from the other half of the building where the humans work and which is definitely heated.
Anonymous
Post 01/25/2026 11:43     Subject: What do with outdoor pets?
Anonymous wrote:Sled dogs sleep together. Not just one dog.


My one sled dog sleeps inside.
Anonymous
Post 01/25/2026 10:58     Subject: What do with outdoor pets?
Sled dogs sleep together. Not just one dog.
Anonymous
Post 01/25/2026 10:52     Subject: What do with outdoor pets?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:None of these breeds should be outside in these temps, OP, even the "northern" breeds (I have a Siberian sled dog), because even though the breeds originate from cold places, the animals you have and their immediate ancestors have acclimated to the more temperate environment of this region. So unless you personally flew all your animals from a very cold climate very recently... they need to be at temperatures they can sustain.

Take a cue from neighboring stables: my kid's riding center has a heated barn, and puts pajamas AND heavy blankets on its horses, with deep bedding. If you haven't prepared something of that nature, you need to bring them into your home.

My rabbits are indoor pets with their own enclosure. My double coated dog is indoors (but likes to sleep on the cold tile in the sunroom). My tropical parrot has two bird-safe electric heaters in her cage and if we lose power she gets priority placement in front of the cast iron fireplace insert.

Pictures of the horses or it didn’t happen,


They make these lycra things called slinkies or sleazies and some people call them pajamas. They go under horse blankets and are akin to long underwear.
Anonymous
Post 01/25/2026 09:45     Subject: What do with outdoor pets?
Anonymous wrote:Dogs, cats, chickens, rabbits? Those sort of animals. Can they stay outside in this cold weather? What do you do if they are truly not indoor animals?


Dogs and cats should be brought inside. Even just a bathroom or mudroom or crate.

Chickens can probably be outside if you take proper precautions. We put a lot of extra bedding - clean and dry - in their coop. Extra feed. You need to check on their water because it will freeze - we have to take extra water out to them when that happens. The key is providing a nice warm area and making sure they can stay dry - ie covered from the elements.

I can’t speak to rabbits.
Anonymous
Post 01/25/2026 07:47     Subject: What do with outdoor pets?
Why do you have outdoor rabbits? Ours is indoors, like a cat, and goes around the house. They aren’t supposed to be in crates full time.

Yes, completely litter trained as many are. Why would we have a bunny to keep it outdoors?
Anonymous
Post 01/25/2026 07:25     Subject: What do with outdoor pets?
Honestly, it doesn’t sound like you have any business owning animals if you can’t care for them properly and that includes providing shelter.