Go Back   Pet forum for dogs cats and humans - Pets.ca > Discussion Groups - mainly cats and dogs > General Forum for cats and dogs

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old December 8th, 2004, 02:17 PM
lilpaws lilpaws is offline
lilpaws
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Calgary, AB
Posts: 32
Too cold to walk

Well it is minus a gizillion here in Calgary and my pooch has been severly neglected for her walks. She seems okay outside for a while but does anyone know what is "safe" weather (temp.) and for how long before they get too cold. I don't want to freeze her paws. She is a 52 lb yellow lab cross.
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old December 8th, 2004, 02:24 PM
lilith_rizel's Avatar
lilith_rizel lilith_rizel is offline
Senior Contributor
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Fort Meade, Maryland
Posts: 1,659
Uhmmmm. I am not so sure on what temp is too cold. But I had a yellow lab mix growing up, and she was always outside. She loved it. And being from Minnesota, it did get cold! I am sure that a 5 or 10 minute walk would be fine. Just start out slow, and watch for signs that your dog is getting cold. Start at 5 minutes, and work your way up, until you have found out when it is too much for her. It is the only thing I can suggest.

Now if it was a little dog, under 40 pounds, it would be different, and walking may not be the best, if it is cold. You could also find a doggie sweater and doggie boots that would fit your dog. It will give her some extra warmth, and then you wouldn't have to worry about her paws getting as cold.
__________________
"Every beginning is some other beginning's end" Closing Time- Semisonic
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old December 8th, 2004, 02:44 PM
Cinnabear Cinnabear is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 748
I live in Northern Alberta. My guide is if it falls below -15 they do not go for walks. When they start to lift their paws it's too cold for a walk. They do give their :sad: look when I go out the door. You would think they would understand it's too bloody cold for a walk. I have small dogs.
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old December 8th, 2004, 05:27 PM
lilith_rizel's Avatar
lilith_rizel lilith_rizel is offline
Senior Contributor
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Fort Meade, Maryland
Posts: 1,659
Small dogs are the worst at wanting to go out when it is freezing. Atleast from my experience. We have had about 5 or 6 small dogs, and who knows how many large dogs. The large dogs could care less on when they were let out, on the cold days.
__________________
"Every beginning is some other beginning's end" Closing Time- Semisonic
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old December 8th, 2004, 05:33 PM
chico2's Avatar
chico2 chico2 is offline
Senior Contributor
 
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Oakville Ontario
Posts: 26,591
My three cats will sit by the patio-door and wait,being used to me taking them outside every day,I bundle up and let them out,if it's really cold they take fivesteps and want back inside....It makes me wonder about all the poor strays out there,cats definetly do not like the cold weather :sad:
__________________
"The cruelest animal is the Human animal"
3 kitties,Rocky(r.i.p my boy),Chico,Vinnie
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old December 8th, 2004, 05:37 PM
CyberKitten's Avatar
CyberKitten CyberKitten is offline
Senior Contributor
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: New Brunswick - Nova Scotia
Posts: 4,852
I agree Chico!! I really wonder about those poor creatures!! Yin Yin abhors the cold. I have not taken her outside (and that was just to the deck!) since it was 12C and she was freezing then, yearning to get back inside. So we lasted out there all of 5 minutes.

It was -27 with the wind chill this AM and we are "ejoying" a minor blizzard (No classes, No emegencies, a warm home, lots to eat and Yin Yin has lots of toys and treats- what's not to like, lol) ao we will not be going anywhere! She is an indoor kitty anyway. (I wonder if she'll like Florida later this month?)

But thinking about those poor babies out there in the cold (even cats whose humans leave them out too long) makes me so sad and angry!!
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old December 8th, 2004, 05:51 PM
SarahLynn123 SarahLynn123 is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Posts: 749
I live in Calgary as well and it is freezing here! I have 15lb Cockerspaniel and we went for a 25min walk last night, it was -24 out. (brrrr) I bought her muttlucks which I found out were the best from a prior thread and they really are great.I will also be getting her a sweater soon. I keep an eye on her for signs that she wants to go home or is getting cold, and we walk around the block that has lots of short cuts home if we need it. Also we dont stop moving and we never walk towards the wind if there is any. Shes a fast little walker so her muscles are always moving and we keep quite warm that way. I figure for us -30 we are staying inside no matter how much she whines. You know your dog best and will beable to tell when its time to go home. Hope this help some!
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old December 25th, 2004, 12:13 AM
Gazoo's Avatar
Gazoo Gazoo is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Cowtown.
Posts: 362
Quote:
Originally Posted by lilpaws
Well it is minus a gizillion here in Calgary and my pooch has been severly neglected for her walks. She seems okay outside for a while but does anyone know what is "safe" weather (temp.) and for how long before they get too cold. I don't want to freeze her paws. She is a 52 lb yellow lab cross.

I'm in Cowtown too and I will walk my guys 20 to 30 minutes even if it's -30 I have an Aussie and a BC-ACD cross and let me tell ya they NEED to run even when it's -30.

They of course have to be used to it and need to build up a tolerance.....sometimes they get do get cold pads early in the winter but they do toughen up.

How do you think the coyotes around here go about their business in the winter?

I imagine its more difficult with the short coated breeds though.

Gazoo
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old December 25th, 2004, 01:27 AM
pitbulliest's Avatar
pitbulliest pitbulliest is offline
Love all creatures
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Toronto, Ontario
Posts: 557
It was so funny. I live in Toronto and its freezing here right now...the snow has actually frozen solid so you can walk on it without falling in..its really sad cuz if my dogs don't wear their booties, they cut their legs up pretty bad on the icy snow...ouchie...

I don't even want to imagine what animals that are outdoors are going through..like feral cats..

but anyways, this is kind of funny. Today my boyfriend opened his front door for about three minutes just to let some of the fresh brisk air into the house since he's heating it up quite a bit and it tends to get stuffy at times...well his two cats are mainly indoors...in the summer they'll run outside every now and then and come back in a few hours...but today they really had it coming! lol Maggie (one of his cats) saw a great opportunity to escape yet again. Too bad she didn't know what the weather was like outside. She ZOOMS past him and out the door and stops dead in her tracks as soon as her paws hit the frozen snow...she turns around and ZOOMS into the house again and hides..HAHAHA... a few hours later he opens the door again just to see her reaction, and she didn't even try to go outside, instead she ran the other way and into his bedroom.

lol what an episode I tell ya
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old December 25th, 2004, 09:42 AM
Catt31's Avatar
Catt31 Catt31 is offline
Senior Contributor
 
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Alberta, Canada
Posts: 1,003
Gazoo, are you ever going to join us on our Sunday walks at River Park?? Brick would love a little competition in the running department!!! He loves running!!! We'll keep ya posted when the next one is!!!
__________________
Chris ~~ ZOO OWNER
1 dog - Brick
2 cats - Spunky & Tux
1 very mean tiger barb (who killed all of our other fish)
3 leopard geckos - Dave, Jenn & Jane (gone back to their original owner)

GONE TO CRITTER HEAVEN:
1 house gecko - George (RIP)
2 giant african land snailS - Kaimah (RIP) & Kamau (RIP)
2 baby african land snails - Tiny & Pokey (RIP)
1 Veiled Chameleon - Chip (RIP)
Reply With Quote
  #11  
Old December 25th, 2004, 12:01 PM
CyberKitten's Avatar
CyberKitten CyberKitten is offline
Senior Contributor
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: New Brunswick - Nova Scotia
Posts: 4,852
It is actually not much warmer here in Florida than it is home in the Maritimes. It is 45F this AM but will admittedly go up to 65 or so. BUT it is slated to be 12C in Halifax today!!! However, my folks are here so here we are. It's not beach weather tho. My brother wanted to go to the beach but it was too cold. (I told him he was a wuss, lol)

Yin Yin agrees with the assessment - pokes her nose out the door and pokes it right back in (being held the whole time - like I am going to let her out, NO WAY!!). She loves panic mouse!!! (and I guess I do too, haha)

Merry Christmas everyone!!
Reply With Quote
  #12  
Old December 27th, 2004, 09:30 AM
Schwinn's Avatar
Schwinn Schwinn is offline
Senior Contributor
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Georgina
Posts: 2,258
I took Daisy outside on Friday while I shoveled part of the driveway (part I left snowed in, and the other part had a wierd snowbank for feet high that was solid. Just used the Red Ranger to break through that part! Yes, I could have shoveled, but where's the fun in that?) I took Daisy out who LOVES to chase the snow while I shovel (and she keeps the snow banks down). After an hour (at which time I still had only gotten enough room for one car), I stopped for a minute because I was pooped from tossing the snow across the yard for Daisy to chase, I noticed she was shivering BIG TIME! But she didn't. She wanted to keep chasing the snow. I felt really bad and took her in and toweled her off, and instead of warming up on her mat, she sat by the door whining to come outside!
__________________
Hagar:"What kind of dog is that?"
Man with dog:"He's a nice dog!"
Hagar:"You know, at the end of the day, that's always the best kind."
Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off


Forum Terms of Use

  • All Bulletin Board Posts are for personal/non-commercial use only.
  • Self-promotion and/or promotion in general is prohibited.
  • Debate is healthy but profane and deliberately rude posts will be deleted.
  • Posters not following the rules will be banned at the Admins' discretion.
  • Read the Full Forum Rules

Forum Details

  • Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8
    Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
    vBulletin Optimisation by vB Optimise (Reduced on this page: MySQL 0%).
  • All times are GMT -5. The time now is 04:43 PM.