Outdoor dog owners may find that winter weather presents a problem for the care and protection of their animals. In a climate like the Midwest, winter weather can range from 35 degrees to minus 25 degrees plus 30 mph winds. The threat of snow or ice further complicates the effects of temperature and wind chill. Domestic animals, such as dogs and cats, are not made to survive alone in such a climate.
Some owners make a conscious decision to keep their dogs outside instead of living inside the house. Dogs that live indoors can be a bit unsanitary, due to hair loss, mites, fleas, ticks, and parasites or bacteria that their paws bring. In addition, there may be accidents or discipline problems such as barking, scratching, or begging around the kitchen table during meals.
While letting your dogs outside eliminates most or all of those problems, it introduces others. Outdoor dogs need to be protected from the elements, and in most cases, a store-bought doghouse is insufficient.
My husband decided to build a house for our outside dogs. It is a medium sized unit designed to comfortably accommodate 2 large breed dogs. Built of wood, it has a raised floor that is accessed by a ramp. This will prevent the house from accumulating snow. The interior has been insulated with traditional insulation and a radiant barrier product, and the joints have been sealed with caulking. Moving blankets are a great way to provide comfort for a creature in the house. We bought a couple of moving blankets and stapled a folded blanket to the floor of the dog house (lest they throw it out in the yard to pull the string). The other blanket was cut into strips and tacked near the entrance to the house to provide some protection from wind and snow. Moving blankets are relatively cheap and easy to find, so they were the perfect solution for our pets.