Old Dogs and Cold Weather

The weather is getting colder outside. Old dogs don’t handle the cold weather as they did when they were young. Older canines have arthritis to some extent and the cold temperatures really can aggravate the painful joint disease. Temperatures in the forties and fifties are not so bad, but when the temps drop down into the thirties it’s time to move the older dogs inside.

We have dogs of all ages. The very old dogs get to sleep in the house. The middle aged dogs usually sleep in a garage area we have where the temperatures never get below freezing. We have numerous blankets and dog beds in there for them. They seem to do very well and remain comfortable in there where it is cool, but with no wind.

The cold temperatures always remind me of when we took our dog Storm to the mountains one time in the summer. It was very hot here when we left but in the mountains it was quite cool. We got up the first morning from camping out. We heard a strange and quite loud noise. We turned around and saw Storm standing there shaking and his teeth were chattering together quite loudly; it was a site we will never forget.

That is just a reminder of how dogs, especially the older ones, do feel the cold and show the effects from it. Be sure to give your senior dogs a warm and cozy place for sleeping!