Nature & Animals How cold is too cold before you avoid taking your dog for a walk?

[Brampton_Boy]

Update: Today I will take doggo for his walk - yesterday he was pretty devastated he didn't get to go. He spent about an hour jumping on and off the bed and running to the door in an attempt to guilt me into going. Eventually he relented and just sulked on the stair landing until it was time for bed.

It's -16 today (with windchill), but he didn't seem to mind when I let him out in the morning. He did his usual thing of chasing squirrels and peeing in every corner of the yard.

 

[Possum Jenkins]

I 100% agree with the second part that is why I feel so strongly because keeping the dogs outside in your little backyard is cruel. I would say almost most people shouldn’t have dogs. No exercise, no mental stimulation, and not even love if you leave them outside.

I guess it depends how little the backyard is and how many objects (toys, trees) there are.

Dogs experience the world through their nose and the outdoors are far more interesting and full of odors than any home. Most indoor dogs just lie around waiting for their owner to do something. No chance at discovering anything or being curious. Those 5-10 minutes that they go on walks and that's it.

I think the ideal situation for a dog would be a rural setting where they're outside running around and discovering but also with an owner that spends a lot of time with them.

 

[StewDogg11]

For smell and hygiene reasons, mostly.

I'm just amazed that for millennia this was the logic for keeping most dogs outside but it's changed almost entirely in just the last decade or two.

I’d rather take advice from Patrick Swayze than you any day:

 

[Plissken]

The last dog I had was a 230 pound St. Bernard, it'd take single digit or sub-zero temps for me to not take him out. Those dogs were made to operate in low temps.

 

[Osculater]

Ok but suburbs and cities didn't start 20 years ago either. Through pretty much the entire 20th century, most dogs were outside, even in suburban and some urban environments.

Overall, I think way too many people have dogs. Only a few have the time to walk them and play with them daily in order to keep them psychologically ok.

I 100% agree with the second part that is why I feel so strongly because keeping the dogs outside in your little backyard is cruel. I would say almost most people shouldn’t have dogs. No exercise, no mental stimulation, and not even love if you leave them outside.

This is the reason I don't have dogs

 

[Sobek]

My dogs used to insist on a run and swim even if it was -4. They would still want to run without the swim beyond that. Ice, snow, they didn't care.

The heat was a different story. Hot days would knock them around and bring on snakes

 

[fingercuffs]

If they actually say that, they're fucking morons. Any dog is just fine outside for a walk. Most dogs would prefer to actually live outside and can do so just fine. It's only the last 20 years that people have become so disconnected from reality that some actually think dogs and cats are inside animals. They're absolutely not. We force them to be.

I guess you don't have a feral dog issue or coyote problem where you live. Or crappy drivers mowing animals down.

 

[mjmj]

I guess you don't have a feral dog issue or coyote problem where you live. Or crappy drivers mowing animals down.

I live out in the middle of nowhere, so yes, coyotes, free roaming dogs, and bobcats are everywhere. But I’m not real sure what that has to do with them being able to go outside?

 

[fingercuffs]

I live out in the middle of nowhere, so yes, coyotes, free roaming dogs, and bobcats are everywhere. But I’m not real sure what that has to do with them being able to go outside?

Feral dogs and Coyotes attack outdoor pets. And as I mentioned so do crappy drivers who mow them down on the roads.

I see enough cases of it in the town where I live for my cats to not be let out on their own.

 

[mjmj]

Feral dogs and Coyotes attack outdoor pets. And as I mentioned so do crappy drivers who mow them down on the roads.

I see enough cases of it in the town where I live for my cats to not be let out on their own.

Well no, they should never be left out in their own. To me, thats pet ownership 101. Walking them or on a lead are the only options IMO. I have a piece of shit neighbor on the other side of the farm that thinks its fine to just let their dogs wander for an hour or so whenever they feel like it. I’m not sure they’ve ever had a dog die from old age. Between vehicles and coyotes, eventually they just don’t come home. Not to mention, dogs that run cattle don’t get a second chance either.
But all that said, the OP was talking about just being able to walk them in the cold. Any dog can go outside for a walk.