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How cold is TOO cold for a Great Pyrenees dog?
I have an 8 month old Great Pyrenees and I was wondering, how cold is TOO cold to have him outside for a long length of time? I have a fenced in back yard and he stays outside most of the day, unless I feel like it's too cold or the weather is bad. He always comes in at night. Sometimes I don't really know for sure if it would be too cold for him to handle so I end up bringing him inside and putting him in his kennel (which is plenty big enough) but I then feel bad if he has to stay in his kennel for more than a few hours. How do I know if it's too cold? I give him plenty of attention so he's never "neglected" and he gets plenty of exercise, but when I go to work I need to know he'll be comfortable.
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If your dog wants to come in, let him in. If he is shivering, let him in. And if he gets wet, LET HIM in! Pyreness are very furry, and can stand cold. I would (so he is warm) make a wooden bow thing with 3 walls. On one side, leave out a wall and face it away from the wind so he has shelter! That will also help!
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if your dog comes in shivering it's too cold. If any ice has frozen onto your dogs coat, it's also too cold.
Temperature tolerance does depend a bit on the individual dog and some pyrenees have much thicker coats than others, so those sorts of signs are really your best guide. I'd also say if you are leaving your dog out in -20 weather, you should be providing a dog house. That would make the lower tempatures much more tolerable.
You also want to take a look and make sure your dogs winter undercoat came in - at only eight months old he might not have grown a full one. If that's the case, I'd be a bit more cautious.
The other thing to check for young, big dogs, is the amount of ice. A young large dog still has growing bones and it is not always stable on thier feet. If your backyard becomes a skating rink, your young dog could get sore or even hurt themself. He's too young to always remember to be careful on the ice.
Finally, if you dog is otherwise getting enough exercise and attention, don't feel bad about the kennel. A young dog who is kennel/crate trained is often happiest and most secure in thier kennel - it's thier den and thier personal safe place. A few hours a day in a kennel, espically at this young age, is probably more of a good thing than a bad thing. Its an important part of training the dog to respect the rest of the home as 'people space', it makes training easier, and it makes sure he's getting the sleep he needs during the day without too much distraction.
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