# outdoor kennel temp measurment



## Jennifer Coulter (Sep 18, 2007)

So Matt's post on the cold dogs got me thinking about how dogs stay warm outside.

We have undergone a cold snap here the past few days, though today was quite a bit warmer. I admit to worrying about my dog and the cold as he is an indoor dog at home and works and is kenneled outside at work. 

I decided to see just how warm it gets in our insulated dog kennels at work...

Today I took an outdoor air temp just outside one of our top hut kennels that look like this:










The air temp was a balmy -17 C / 1 F

I taped a thermometer to the inside of the roof of our kennel to measure the inside of the kennel temp. I put the dog in and waited 1.5 hrs and then checked the thermometer.










I had reasoned in my head that the dog's body heat would heat it up to about 0 degrees C or 32 degrees F.

I was surprised that the air temp in there was only -14 C/ 7 F BRRRR!

I repeated the experiment in the afternoon with similar results and I put the thermometer right above the dog this time.

I find it quite amazing that my dog is quite comfortable in there at those temps and quite comfortable in my house at night as well. All with the same coat on  Amazing if you think about it. The amount I have to put on to be okay at the same cold temps is crazy.

The fact that he is insulated from the cold ground and out of the wind in the kennel is obviously a big deal, despite cold air temps.

Anyhoo, just thought I would share. Dogs are really amazing creatures =D>


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## Matthew Grubb (Nov 16, 2007)

Who takes care of snow removal around the dog house?? Covered by condo fees? :grin:


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## ann schnerre (Aug 24, 2006)

heck, leave the snow around it!! we used to sleep out in northern WI in the winter: dad would bury the sleeping bags (and this was so long ago that they were NOT down-filled) in the snow, we'd run out there in our nighties, winter coats and boots, skin down to our nighties (dad'd carry the boots/coats back in side) and into the sleeping bags (2 to a bag--we were little), and we would snuggle in and look out at the winter sky and tell secrets til we burrowed down into the s/bags and went to sleep.

we weren't cold a bit, well once we got the inside of the s/b warmed up anyway. oh the memories....the 10" of really nice fluffy snow we got sunday/monday makes me want to go skiiing. instead i watched my girl make snow angels   (she's almost 16, so it was fun)..and brix was "helping" her, or trying, get up out of the snow..LOVE IT


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## Greg Leavitt (Aug 31, 2006)

How can you live in that horriffic cold. OMG I would mostly likely die. I wore shorts today and let my 4 week old pups outside to play in the sun for 2 hours. I love so cal.


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## Nancy Jocoy (Apr 19, 2006)

I have wondered about that in even more temperate conditions. They are amazing. We humans have a very narrow comfort range compared to them.


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## Lynn Cheffins (Jul 11, 2006)

Dogs are pretty darn adaptable aren't they? - I provide mine with straw stuffed houses and they prefer to sleep in the open under the spruce trees where I throw the extra straw.


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## Jennifer Coulter (Sep 18, 2007)

Greg Leavitt said:


> How can you live in that horriffic cold. OMG I would mostly likely die. I wore shorts today and let my 4 week old pups outside to play in the sun for 2 hours. I love so cal.


:lol: 

For me winter is all about dressing for the weather. That is why I am so impressed with the dog's acclimatizations.

I am happy to live in a place with 4 distinct seasons. Each has advantages and disadvantages. Once I am sick of one, another begins O 

One of winter's great advantages (at least here) is that is CLEAN. No paw wiping, no bathing (not that I bath him anyways :wink: ), no shedding.... 

Spring and fall are pretty much the muddy season here and summer is dusty....


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## Carol Boche (May 13, 2007)

Greg Leavitt said:


> How can you live in that horriffic cold. OMG I would mostly likely die. I wore shorts today and let my 4 week old pups outside to play in the sun for 2 hours. I love so cal.


Rub it in why don't you.:lol: :lol: 
It was 3 degrees here today with a windchill of -20


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

I did a similar test some years ago. Double wall, insulated dog house with a vestibule on the front. At -12F outside it was above 0 inside the dog house. On difference I see with yours is that the one I had was more compact. Just big enough for the dog to streach out if he wanted.


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## Greg Leavitt (Aug 31, 2006)

Jennifer Coulter said:


> :lol:
> 
> For me winter is all about dressing for the weather. That is why I am so impressed with the dog's acclimatizations.
> 
> ...



We have 4 seasons here we have extreme heat 100+ =summer moderatee heat 75 =spring well I guess your right we really only have too seasons really hot a slight;y cooler. with chance of rain.


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## Jennifer Coulter (Sep 18, 2007)

Bob Scott said:


> I did a similar test some years ago. Double wall, insulated dog house with a vestibule on the front. At -12F outside it was above 0 inside the dog house. On difference I see with yours is that the one I had was more compact. Just big enough for the dog to streach out if he wanted.


Good point Bob. We share kennels at my work and we have 2 dogs that are about 90lbs and my dog is 42 lbs so he kinda looses out. Even with the large dogs I think they could be smaller. A vestibule (walk around a plywood devider) would keep the straw dryer for longer and cut the wind as well. They were built for us by a non dog person, and not exactly how I would build it if we were doing it again.

Our base area kennels are even bigger, and not insulated. Not ideal.


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

This is similar to what I have built. Hard to beat for outdoors.

www.ontariospca.ca/docs/Ideal_Doghouse.pdf

I make them even lower then suggested here. Just a few inches above shoulder height. I doubt many dogs go in and just sit.


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## Geoff Empey (Jan 8, 2008)

Bob Scott said:


> This is similar to what I have built. Hard to beat for outdoors.
> 
> www.ontariospca.ca/docs/Ideal_Doghouse.pdf
> 
> I make them even lower then suggested here. Just a few inches above shoulder height. I doubt many dogs go in and just sit.



Yeah that is the ticket. I built one like that too. The smaller the better all the dog needs in reality is a place to turn around and stretch. 

I'm sure if Farley was in a smaller kennel/house the temperature would been easily a lot higher than what you measured Jenn. 

He is most likely fine in the present kennel but maybe if you are worried you could measure the floorspace and make a spacer that would cinch up the area that could still be removed so that the other dogs could still use the same kennel. Maybe some hard basement wall insulation foam that you could cut to fit. Would be easy to slip in and slip out. Then Farley wouldn't have as much space to heat up.


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

You could also put more straw in so the dog has to burrow into it.
My wife read my post here and dissagreed with me. She remembers me commenting that the inside number being much warmer. Either way, it works! :lol:


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## Jennifer Coulter (Sep 18, 2007)

Thanks for the ideas folks! I like the pamphlet as well. I will print a copy for our ski hill carpenter as we are replacing some other kennels on the mountain (not the ones in the picture). The ones you have shown are like the ones the RCMP uses I believe, and is what we really should have had built in the first place.

About the straw, there is actually quite a bit in there. I fluff it all up for him, but he doesn't really burrow in it. There is always just a flattened spot in the back of the kennel.

Another little test I did led me to be amazed at the R value of straw. 

I put a bottle of warm water in the straw in the kennel and left it overnight (no dog in there). The overnight temp was about -20 C. The water was not frozen in the morning!


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## Kadi Thingvall (Jan 22, 2007)

Are the holes in the original photo all the way through the side of the dog house? I'd consider covering those also, as they are going to allow airflow in/out of the house keeping the inside/outside temperatures closer to each other. And I agree, the house is to big for his body temperature to do much in the way of bringing the indoor temps up. More hay would help, as it could fill in some of the open space, kind of perform the same function a smaller kennel would.


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

I forgot about these. The Presa breeder at our club uses these and loves them. Might be worth considering.
http://www.gundogsupply.com/houndheateri.html


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## Greg Leavitt (Aug 31, 2006)

Carol Boche said:


> Rub it in why don't you.:lol: :lol:
> It was 3 degrees here today with a windchill of -20



I have to say the weather gods may be spiting me for my boastfulness. Today rain forcast for the next 5 days rain and snow down to 3000 ft that means me


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## Jennifer Coulter (Sep 18, 2007)

Bob Scott said:


> I forgot about these. The Presa breeder at our club uses these and loves them. Might be worth considering.
> http://www.gundogsupply.com/houndheateri.html


Nice one. No power up there though. Well actually we do have a generator for lights, but we only run it for prepping shots pre-dawn. Our hut heat (people) is propane.

This might work in our base area kennels and some new ones we are planning on building in another location next year however, and if I ever have an outdoor dog (my next one might be) I will definatly look into that. You are just a wealth of info Bob =D> Thank you. I have used gundogsupply.com before but never noticed that product.


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## Jennifer Coulter (Sep 18, 2007)

Kadi Thingvall said:


> Are the holes in the original photo all the way through the side of the dog house? I'd consider covering those also, as they are going to allow airflow in/out of the house keeping the inside/outside temperatures closer to each other. And I agree, the house is to big for his body temperature to do much in the way of bringing the indoor temps up. More hay would help, as it could fill in some of the open space, kind of perform the same function a smaller kennel would.


Going to cover some of the holes for cold days, and think about a false wall for next year to make the space smaller.

Lucky for us this cold snap should pass by this weekend. O


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## Pauline Michels (Sep 1, 2006)

I'm in Michigan and have a Dobe. My husband built a house for him very similar to the one in the Canadian pamphlet. The doghouse is in the garage with a dog door to the outside run. We have a heater from Gun Dog Supply in the doghouse, as shown in the link that Bob posted. 

To make sure the almost naked Dobe stays warm, we put an indoor/outdoor thermometer in the doghouse. This week the outdoor temp has been in the single digits, the garage interior has been 20 degrees. The doghouse temperature has been in the 60+ degree range.

We've let the Dobe stay in the house with us this week anyways.


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## ann schnerre (Aug 24, 2006)

heck, i have to kick my Dobe out twice/day (we've had single digit days and -20 nights here for a week), but my GSD thinks it's all good fun: come on out and PLAY!! those GSD coats are amazing! (don't ask me about them in march/april, ok??)


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## Pauline Michels (Sep 1, 2006)

I train with GSD people. Hair everywhere!


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## ann schnerre (Aug 24, 2006)

Oh Yeah!!!


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