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I have a lab.and when its under 50 he wants in to sleep on the sofa.
I also have had a competition sled dog raceing team and as long as they were moving anything above minus 45 was good.
We are all older now and we get temps to minus 20f pretty regular.They stay in their houses with fresh hay and are just fine,if it is snowing they will lay outside curled with nose under tail.
I have a lab.and when its under 50 he wants in to sleep on the sofa. .
My 80 lb lab wanted to sleep on the sofa no matter what it was like outside. I couldn't leave him outside for more than 15 minutes if it was 50 degrees or he would stand at the door shivering. But if I was running/walking him he was fine in any temperature down to 30 below, although he wore a jacket in his later years and he needed boots (which he hated) when it below zero. I would take him skiing for hours when he was younger. As long as he kept moving he was fine.
Most mammals are OK in the cold as long as they are dry and moving. I wouldn't keep a ferret out for too long, because their bellies are right down close to the cold ground. That would chill their central core quickly. But a short walk would be OK as long as they are dry and as long as you warm them up when you get back inside the house.
I had a farm and my German Shepherds and the Leonbergers were fine and happy to be outside working with me when we had a wind chill of minus 50 degrees. They would run and play in the snow as I was trying to get enough ice broken so the cattle could drink.
Myself, I wasn't so happy, but the dogs were loving it. They were active and not getting wet and they toasted themselves by the fire when we went back inside the house.
My 6 pound Papillons loved to play in the snow, but snow would stick to their coats so I did not allow them to be outside for too long because I had to melt the snow in order to get it off of them and didn't want snow packed against toes or delicate ear leather for too long.
My Bracco has almost no hair. Her hair is 1/4 inch long and she has no undercoat, but her furnace is roaring like a freight train and snow and wet don't stick to her coat. She loves to romp in the snow for as long as I will stand and watch her and her body is nice and warm when she comes into the house. Cold doesn't seem to affect her at all, but I would not leave her outside beyond the point that she was actively moving.
Adding this: if the dogs are going to be inspecting various parking lots and it is below freezing, I have a light weight coat for the Bracco. If the dogs are sitting in the car, they are not moving and I am afraid the Bracco will chill if it is below freezing and she is inactive.
The Australian Shepherd is impervious to weather or cold. He will sleep on a snow bank while we are camping, even though he has a thick bed and there is a camp fire. The Bracco, on the other hand, will sit with us for awhile and then she gets up and asks to be let into the travel trailer where the heat is on.
My old Danes can't stand the cold but they've always lived in Texas. I have to convince them to go outside if it's below 50 degrees lol. They enjoy a walk in their miniature horse coats in chilly weather though.
My dachshund loves the winter--he came from Alabama and has adjusted really well. He will not wear a sweater or booties. He has only turned around on his daily walk twice, and it was very cold both times. But he kept asking to go out, so I bundled up and we went two houses down, and he decided to come home. We have a mutt pup who is quite old (17-ish) and I don't take her out when it's under 20 degrees. They are funny when they go out the back door to the yard, come in and want to go out the front door because they think it's not so cold (or not raining or windy). I also don't like to walk them too far if it's terribly slushy--they get too much ice in their toes.
I do think it's possible to spoil a dog. My neighbor's dog, in these last few days, didn't even want to take a day walk with temp's in the high 40's/low 50's, (perhaps because of the wind?)even though she puts a sweater on her dog.
It's also possible that the dog has arthritis or some other condition that makes it reluctant to go for a walk.
My old Danes can't stand the cold but they've always lived in Texas. I have to convince them to go outside if it's below 50 degrees lol. They enjoy a walk in their miniature horse coats in chilly weather though.
You can always tell when a ferret is happy and excited, they shake their whole bodies. Tonite I was out for a leash walk, quite cold, shaking and shaking, particularly when they discover something new or he's got grass to roll around in. All my 8 ferrets, over the years, were like that, their shaking their bodies when happy/excited, summer or winter.
I do think it's possible to spoil a dog. My neighbor's dog, in these last few days, didn't even want to take a day walk with temp's in the high 40's/low 50's, (perhaps because of the wind?)even though she puts a sweater on her dog.
Where is the dog doing its "business"? Does she have pads on the floor? I had a Chihuahua who hated to go out if it was cold or windy.
My 45 pound Catahoula mix hates it when it's windy. Friday it was so windy here that her ears were blowing back and she didn't care for that at all.
I have a fenced yard and she seems to like being outside when it's cold. I take her for her one walk after dinner so she can be a dog and sniff the world.
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). My husky/shepherd would sun himself in a snow bank.
