[Deanna]

Living in Alberta we experience some very cold weather. My husband and I are both farily hot natured and tend to keep our house fairly cool, especially during the night. I always have a blanket on the sofa, and wear yoga pants and a long sleeved fleece shirt around the house. I am worried that we keep our house too cool for our little guy. Is this somethig I should be worried about? I have noticed a few beds that have heating pads built in- they are set on timers and turn on and off by themselves- only when the dog is in it. Has anyone ever used one of these?

BTW- I really appreciate this board, and all the members, y'all have been so helpful in getting us ready for our new baby.

 

[Teddyandme]

Deana,

I don't live in Canada but it gets cold enough in New Jersey....and I too can not handle having the heat up (medical condition makes it tough for me to breath) so, I keep the thermostate down....usually around 55 - 60....and I am cold. I put on all kinds of fleece to keep warm...but breathing is more important.

I watch Teddy very carefully....and he is always dressed in something...unless he decides he does not like it and then he takes it off... He cracks me up cause he will bring me different things for me to put on him. Believe it or not he loves onsies (baby onsies, which we used when he got neutered), but I have to be there so I can take it off while he does his business. I also have down comforters and we curl up in those....he snuggle in real close to me and I just love it....he does that in summer too (but the air is on so just as cold).

Part of the fun is picking his outfits...I just bought him a pair of Jammies that fit a baby dolll.....and my Teddy....and he knows he is gooooooood loooooking in them.

Have fun with outfits....and watch to see if your baby is shaking. If so could be cold. Adjust the temp or the amount of clothing he is wearing.

 

[Deanna]

Thanks for the reply, I was wondering if it's ok to keep him in a sweater most of the time.

I also thought for one of his beds I would get one that is for a cat- thats sort of a canopy lined with fleece. Since it will be more enclosed it would be warmer. My mother is also knitting blankets for her new grand-dawgy (as she calls him) to go in his beds.

 

[LexiAndNikkisMom]

Originally posted by Deanna@Oct 4 2005, 11:53 AM
Thanks for the reply, I was wondering if it's ok to keep him in a sweater most of the time.

I also thought for one of his beds I would get one that is for a cat- thats sort of a canopy lined with fleece. Since it will be more enclosed it would be warmer. My mother is also knitting blankets for her new grand-dawgy (as she calls him) to go in his beds.
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[/QUOTE]
Keeping a sweater on him is fine but just make sure you brush him afterwards. Clothing will cause him to matt a lot more. To help prevent mats you can keep him in a shorter cut.

 

[Teddyandme]

Good Good point....matting. I find that if you use items that have a silky lining...the mats stay to a minimum....but I also brush Teddy every single day.

 

[RexsMom]

I never thought about matting with a sweater. Rex's hair isn't that long, so hopefully we wont have an issue...another reason for us to keep his hair short, so we can dress him up! This will be our first winter with Rex, I am almost done knitting his sweater now! Generally we have found him to be hot natured so hopefully, winter will be a good change for him!

 

[Toby's Mom]

I'm one of those weird ones, but I hate being hot and I LOVE cold weather. I keep my thermostat set at 66ºF in the winter. Personally, I would keep it colder, but I think I would freeze my hubby and the dogs right out. :lol:

Wally has his bed right next to the radiators, so I am sure he stays snuggly warm.

As for Toby, I always keep a sweater on him. I was keeping him in a very short puppy cut of 0.5 inch, and never worried about matting. I am now letting his hair grow and plan to still keep him in sweaters, so we'll see how the matting thing goes.

Anyway, my point is that I never see them shivering. If I did, I would give in and turn the heat up. LOL

Oh and we live near Chicago, so we know what cold is!

 

[Harley & Dakotas Mum]

I was going to mention the matting too - I let Harley stay in a sweater nearly all day once & the matting afterwards was terrible!!

Just be mindful of that - or keep your baby in a shorter cut.

 

[sassy's mommy]

The others have given you good advice about keeping the matts brushed out. At least on a daily basis. Here is a way I think about our baby being cold. Their body is a lot like our head. If our head is cold then they are probably cold. We keep our house pretty cool in the winter (when we have cold weather)

If I think Sassy is too cool I will put a T-shirt on her and then deal with the matts later that same day. With her coat I can't let her wear any clothes for an extended time.


Okay, I am envious of the cold you guys are already enjoying. Please send some to Florida. I love cold weather. My favorite time of the year!

 

[Deanna]

Originally posted by Sassy's mommy@Oct 4 2005, 05:05 PM
Okay, I am envious of the cold you guys are already enjoying. Please send some to Florida. I love cold weather. My favorite time of the year!

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I am still new to Canada, so it's shocking to me! Yesterday morning there was frost that had to be scraped off my car! Last year we had a very cold early fall- It was August and it looked like snow- I called my husband at work and told him "I can handle snow in May. I can handle snow in June. But if it snows in friggin AUGUST, we are moving to Vancouver Island!" It waited until Sept 2nd last yr before it snowed.

No snow yet- but I think we will have it within another couple of weeks.


Thank you all for the great advice!

 

[cindysilver]

Well, here in Miami, Florida... I guess I don't have to worry about it!!

 

[miko's mommy]

Okay -- we are in Santa Barbara, California right now and you would think it should be warm here but it gets sooo cold at night and our heater is not on yet. I do put a blanket over Miko but I think he gets too hot and climbs out from under it at some point during the night!!

 

[msmagnolia]

Oh MY! I don't know whether to be envious or feel sorry for you. We're still having miserable heat. I feel so sorry for all the people from all over the country that are here helping with the hurricane cleanup. They are living in tents and sweltering.

I don't like cold weather and don't care if I ever see snow again. Two winters in Chicago was all the snow I'll ever need.....

I have to admit, though, that a break in the heat would be welcome right about now!

 

[rubyjeansmom]

Its getting pretty warm here too-suppose to be 100 tomorrow.

I would love to live somewhere where there are seasons-here in southern california it seems the weather is always the same.......I love cold weather!!!

 

[Deanna]

Originally posted by RubyJeansmom@Oct 4 2005, 09:36 PM
Its getting pretty warm here too-suppose to be 100 tomorrow.

  I would love to live somewhere where there are seasons-here in southern california it seems the weather is always the same.......I love cold weather!!! 

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How about we do a house swap for one week!? :lol: I actually used to do this with a good friend that lived in Scotland. He and his wife would come to my house (in TX)- we would spend 4 days together, I would leave for his house in Scotland, they would stay at my house and vacation, and then the last 4 days of my time in Scotland they would get home so we would spend that time together. It was a great way to save money. My goal was to have friends all over the world to house swap with. I find if if you don't have to stay in hotels, traveling is so much more affordable!

So let me know when you are ready!

 

[Terri]

Hi Deana, I'm in Calgary so I know what you are talking about! I just love having snow already and it's only the first week of October. We keep our house at at 19 during the night and around 21-22 during the day. It seems fine for the Pudster and our 3 cats.

 

[Deanna]

Originally posted by Terri@Oct 5 2005, 08:23 AM
I'm in Calgary so I know what you are talking about!  <div align="right">index.php?act=findpost&pid=106488

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HI Neighbor!

 

[Terri]

Hi, where about's are you in Edm? I lived up there for 2 years to go to NAIT and my dad lives in Sherwood Park.

 

[Deanna]

Terri,

We are currently on the Southside, in Ermineskin. But we just bought a new house in Kensington. I haven't spent much time in Calgary, but whenever we go- my husband insists we go to Peter's Drive In for burgers and shakes!

BTW- My husband went to NAIT.

 

[Chelsey]

Wow you already got some frost, we are a high of 24 -25 today. Actually since Saturday in Toronto, Mississauga, Ontario.
For the first time I can say ,I can’t wait for the weather to cool down. We suffered all summer with no AC because we will be buying a new home... normally it ok because we usually hang out in the basement were it is so cool but this year I was upstairs most of the time were the skylight is letting in all the heat because going up and down the stairs hurt my knees.

Anyway, I normally put out a fleece for the puppies ,they do ok with that in the winter time. And they have wool type beds and we normally hang out in the basement were there is also carpet. So they keep warm. I keep the temp at 20 - 21 I like to stay warm. I'm not use to living in a home were it is cold... I have lived in an apartment all
my life except when I was 1 -7 so I'm used to being very warm. Well moving in to a home and paying for heating kicked reality in my head. I was so cold the first year and was consently running and looking for sweaters. I'm a lot better now
I do not put sweaters on them in the home. Only when we go out side... they get sweaters and coats and boots. I dress them up really toasty warm. If we are in the living room were there is hard wood I put the fleece down for them.
I tried covering them with the blanket but they always take it off and lay on it.