outside pet electric blanket

[tercel89]

I have an inside dog and an outside dog. My outside dog is getting up there in age and I am trying to get opinions and ideas on an electric blanket or heat lamp. I think a blanket would be better cause I'd hate the light to fall down or break and set his house or straw on fire. Do you guys have a pet electric blanket and if so which one do you recommend ? In my town we have a Petco , PetSmart , Co-OP ,  Rural King , and a Tractor supply company TSC . I am sure those stores have one or the other but I am just trying to get good opinions and ideas.

[xsubsailor]

How big of a dog?

 

It doesn't matter. Google self warming pet beds or pads, they come in several sizes. 

Edited December 9, 2017 by xsubsailor

[leroy]

This is near and dear to me... My beloved old Golden Retriever, Jake, was an an outside dog... We had a wind sheltered location for his Doggloo and added a nice, soft dog bed in it for him... In winter, we would hook up a 150 watt heatlamp all the time... The lamp was positioned outside the doggloo... Jake would lay outside the doggloo in relatively temperate weather and enjoy the warmth from the heat lamp... In really cold weather, he would go in the doggloo... I always kept the vent closed on the doggloo... The dog's body heat evidently heated it up very well... Jake loved the outside... The main thing is to protect em from the cold wind... The doggloos are well insulated...

Hope this helps...

leroy...

[peejman]

We used a typical brooder infrared heat lamp. Her spot on the porch was up against the bricks. I pointed the lamp at the bricks and it made a fairly warm spot, even with temps in the low 20's.  Though most of the time the dumb dog would just stay out in the cold. 

[Trekbike]

You mentioned an "electric blanket", but I'm thinking you meant a heated pad.    We got a K&H Lectro Kennel brand from Petco I believe.   You just leave it plugged in all the time.   Not sure if it will fit your needs or not.   We use ours indoors since we have a couple of smaller dogs that can't seem to keep warm enough.     

Automatic Temperature Control

Pre-set internal thermostats automatically monitor the surface temperature to keep your dog warm and comfortable. K&H outdoor pads are designed to warm to your pet's normal body temperature of 102°F when he/she lies on the pad. When your pet is not on the pad, the heat will dissipate into the air and the surface temperature will vary according to the ambient air temperature.

We designed the Lectro-Kennel with simplicity in mind. Plug it in and it will automatically warm on its own. There is no on/off switch to worry about and the pad will never exceed the natural body temperature of a dog or cat. Now that's easy!

 

[Murgatroy]

I am struck by this, as a kid we had 'inside dogs' and 'outside dogs.' However many decades later as an adult, I have 'dogs.' Bandit and Brigand go outside when they choose and come inside when they choose. Honestly, as pack animals, they are inside with the family more often than not. Now I get the concept that a dog has spent his/her majority in one or the other and as such is more comfortable in what they know. However, I am confused (now more thinking about my youth) in the difference between an 'inside' and 'outside' dog. Why they mutually exclusive? If you have dogs why are they not either 'inside' or 'outside?' Why the distinction. I do suppose I can see the line given the use in working dogs.

[tnhawk]

My dogs have a dog door to enter and exit the house.  They may take a nap outside during the day but I can't remember them ever sleeping outside at night.

[Pain103]

 A dog igloo with a rubber flap will keep enough heat. I use to work K-9 and would occasionally check the temperature in there it would stay in the 50’s over night. I did take some old fence panels to the side of kennel to help block wind. 

Edited December 9, 2017 by Pain103

[bersaguy]

Ok!! Finally a topic I might be able to add some information to. My first recomendation is to do as much research on what ever breed of dog you may have. Also talk with your Vet and get there recomendations on this topic. I have had dogs all my life and for the first 17 years I grew up in upper Illinois where is got really cold and windy. We had a garage and a pedestrian door with a doggie door in it.  I have Beagles that I hunted with and I had mutts I adopted that pepole would drive out of Chicago and drop them on the country road we lived on. I was like a magnet to the strays as they always seem to find our home. Now with that said there were certain dogs I had that would come in the garage to eat but I don't care how cold it got they would sleep out side at night in dog houses filled with straw while others would sleep on beds in the garage. I often wonder about that over the years. Finally about 12 years ago while I had Kasey I had a igloo doggie house out beside the front door and even though I considered her more of an indoor dog she at times would have other ideas. That was why I ask my Vet about it. She told me that because we were  never really sure of her breed mix she did have many traits that one of her parents may have been a cold weather door because Kasey had about 4 seperate layers of hair and a coat of downe against her skin like a fur coat it was easy for her to control her body temps by going in and out as she wanted to. Her favorate place to lay was out in the carport under the boat on the concrete floor from early Spring through late Fall and in the winter she would come in and I kept the heat vents turned off in my storage room and had her bed in there and she would sleep in there in very cold nights and in the dog house on average nights. In this picture you can see the brown downe that covers Kaseys belly. My first and foremost recomendation would be ask your Vet what their recomendation would be best for your particular Partners situation.

[tercel89]

Thanks for the help guys. I found what I was looking for . Rural King had a hard plastic heating pad with heating elements built into the plastic platform. It fits right on the floor of his dog house and stays as warm . It has a cover that goes on it and I put additional bath towels on it too. The first 4 feet of the cord has a coil of metal around it to protect it from chewing dogs. 

[Trekbike]

21 hours ago, Murgatroy said:

I am struck by this, as a kid we had 'inside dogs' and 'outside dogs.' However many decades later as an adult, I have 'dogs.' Bandit and Brigand go outside when they choose and come inside when they choose. Honestly, as pack animals, they are inside with the family more often than not. Now I get the concept that a dog has spent his/her majority in one or the other and as such is more comfortable in what they know. However, I am confused (now more thinking about my youth) in the difference between an 'inside' and 'outside' dog. Why they mutually exclusive? If you have dogs why are they not either 'inside' or 'outside?' Why the distinction. I do suppose I can see the line given the use in working dogs.

I think the determining factor might be the breed of the dog.   Currently I have three, a Chihuahua, a Pug/Min Pin mix, and a Red Healer/Sheltie mix.  All three were rescues and are basically inside dogs when they aren't outside in our fenced in yard, off and on, during the day.  All three sleep inside at night. 

The first two dogs are most happy to be inside, especially the Chihuahua, since they aren't very tolerate of cold weather.   They do like to lay in the sun on warm days.   My "working dog breed"  loves the cold weather since he has a double coat and many times doesn't want to come in at night.     We don't leave him out at night since there have been a number of dogs stolen even from fenced in yards in the area where I live.   (He is a beautiful dog and is a prime candidate for theft in our opinion.   It's the low of the low that go around stealing dogs IMO.)  When I let them out in the mornings, especially when there is frost on the ground, he will run out and roll back and forth on the frozen ground, happy as he could be.   

In summary, dogs as you pointed out, are pack animals and really want to be around us, whether it's inside or outside.   If we are inside, they are at the back door begging to come in.   If we are outside and they are inside for whatever reason, they are begging to get to us outside.