Labrador sleeping outside issue

themacdaddy

Hi All,

My sister has a 6 month old labrador. She got him when he was 2 months old and had him sleeping in the utility room in the house until he was 4 months old. Then, as he was getting big, she got him a big kennel and let him sleep outside. However, recently she has realised that he pulls his duvet/blanket out of his kennel and sleeps on it in the open (usually on the grass in the back garden). She is worried as its so cold out at night.

She has a light that gives off some heat in the kennel to make him comfortable.

Does anyone have experience of this or has any idea what to do?

Thanks.

Baybay

First off, I don't actually know.

What I think though is that dogs get winter coats for a reason so maybe the well intentioned light for heat is too much for him. Or he prefers the darkness... who knows? Dogs can be every bit as choosy as people, imo.

He's also still quite young so maybe the blanket is dragged outside for play purposes and when he's finished shaking the stuffing out of it, he collapses wherever he is for a rest.

If the dog is otherwise happy, I think that I'd let him sleep under the stars.

daviddwyer

we have a dog that has been doing that for the last few years..... what we did was nail the duvet to the floor of the kennel... and had another one that he could take outside of the kennel. What we found was that he liked to take the duvet out during the day but was unable to get it back in the kennel when it got cold.

billo41

Don't Labradors have an extra layer of fat? I don't think they feel the cold.

themacdaddy

billo41 wrote: »

Don't Labradors have an extra layer of fat? I don't think they feel the cold.

To be honest I am not too sure but I can find out...

Thanks Baybay and Dadvid for your feedback I will say it to her. The pup seems happy but just want to make sure its not freezing or anything!