Pup in garage

[Dahitman44]

We built a new house a couple of years ago but i was not smart enought to put in floor heat. The garage is attached to the house and is insulated on the walls and ceiling The pup will stay in the crate during the day and at night. (The Wife's decision)

So -- what can I do to keep it warm in there for him? I thought about putting some 2x4s on the floor to keep the crate kennel off the concrete. Any other ideas?

I thought about the heated bed, but I am afraid he will chew on it.

Thoughts?

[verg]

Put some type of cover over crate. Garages aren't good for dogs in winter. Dogs keep warm from body heat generated. A garage is much too big for a dog to heat up with body heat. A good insulated dog house is fine in winter. Put in straw or whatever your choice is and a dog can warm the inside of dog house easy. I have one of those pet porter covers from cabelas. It works well..as i said, try to cover it at least. If you don't have an outside kennel or barrier for dog, maybe you can find a used dog house or buy one of those igloo type and put that in garage.

[Eric Wettschreck]

Put the crate on 2 x 4s off the floor. Stick some insulation under the crate or an old blanket or anything to keep the "Cold concrete" floor thing away. Throw an old blanket over the crate and a blanket or something in the crate and doggie should be just fine.

[JDM]

I bought a insulated, heated dog house with a swinging door from some company in Nebraska. It works great! Try a web search for heated dog houses. Well worth the money.

Your wife and my wife must know each other.

[Ufatz]

Boilerguy has pretty well got it-get the crate off the floor. Actually, those fiberglass things are colder than hell, so any old wooden house would be better,not TOO big. Toss in some old blankets or a nice old Eddie Bauer down sleeping bag and that rascal will stay warm as toast. Mainly, get the house UP off that concrete floor.

Have you seen those new Puppy Jammies from Orvis? Got little duckies on them. Made of flannel. Warm and cute! HA!

[redhooks]

A friend of mine built a doghouse with pink foam insulation in the floor,roof and walls w/ wood paneling/plywood over to keep the hound from chewing on it- then throw in an old sleepin bag and it looked spretty comfy, prolly going to do the same w/ my dog. My dad always said that and 60W light bulb kicked off enough heat in a doghouse to keep pup warm but sometimes they huddle too close and burn their fur, now I see some hardware stores sell a black (plastic?) shroud to go around the light bulb made just for dog houses, I bet a search on the net might find sumthing good.

redhooks

[Bobby Bass]

have made several dog house inside garages with outside thru wall entrances. We have done the floors with plywood with a layer of blue foam and then another layer of plywood. Ceder chips a few inches deep makes a good bedding and easy to change out and keep clean. Big thing is get it off the floor the concrete will just pull any heat away from the house. Have not had any of the dogs complain yet

[jigging-matt]

Last year I had to move my dog to the garage from the house.(age) I built a wood box out of 2x4's and plywood. Had it about 2 inches off of the concrete and made it to fit under my workbench. It had three sides and insulation between the back and the outside wall. Framed over the top and went to fleet farm and bought a heat lamp for around $7. Put an old comforter in for bedding and the dog stayed warm and comfortable all winter. Just make sure the light is low enough to provide heat but high enough no to be bumped.

[Dee.M.Zee]

Could make the ol' lady sleep out there for a night to show her it's not real comfortable Then again,you'd probably both(you and the pup) be out there .All joking aside......make sure it is WELL insulated and OFF the concrete. I had a friend as a kid who's dad had an "outdoor" dog,key word in that sentence is "had". Doghouse wasn't as insulated as he thought(for our MN winters) and the poor girl froze one night:( I have NEVER forgot that,probably never will....and that was almost 30 years ago.What about the basement??? I have my labs kennel in our laundry room,out of the way.

[Dahitman44]

Dee --

Two good ideas -- one would get me a certified letter in the mail.

Yeah, we have carpet downstairs and she doesn't want that either.

It rarely gets below 30 degrees in the garage maybe a few days last year, not much.

[Dahitman44]

Great points made by everyone. Thanks for all of the good ideas.

I like the ideas of raising the kennel off of the floor. and putting a cover overit and blankets inside. All good ideas.

I may consider the larger kennel idea in the garage as well with a dog house. It is an idea.

Thanks.

Any other thoughts would be great.

What about putting one of those heat beds under the kennel -- would that work?

[LABS4ME]

I think you owe it to your dog to put a run either inside or outside the garage... Correct me if I'm wrong, but it sounds like you plan to crate him during the day when you are at work and again through the night...? Even a 6x6' or 4'x6' chain link run will allow him to stretch his legs and move around. SOmetimes this little bit of movement is enough to get the blood moving again.

I guess I don't have a problem with 'kennel' dogs (mine are), but over 50% of your existance in a crate? (8-10 hours/day during work, 7-8 hours at night sleeping) That doesn't sound like much of a life....? I think you should re-think this and get a run made for him. I've even had to have 'crate' dogs before... but they are never in their crate for more than 3 hours at a time, and it is usually because of a circumstance that is no more than a couple of weeks long.

Good Luck!

Ken

[caseymcq]

I bought a cheap paper shredder and I put shredded paper in my dogs crates. It was great when they were pups because if they had an accident I would just scoop it out and there was hardly any mess in the crate or on the pup.

For your situation I think it would act as good insulation for the dog to lay on. When it gets stinky or wore out recycle/burn/throw it away and put in new stuff.

It was nice to see the puppy poop on the credit card offers that came in the mail

[quijibo]

I work outside and whenever I have to work on cold concrete, I look for a piece of 2" foam. It's the only thing that seems to be an effective thermal break.

My garage is fully insulated and I don't think it gets too cold to keep a dog out there. If I were to keep a dog out there full time, I would definitely build him a run inside of it.