Cath
MLF Sales Coordinator
How cold is too cold for dog walks?
Is it too chilly for your dog outside? Discover expert guidance on safe dog walking temperatures in the winter and warning signs that your pooch is too cold.
How cold is too cold for dog walks?
- Thread starter Cath
- Start date
Jacqui-S
Moderator
- Location
- Fife, Scotland
- Location
- Melbourne, Australia
Jacqui-S
Moderator
- Location
- Fife, Scotland
I swam in 12 oC yesterdayI feel like 10 degrees is too cold for us
Candy
Biscuit Tin Guardian
- Location
- West Yorkshire, UK
I tend to agree, certainly for dogs like Labradors, as long as they're not very young puppies, or to elderly to move briskly enough to keep warm. Our winter walks are always very much striding out and moving briskly walks, to keep me warm just as much as Joy, and she's always keen to go.
I can tell you that dogs get walked throughout the winter in Finland (where my daughter and family live, with their dog Alto) - even when the temperature is minus 10 or so. Dogs with thin coats (whippets, bulldogs etc) are usually wrapped up in fleeces. But Alto, who is some kind of boxer mix, refuses to wear any sort of coat until the windchill is around minus 15!!!!
Mind you, this is the country where babies are put outside in their buggies for their daytime nap during the winter. They consider it safe to around minus 10. Yes, this includes my granddaughter, who is six months old...
Mind you, this is the country where babies are put outside in their buggies for their daytime nap during the winter. They consider it safe to around minus 10. Yes, this includes my granddaughter, who is six months old...
- Location
- Malvern Worcestershire
I used to put my babies outside in their prams in the snow, it was the thing to do in those days!
Jacqui-S
Moderator
- Location
- Fife, Scotland
I am one of those babies
Candy
Biscuit Tin Guardian
- Location
- West Yorkshire, UK
Me too! (It probably explains a lot!)
Lisa
Moderator
- Location
- Alberta, Canada
-4C?? Pfffttt (as Carbon would say). The poor dogs would never get outside for months around here 
I’ve never had a dog refuse to go for a walk or not enjoy it, even at the most bone-chilling temps you could imagine. Sometimes their feet can get cold, especially at the beginning of winter as the weather first gets nippy, but it’s amazing how fast they adapt. There are dogs around here (farm dogs) who are outside all year (they will have some kind of shelter but some are not very luxurious, trust me). Their fur gets thicker to help them acclimatize to the cold. Of course the sled dogs they use in the Arctic will bed down in the snow to sleep at night, curled up with their tails over their noses.
All this to say that of course there are breeds that would need extra care and attention when it is below zero but in general most dogs can tolerate the cold much better than you think they could. Better than the human at the other end of the leash, that’s for sure!
Edit to add: a few years ago I shared the story of my friends dog (a poodle/Wheaten Terrier X) who ran away from her while she was visiting friends on the city. The temps were below -20 and got down to the -30s and close to -40. No shelter, no food, no water. He was gone for 4-5 days, the whole time it was that cold. Somehow he survived with hardly any ill effects - no frostbite! He had a dodgy tummy for quite some time due to the food he had managed to scavenge - at one point he was spotted running across the road with a rabbit in his mouth!
I’ve never had a dog refuse to go for a walk or not enjoy it, even at the most bone-chilling temps you could imagine. Sometimes their feet can get cold, especially at the beginning of winter as the weather first gets nippy, but it’s amazing how fast they adapt. There are dogs around here (farm dogs) who are outside all year (they will have some kind of shelter but some are not very luxurious, trust me). Their fur gets thicker to help them acclimatize to the cold. Of course the sled dogs they use in the Arctic will bed down in the snow to sleep at night, curled up with their tails over their noses.
All this to say that of course there are breeds that would need extra care and attention when it is below zero but in general most dogs can tolerate the cold much better than you think they could. Better than the human at the other end of the leash, that’s for sure!
Edit to add: a few years ago I shared the story of my friends dog (a poodle/Wheaten Terrier X) who ran away from her while she was visiting friends on the city. The temps were below -20 and got down to the -30s and close to -40. No shelter, no food, no water. He was gone for 4-5 days, the whole time it was that cold. Somehow he survived with hardly any ill effects - no frostbite! He had a dodgy tummy for quite some time due to the food he had managed to scavenge - at one point he was spotted running across the road with a rabbit in his mouth!
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- Location
- Herefordshire, UK
I think this is the same here, I was interested to read about a coat being potentially detrimental to fluffy dogs due to pushing out the air which must give them some insulation. I think in the main the dogs I've had enjoy cold dry weather, certainly Cassie prefers it to very wet weather. As regards living outside, which farm and country dogs still do in the UK, continuity is the thing - allowing their coats to adapt and keep them warm.
I once read a veterinary article which explained that the arteries and veins are close together in a dogs feet - therefore they are kept warmer than we might think due to warming effect of the blood coming from the heart.
Now that we do more pavement walking though I shall be mindful of the effect of grit etc on her paws.
I echo what @Lisa said!
-4 is lovely winter weather
I personally won’t walk in anything colder than -20 because I’m a total wimp . But Axel was never bothered by the cold, and neither is Hugo, both being far more comfortable in the snow and cold than in the summer heat. I keep an eye on the paws, if there’s any awkward walking or paw lifting, that’s my sign it’s too cold. The only dog I’ve had do that though was my little 5lb Pomeranian, and that was during a quick outside potty break in our yard. I personally try to avoid icy roads or sidewalks in -20 weather and stick to snow covered trails since they seem much gentler on their paws.
-4 is lovely winter weather
I personally won’t walk in anything colder than -20 because I’m a total wimp . But Axel was never bothered by the cold, and neither is Hugo, both being far more comfortable in the snow and cold than in the summer heat. I keep an eye on the paws, if there’s any awkward walking or paw lifting, that’s my sign it’s too cold. The only dog I’ve had do that though was my little 5lb Pomeranian, and that was during a quick outside potty break in our yard. I personally try to avoid icy roads or sidewalks in -20 weather and stick to snow covered trails since they seem much gentler on their paws.
- Location
- Isle of Man
Ours don't mind the cold and they don't wear coats. I, on the other hand, have stopped going out in icy conditions (like this morning, currently 0.1C feels like -2.2C, the pavement looks slippy and the cars are iced over) as I have become terrified of slipping over. Luckily, we don't get many icy cold days on the Isle of Man.
- Location
- Malvern Worcestershire
I look at Snowie and often think: you were bred for your breed origins in Newfoundland. He’d love the freezing weather. The heat we have here has been awful for him his entire life. Thankfully our very old house has very thick clay walls and he can find a cool spot in summer. But he’d have loved living in the Canadian snow!
If I’d known differently, I’d have got a dog bred for our climate. Snowie’s dad was imported from the UK. That should’ve been a red flag for me. Instead, it was made out to be proof of superior breeding.
If I’d known differently, I’d have got a dog bred for our climate. Snowie’s dad was imported from the UK. That should’ve been a red flag for me. Instead, it was made out to be proof of superior breeding.
- Location
- Sydney, Australia
Minus anything isn't a thing here but if it was I wouldn't be leaving the house!