i got a male walker and a male bluetick in the same kennel...they haven't had any problems with each other...they play together and they dont fight over food or water and they even sleep in the same doghouse...I have a good summer dog house in the kennel for them but i was wondering if that is enough for them since winter is here...i tried putting an old blanket in the house but they drag it out and get crap all over it and ruin it everytime...what else can i do to keep them warm

_________________
Keep'em treed, hunt blueticks and walkers!!!

Join the forum today and remove this ad!

Good clean straw or alfalfa make very good winter bedding. Use a lot of it and let them burrow into for a good warm den.

I have been using straw and old hay myself and it works great. I also build a litte hallway on the front of the house so they have to walk in and then turn into thier room, that seems to help alot with the weather here.

just a thought you should actually never bed dogs with straw. hay is ok and pine shavings is also ok. something about the straw it causes lots of belly irritation and can get imbeded under the skin causing infections and other lovely things. you could also try "nailing" (i don't know what kind of house it is) pieces of carpet samples in. Good Luck with that!

do not use hay it can get mold and make dogs very sick

_________________
Cowley Ol'Red Hunter

LOL. I have a walker that looks exactly identical to yours in that picture. Totally off topic but I just thought that was kind of odd.

Well, I have used good clean hay and straw for over 30 plus years and usually have over 15 to 20 dogs a year with the winters easily reaching 15 to 20 below and sometimes colder, never had a problem yet. You do have to change the bedding frequently or the above mentioned concerns could very easily become a problem.

i do know that mold grows in hay ( especially since growing up on a farm) but i also know to change the hay lol.. i would never leave soiled, old bedding dog for my dogs. their houses get changed out every other day.

LCK most dogs don't have problems with the straw but its like a kid with allergies usually you never know until it happens! glad you haven't had a problem! thats a good thing!

in the winter usually the smaller house the better. the smaller the house the easier it is for them to warm it up with their body heat. make sure there are no air leaks. also a thing that we usually do with all our dog houses in the winter is make a flap on the door of the house out of a thin piece of rubber or plastic or anything that can sway in and out but keeps the cold air out. also for bedding we usually use old blankets too but our one walker always tears them out too so we went to our local farm and fleet and bought a bag of woodchip bedding for dog houses and seems to work pretty well.

let me know what u come up with.

_________________
Dan Calkins

Chetek Bulldogs- Playoffs Level 4

Calkins- #11 on Coondawgs post list.

Home of:
Calkins' Northern White Raider

Signature Edit by Admin and Reason Account is Now Banned.

A dog is only as good as the man's word that's selling it.

well its been getting cold.i normally put a flap over dogs dog house to keep warm air in. iv used feed bags my old wont bother with it but my young dog rips em of so any ya guys got any ideas of a flap i can make tht he cant rip off?? its supposed to get real cold sunday thru tuesday so if ya cam help me please do asap

I use elevator belting from tsc and use bolts through the house to hold it on then you can take it off as needed. All mine have been on dog houses for years and dogs cant chew em.

I found an old large chest freezer, took the motor off and cut square holes in the side. Then I put flap doors on the square holes. I put the freezer inside and old out building, then I cut holes in the out building so the dogs can get outside to a raised side by side kennel. I put a divider inside the old freezer so the dogs are side by side but don't build the divider all the way to the top or leave small holes in it so the dogs can share the heat. The freezer has already has a lid so it is easy to change the hay. You can feel the heat when you raise the lid to add or change bedding. I used straw before but my vet said that ear mites can live inside the straw so I went to hay, but to each his own i guess.

_________________

we use hay and wood chips down here in Mississippi i have tried pillows and stuff like that and the hounds allways pull it out but hay or woodchips works great for me never had any probles with it but if it gets really cold you can allways run a power cord out there and put a heat lamp in the dog house iv done that with pups before