Not sure 6 yrs is a senior.

But I KNOW that if you think you have to fatten him up to live outdoors that's not a choice I would make.

Keeping a dog outdoors isn't necessary. Keeping a dog a healthy normal weight ALL YEAR is.

So don't worry about fattening him up, instead just make him an indoor pet like he should be anyways

 

I don't know what your laws are in Canada, but in Pennsylvania if it is that cold out and your dog does not have proper shelter to stay warm then you will be fined. Exactly how cold does it get in Ontario? Animals will burn alot of calories staying warm, especially as they age. What is your set up in his heated dog house? Is there a reason you can't bring him inside when it's that cold out? Do you have a dog blanket for him to wear? Weatherbeeta makes some decent ones. Do you put hay in his house for him? How is it heated?

 

Why do you want to banish him to the outdoors after six years?

Also, I would suggest looking through the food threads on here, as Pedigree is

 

Here is a thought...I don't try to put extra weight on my horse for the winter (and it does get to zero and below here in PA). I do blanket him and give him extra feed during the winter. Extra weight is hard on joints. I don't want extra weight on him because of arthritis but I do want him to maintain his weight.

Your best choice is still to take him into the house when it's that cold outside that it's to cold even in a heated dog house. As far as food, I would look for something with a higher fat content. I feed RAW so have no input into a kibble to suggest for you.

 

I fed my lean shepherd satin balls to put weight on her when she was super skinny. It would certainly be worthwhile trying out for a few weeks in addition to his regular food, people swear by this stuff. Pedigree certainly isn't the best quality dog food out there and i'm sure people would be more than happy to point you in the right direction regarding good nutrition, but if your boy has done well and your happy with it, stick with what works.

Holistic Dog - Satinballs Satin Balls

 

Feed him a high quality diet. There's many choices out there, when you read the label avoid CORN, WHEAT, SOY and BY-PRODUCTS. If you have a PETCO go there and take the list of things to avoid with you. The sales people can help you choose a better food.
Even Diamond Products (although some on here would disagree) work well, such as Diamond Naturals, or Kirkland signature from Costco. Pedigree is mainly corn and by-products.

 

(edit) i built his house on my own its 3 feet deep 2 feet wide and 1.5 ft tall flat roof all 3 inch walls insulated with straw and poly as a vapour barrior, as for heat its eletric mounted chicken coop heater on the side with a thermostat set to 15 deg c.

where i am in ontairo the temp can range from plus 10 to -25 at nights

 

That seems really small? I don't know my celcius.. (can't seem to spell it either) but what does that translate to in fahrenheit? Brr. Why must the dog live out there?

 

Can you bring him in at night? At least in the garage? There are heated kennel pads available that aren't too expensive. The satin balls will put on weight and might be something to keep him on throughout the winter

 

just because you have a shepard doesn't mean it
should live outside in the winter. you say the temps
are to cold for him and he has a heated dog house.
why do you want to keep your shepard outside when it's so cold??
i guess a shepard does better in the cold compared to a Shepherd.

 

my shepard is going on 6 abd has been the same weight for the last 2 years 60-65 pounds he has always eaten 2-3 cups of dry pedigree vitality puls @18% proteen. he is very slender with nice strong defined front and hind and jaw muscles

any tips on weight gain to fill him out for th winter he needs to remain outside for the comming winter but our temps are to cold for him even in his heated dog house..

Is this question for real? Seriously, if you have a heated dog house and you ADMIT that it is too cold out there for your dog, even in a heated dog house, what is there to discuss here? Take him into the house!! It just makes all this even more bazar that the dog is underweight, if you want him to gain weight then feed him more, but that has nothing to do with leaving a dog outside in dangerously cold weather, that is cruelty.

 

What changed that your dog now has to live outdoors?
I think a healthy GSD in a heated dog house would do okay, but obviously it's not an optimal way to keep any dog, especially if he's used to being inside.
If he's that underweight you may want to ask a vet if he's healthy - although more rare in colder climates, some dogs have been known to have heartworm, and where he came from the Rez near you he may have health issues. Another thing to consider, if he's not already neutered, you might want to do so, since he's past "growing" and testosterone has been known to keep dogs thin as they get older and there's some cancers (testicular primarily) that can arise as a dog gets older as well.

 

FYI 15 Celsius is about 59 degrees Fahrenheit. If the thermostat is working properly then that should be fine.

If the dog must be outside, how about using proper insulation instead of straw? A few square feet of fiberglass insulation should get the job done. How is the door constructed? An opening with no door may lose heat faster than the heater can replace it. Does the heater provide ventilation as well (probably important in such a small space)?

 

Straw is much more safe than insulation. Fiberglass, if chewed on, can kill a dog...since it's, well, glass.
Straw is an insulation bedding because of air trapped inside the straws. It is much safer and cheaper and does as good of job keeping a dog warm.

 

Why does he need to remain outside over the winter? If it's truly too cold for him to be outdoors in his heated doghouse fattening him up isn't the answer. He'll just be outdoors, too cold, and overweight.

 

:nono:

 

3' deep by 2' wide by 1 1/2' high???!!!

How exactly is your dog supposed to get inside? Crawl? How long have you had this dog?

So, for us Americans that don't use the metric system...your temps range from -27 F to 50 F. If our dogs were outside in -27 degrees weather in a house that was to low for our dog to get in to, we would be fined and our dogs would be seized.

 

Where I live it is against the law to leave a dog outside in extreme cold temps without adequate shelter, the dog would be seized, and the owner would be arrested.

 

Hm...maybe the measurements are also metric!?

A converter tells me that -25 is actually -13 in Fahrenheit.

 

No. His post spelled out FEET.

3 feet deep 2 feet wide and 1.5 ft tall flat roof all 3 inch walls insulated with straw and poly as a vapour barrior

A full grown GSD would not be able to get into a space that is only 18" tall. And then the snow would bury it and he couldn't get out if he did squeeze in there. Then he would suffocate if it was buried in snow.

 

-25 is -13 F. I didn't put ( ) in my calculator when I did the conversion. Doesn't matter though...our HS will still fine. This happened last winter when we had a bad cold snap and it was put on the 6pm news as a warning to others to get their animals to proper shelter.

 

Seems to me like th OP is a Canadian using the American measurement system. Making it easy for us or... maybe I'm wrong about the metric system being used there?

I'm in Northern Wisconsin and I would say our winters here range between 30 above on warm days and in the mid to high teens below on the cold days. I wouldn't risk my dogs outside.

 

I agree, it sounds bad, which is why I was wondering if he made an error in his telling it or converting it.

Either way, with proper(ly sized) shelter and straw inside, I think it would be okay. I wouldn't do that to my dogs, but I could see it being "okay", health-wise.

I'm eating dinner but check Tufts Weather safety scale which is what I used when working AC, in our area we have a lot of people whose dogs are continually outdoors.

http://www.animalsheltering.org/resource_library/magazine_articles/jul_aug_1998/body_condition.pdf

 

Hey there,

I am from Southern Ontario Canada. More north from me it gets easy to -30C which would be -27.6F Sometimes with really bad nights of -50C which would be -58F.... In the part where I live tho.... most of our coldest nights are -30C WITH wind chills. Its the wind here that will kill ya!

ALSO so laws in Ontario regarding out door pets. You can't be charged with anything USUALLY unless your animal doesn't have proper housing, food and water. If someone is starving there pet and you can see that.... and the day the humane society goes and looks it does.... then its classified it does. A simple wooden box would classify as shelter. It's stupid and should be upgraded to something more elaborate. but that's just MY opinion on that. (You would need a lot of people who actually gave a crap to change that with government) BUT they advertise on tv and radio days when "they" think its to cold for our pets to be outside all night or day. And your advised to bring them indoors.

On another note.... just for the option of my personal experience's. We've had dogs my whole life. My dogs were nearly NEVER allowed to come in the house. That's just how we were raised animals stay OUTSIDE. Only unless it was really cold out. We have always had GSD's also. (Even before I was born) And they always survived outside most of there lives. That doesn't mean they weren't loved or well taken care of. They always had proper shelters with straw and what not and always out of the direct wind. Always food and fresh water also. My last GSD I lost her 2 years ago in July would purposefully pee and poop on the floor when she was in the house. (She was a rescue dog and was born outside and lived outside for the first year of her life) No matter what we did we couldn't break her of that bad habit. BUT she was happy outside. They can live full happy lives outside. IF THEY ARE PROPERLY TAKEN CARE OF!!! That's the big key right there. She got walked every day and played with every day as well. We had also asked various vets for explanations of why she would be messing all the time upon return in the house and they all had pretty much the same answer.... she didn't want to be in there. And since it was my dad's house and I was only 18 I left it at that.

My current dogs all live in the house tho. The rescue goes in the Garage to sleep but he has a 3" thick xxl saddle pad bed on top of carpet with blankets on top of that. And in the winter I have a heater that I will turn on in there as well.

I was just wondering also as to why after 6 years does the dog have to live outside? Just curious.....

 

Hey there,

I am from Southern Ontario Canada. More north from me it gets easy to -30C which would be -27.6F Sometimes with really bad nights of -50C which would be -58F.... In the part where I live tho.... most of our coldest nights are -30C WITH wind chills. Its the wind here that will kill ya!

-30C, from this convertor, is -22F
Temperature Conversion Calculator

 

and yes the animal needs to be able to get into the shelter for it to be considered adaquit shelter!

 

Looks like Baxter+Mike took a hike.

 

I really hope he did not. I'm not sure if you guys looked at his facebook however he is young, maybe 22, 23. Seems to be living close to the Manitoba border, but travels to Toronto. (Maybe to visit family?) I really hope he has not given up here, and will take some advice. I really hope he looks at new dog house plans...and gets some tractor belts to cover the door. A young driven man could build a really nice dog house for pretty cheap. Just got to know what you are doing. Good luck, and if you need anything PM me!

 

I hope he didn't leave also. He really needs to look at the height of the dog house. A dog house shouldn't be to large or it won't hold the heat but it can't be to small either. It sounds like he is trying to make a place that is safe for his dog. I really hope he lets the dog inside if possible.

 

I am not sure I could sleep at night with my dog out in that set up but the dog needs a higher protein and fat diet ..... Canada.....why NOT Orijen?

I hate relying on eletric because electric can fail and chewing can kill a dog or cause a fire. I would shoot for better insulation but there has to be a way for water vapor to escape as well else it will be wet from condensation of the dog's breath.

Obviously arctic dogs can survive outside and if this dog IS kept outside, we assume he must not come inside to hang out (needs to keep just the right coat)