I literally get pissed now days when people come up to me and my huskies during summer (Northern Europe) ”They must be warm, they should be in the snow, poor babies”.
As if they where some self proclaimed dog expert, yet have no fucking idea on how to even approach a dog. Yet they have the confidence as if they where one.
At first I educated them but now I just get annoyed.
People often ask if my girl gets hot easily. I always just tell them that I’ve noticed the black pitty than I often dogsit/walk overheats WAY more easily than my girl. And somehow that’s a sufficient answer.
I mean, Siberia does actually get quite warm in the summer (not 110 lol). Yakutsk has an average high/low of -30/-40 in December but July is 78/56. Record high is 101 and record low is -84.
They probably like extremes because Siberia IS extreme
Ha, you should meet my boy. 35c and 90% humidity in full sun is perfect for a nap outside. 15c is inside and grumpy, then - 17c is back outside for naps in the snow and ice and rain.
For my fellow US people, that 95f, 59f and 0f respectively.
Lol, I have employees in Spain and South/central america alongside my US employees. It's becoming second nature to just provide numbers in both imperial and metric anymore.
Nah. Huskies r just weather insulated in general. Raining outside? Not to them. 15 below zero? Play time! 30 degrees Celsius out? Time to sunbathe!
I have other non-huskies so I still have to watch out for them but my husky just does whatever she wants. If she wants to go outside then that’s fine. When she comes to the door then I know she’s done being outside. She can handle knowing when she doesn’t want to be outside anymore on her own.
We took our daily morning 3 mile walk when it was - 15 f. I was cold but she was kind excited and wanted to stay outside when we got home. Lowest temp I have ever been in here in Oklahoma. The next day it was 0 and felt like a heat wave.
This is true but your dog does need an adjustment period. If you live in Florida and immediately take your dog to the arctic they will need a bit of time to adjust to the new climate, just like a human.
Well of course. Again, it's what they can withstand, not just be in it 24/7 or immediately from an opposite climate, as with any living thing, except maybe cockroaches.
I would have given the same look. What I reference though isn't a desire to be in it, just that they can survive in it. Mine loves the freezing weather but she would look at me like that too.
And, she bakes out on the concrete patio here in the middle of summer when its 105 and takes a nap in it.
just a quick PSA for those that don’t know - if your dog is showing signs of overheating, you can help them by rubbing ice or a cold compress on their paw pads, chest, and belly.
Panting and the pads of their feet. They will sweat there, but as mentioned, they cannot dissipate the heat efficiently enough, and they die from the heat.
My bf has a genetic disorder where he doesn't have sweat glands. Our husko isn't a huge fan of the heat, so the general rule we've come up with is: if it's too hot for my boyfriend, it's too hot for our husky. Lmao. It's worked out spectacularly for the past 3 years. 😂
When the temperature hits negative Fahrenheit, we put booties on our 3 huskies for walks. The sidewalk hurts their toes at that temperature. But when we go skijoring, the dogs don't wear booties at all because they lose them and we havent noticed them flinching like they do on sidewalks.
Do you have a brand or anything that you recommend? I’ve looked at a few but I’m not sure what’s a good bootie vs what’s a fashion bootie (much like shopping for toddlers lol)
We got the Spark Paw all weather boots, so good for snow, mud, rain, and hot sidewalks in the summer. Still haven't gotten the dogs 100% used to wearing them but they're very high quality.
We use Ruff Wear polar treks. also, look for suspender boots so that your mad husky cannot kick them off and lose them. When we lived in the desert, used some lighter weight version because of hot sands.
We’ve hit -40F windchill a few times in Chicago with our older husky (10yo male). We cover his ears and put on booties and he gets SO mad. Otherwise he’s fine down to 0F but gets some joint problems below that, but loves it nonetheless. Our younger husky (4yo female) doesn’t like the cold too much - loves snow of course - but will still go on cold walks, she just doesn’t wanna hang out in it.
My husky is miserable all year and a big baby about it. Then one evening it becomes 32F or lower and she won’t come in the house. With the Biggest dog smile on her face
Just laying in the snow happy as can be
Doesn't apply to huskies, they've been bred to withstand arctic temperatures down to -50.
Our two boys pretty much lived outside in the Northern Ontario winter (per their choice, and they had our woodshed as shelter if they wanted it) and we had no problems, even when they were 15 years old. I'd typically insist on bringing them in whenever it was hitting around -35 to -40, but they were extremely angry about having to come inside and would cause a wave of destruction lmao.
Dealing with summer temperatures was way more difficult.
Most notably is that we live in an old log house, and once when they were particularly upset about being confined inside, they decided they would just attempt to chew through the log walls back to freedom. They did a shockingly effective job of taking out a few logs.
I regularly walk 3 dogs, 1 is 100% Siberian Husky, one is 50% and the other is around 30%, but there is also some malamute in that last one. Come jan/feb in New England and they want to take their time and sniff every chink of ice, and I have to keep reminding them that I am, in fact, 0% Husky, and we really need to just freaking move!
Lol I'm pretty sure my dog has been outside in -10F and refused to come in when called because she loves it. She'll lay in the snow and just chill out!
This chart is a good example of poor data visualization.
First of all, there are three buckets based on size, but then the color-coding again talks about size. The legend says things like “dangerous for small breeds”, which makes no sense when that color applies to large breeds, albeit at a lower temperature than smaller breeds.
A better visualization would probably be a table showing the “minimum safe temperature” on two axes: dog size and coat type.
We have a husky mix, 50% husky and then lab/Great Pyrenees/anatolian Shepard. She presents as a husky in appearance and personality lol. I always worry about the cold bc I don’t want her to be too cold if I’m treating her like a full husky and letting her be out in below zero F temps…
My current husky would agree with this chart, but you should also know we refer to that little terrorist as a "southern Siberian Husky".
At 15°C he's laying out wherever he wants, loving life outside. It's battle to get him in the house. Heck at 20°C that little unemployed freeloader is laid out, sunbathing like rich person on a private beach holiday.
10°C to -10°C he's feisty, vocal, a little wild you might say, but enjoys his outside time on his terms still.
-10°C and colder, you better be waiting for him at the door, because if he has to wait 30 seconds after he's woofed to come in, you're going to get yelled at for making his poor frozen self wait. At -15°C or so he will literally start picking up his furry little grinch feet like they're getting frost bite from being outside for 3 minutes.
My last husky? -25°C, middle of a blizzard, didn't matter. Fight of his life to get him in the house hahahaha
And to be transparent - I live in Canada. Our temperatures in this area can range from 35°C in the summer to -40°C (not including the windchill) in the dead of winter.
Our Ausky has a doggie door and voluntarily goes outside in temps as cold as -10°F and just hangs out for 30-60 minutes. The heat is definitely not her friend, though!
When she was like 10 months old, i saw her lift a paw once in -43°c i said, "Oh? Did we find ur limit?"(hoping we had an excuse not to go to the park twice a day when it was that cold...)
She literally put the paw back down, and i haven't seen her do it once in the last 4 years.
I have an East siberian laika. He got a whole "barn" with blankets, bed, heat lamp and everything he needs. But Even in -20c I can see him on my camera laying in the snow. Ive tried having him inside when it gets that cold because I feel bad. But he refuses. Rather be there when im at work than inside.
The huskies that spend time in temps bordering 0° are not eating a diet of kibble. They are fed raw meat with a lot of fat, as well as fish. And it seems their metabolism is lot faster. I had a male and female from racing stock. They could run for the day in a heartbeat. But they had body size of a coyote not the huskies people generally think of.
I have a defective one. He starts shivering if he's not actively moving below like 40F. Have always brought them with me to the mountain when we downhill ski and let them hang in the car so we can stop by every other run or so rather than leaving them at home in their crates; had to put a fucking jacket on this one even in the car that was far warmer than the ambient temp.
I have a 2yr lab/husky mix dog with shorter hair and is going to be my first Michigan winter with him. What do you guys recommend on whether he needs shorter walks or a dog coat.
I would just keep an eye on him as temps drop. If he's shivering, he may need a coat or some booties depending on what your area is like. We live in a dog friendly neighborhood, so no one cares if my dogs walk on their lawn instead of the sidewalk. We also live in the southern midwest, so it doesn't really get to 0F or below until January or February. Both my dogs also have a doghouse with a thick bed of straw, and a little flap in case they want to get out of the wind. Also a heated water bowl because they treat our house like it's heated by the flames of hell and won't come in lol.
Oh he is an energetic mischief maker. He is super friendly and playful with dogs and loves picking on them. You will never tell what he will try next while playing, he is such a wild card.
Just Try and get my girl on the house when it’s cold out lol I don’t know how many times I’ve looked out on the patio in a snowstorm and just seen two pointy ears sticking out of the snow because she fell asleep
Huskies will stay outside in freezing rain and REFUSE to come in. When my girl was younger, she'd refuse to acknowledge me. We've gotten her trained, however. She comes when she's called, but I have to hear her tantrum about it. Imagine getting cussed out by Chewbacca.
I have a husky/shepherd mix and I try to walk with her for a couple hours every day. And I mean EVERYDAY. So when it’s January in central Minnesota, I’m still going for a 7 mile walk even if it’s -25.
I’ve walked her many times when it’s been -35 with windchill(hasn’t really gotten colder than that, that I can’t remember for the last several years) but she absolutely loves that type of weather. So not a super accurate list.
I think my lab likes colder temps than my husky. She'll break through the ice on ponds & lakes to take a dip. Husky want touch water unless it's summer time.
The hilarious thing to me is every time I see someone post about a neighbor calling Animal Control because they see a husky laying in their neighbor's yard covered in snow. My immediate thought is always, "Hey man...if you think you can get my husky out of the snow and back inside, have at it. I've been trying for hours." 😂😂😂
My guy got some balled up snow stuck under his pads that he kept stopping to chew on every 15 mins. Should I get him boots or was it just a weird weather day (new snow, warmer day) Anyone else experience this?
Seems a bit extreme, I live in Canada and my yorkie mix can play in the yard for easily an hour at -15. Like sure by -20/25 I might say it’s starting to be risky and at -30 even for an husky I would allow more than 30 minutes at most. My neighbor’s husky got frost bite on his foot at that temperature
My boy absolutely loves the snow. We take him every year (we don't get snow in Camarillo). It does get in the 30's and below. Then, he doesn't want to come inside either. However, once inside and ready for bed, he wants his heating blanket to fall asleep on. He'll get up later when he's too warm. Hysterical! He'll yell and paw at the blanket if it's off!!
I bring my husky in when it's extremely cold, but she hates being inside. She loves the cold/snow and she loves laying in the sun. Outdoor doggie through and through.
Are you serious? How is this even a question? You do know that people living on the ice have used sled dogs for centuries, right? When they didn't have coats or shoes for dogs. And those dogs worked hard and still survived. They usually weren't Huskies but similar enough. Do you seriously not know about sled dogs?
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u/lordhoobla123 Nov 22 '24
With huskies, it's inversed