When you’re cold, they are cold…or maybe not

When you’re cold, they are cold…or maybe not

It’s that time of year again when you’ll be seeing lots of posts on social media about bringing your pets inside. There is some truth to that, depending on the breed of dog you are referring to. Unfortunately, these posts, while meaning well fail to take into account that there are breeds that are purpose bred dogs which were not bred to be indoor house pets.

For example, the husky, or the livestock guardian breeds such as the Great Pyrenees, or the Anatolian. These breed were bred to be working dogs kept outside year round. They glory in colder weather. The livestock guardian breeds come from regions where it can get very cold, and the dogs don’t seem to mind. We do agree that they should have some form of shelter available where they can go get warm.

Don’t be too surprised though if your livestock guardian dog is seen outside in really cold weather. Our Pyrenees that we had, and the Anatolians always turned bouncy and playful whenever the weather got really cold, and we would see them laying out in snow or on ice. They were jubilant that the weather had turned cold.

Right  now, it is 13 degrees in our part of Oklahoma, and our livestock guardian dogs have been playing and then by mid day thanks to guarding all night, they have currently chosen to crash for a nap on the frozen ground. They have access to a warm shed and the barn. But, they like it out there!