Greetings: I'm a first-time dog owner. We pick up puppy from shelter this Friday; outdoor temperature between 0 to -5 degrees F. Is this too cold for 8 week pup to eliminate outside?

Absolutely not

I have house broken my 3 current dogs in the winter and they did just fine even at -25 and colder!

What breed of dog?

Welcome to the board!

Tx for the response & the welcome. Buckley is a Beagle/Terrier? or Retreiver mix. We are thinking of making the small area by our dryer exhaust the "place to go". It happens to be close to our back door - will wanting him to find a new place come spring be problematic?

For most double coated dogs -5 isn't an issue. -5 for a 8 week old short haired or wire haired puppy, I'm not as keen on.

I like to set puppies up for success as best I can when housebreaking which means I need to be able to spend as much time outside as it takes to mark the behavior. At -5 peeing or pooing in the great outdoors freezing his butt off after 10 minutes isn't going to seem as great an idea as pooping inside where it's warm. I would create an inbetween step in my garage or on a sheltered porch if it were me housebreaking in Minnesota or something either with a litter box or a pee pad until my dog is of size to maintain his temp outside.

When I was house training I first let my dogs go on the deck out the front door, it did have snow on it but it was only a step outside. Once spring came I would put them on a leash and walk them to their outdoor run and then let them go one we were inside.

They learned really fast to hold it until we got to the pen before they would go.

I live in Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada, where it is currently -34 celsius with the windchill.

I have housebroken a rescue pitty from Ontario, and I have friends currently house training a 12 week old, Olde English Bulldogge and he is doing just fine with the temperature.

Sadly, I have neither a sheltered porch or garage. If we go the pee-pad route, what should we be ware of once we try to get him outside - spring comes around April in this part of Canada.

I'm not saying you won't be able to housebreak him still in winter. It's just really really cold for a dog less than 5lbs with not a lot of insulation and temp control.

There is a world of difference in how hardy a puppy is at 8 weeks vs 12 weeks. I'm not saying it can't be done, I'm just saying that when I create a mark especially in the beginning I prefer it not to be conflicting by the dog being cold. I tend to pick my battles, especially in the beginning and spending 10-20 minutes in waiting until a puppy piddles or poops isn't too unusual.

I would say buy a coat thick for him and yourself.

I know that breaking a puppy from puppy pads is very hard. Buy his coat a little big so you wont have to buy a new one before the end of winter. Then time it as best you can. The puppy will learn very quickly that its cold to hurry up and pee and poo.

I don't think going the puppy pad route is a good idea. Personally I did it with one pup and will never to it again. It was so hard to break cause once they learned they will run there, instead of letting you know.

 Quote: stephanie st julian

I would say buy a coat thick for him and yourself.

I know that breaking a puppy from puppy pads is very hard. Buy his coat a little big so you wont have to buy a new one before the end of winter. Then time it as best you can. The puppy will learn very quickly that its cold to hurry up and pee and poo.

I don't think going the puppy pad route is a good idea. Personally I did it with one pup and will never to it again. It was so hard to break cause once they learned they will run there.

Instead of letting you know

The brand-new issue of Whole Dog Journal has a cover story called "Too cold to go?"

Sound advice on getting the pup to like boots and a coat, making sure you have a good coat yourself, and getting a big umbrella to hold over both of you. Get as close as you can to having a deck or porch by shoveling the walkway to the spot you choose ... and having a covered spot (in advance) would be good. I'm picturing the kind that covers trash barrels and bus stops.

This is the kind of thing that I find much easier if I keep my gear by the door (although it's rain here, not snow). The leashes, poop bags, umbrella, boots, flashlight -- always right there. My dogs have these on all the time http://leerburg.com/1201.htm ready to turn them on. (They are softish, smooth, non-jingly. There are these too: http://leerburg.com/1197.htm )

When I am training a new dog, I never want to slack off because I'm cold or wet, so I've learned to be prepared and to keep us all comfortable. With a little puppy in frigid climates, I'd definitely go with Stephanie's coat plan, and the boots, too.



BTW, WDJ is a good publication, IMO.

I guess I'd be ready with everything. As Stephanie says, training a dog to use pee pads or a litter box is training the dog to go inside (when you have no breezeway or garage).

I understand that you might have to, though.