Recently at night it's been getting pretty cool here in NY. Tonight it's supposed to get down to about the low 40s. It's kind of silly to turn the heat on for a few hours at night, and it's expensive. But the house does get pretty cold in the house at night, and I was worried maybe Indy will get to cold at night sleeping in her crate? I keep an old towel in her crate for her, it's quite thick, and she has her favorite stuffed puppy to snuggle up with, but is there anything else I should do to make sure she stays warm enough?

I've got a 14 yr old Dalmation named Indy who just happens to be suffering from being too cold at night as well. He's developed arthritis so badly that he cannot jump up on the bed anymore and yet just the other day he was curled up in the middle of it trying to get warm, which told me how badly he was suffering. To help him feel more comfortable I actually dressed him in one of my oversized fleece vests and put a small electrical space heater in the room and so far he's showed a remarkable change. He's no longer shivering while sleeping, his whining has all together stopped and I believe his arthritis has abated slightly with the increase in temperature as well.

Heating the entire house for your dog can be a big drastic and will raise your electrical bill quite a bit. So I suggest getting a small table top heater, putting your dog in a small room, one that will heat quickly and run the heater for about an hour until the room warms comfortably. Your Indy should sleep much better once warmer.

all you need to do is, put your dog in a warm place and cover him with warm materials like blankets etc..

Well, this is a little late, but you can purchase heat pads that you warm in the microwave and tuck a couple of those in your dog's crate. We use them for sick pets or pets who have had surgery, as well as very young or very old pets. They stay warm 10-12 hours.

[lil mutt]

yeah i think that a warm blanket will make him warm... and since your dog is on crate why not bring him to your room to keep him warm.

[wishbone]

You should worry about health issue that might be developed on cold days, how do you exercise him?

[dogwarmer]

Infrared energy duplicates the warmth of the sun. If you visit a spa or shop for a sauna, everyone is talking about the therapeutic benefits of infrared energy.

[Todd]

I really like the idea of a heating pad. Cheapest ones can be purchased on Craigslist or Ebay. Also, what breed of dog is he? Long hair or short hair? Longer haired dogs generally do fine in cold temperatures, and in fact prefer it.

[Lunareclipse]

Get him a heating pad. We have them for our dogs but never use them. The house has to be kept really warm or all of my salt water fish would die.

[Cait]

If u keep a towel or a blanket over her crate she should stay quiet warm and cossey

[Lara's mom]

I just pack my entire brood into bed with me and we share the blankets. Everybody stays nice and toasty warm.

[Todd]

Originally Posted by Lara's mom

I just pack my entire brood into bed with me and we share the blankets. Everybody stays nice and toasty warm.

that makes two of us

[Lara's mom]

It works for us. In the summer when it gets hot, we run the AC all night and have a large fan pointed directly toward the bed so, everybody stays cool! The Jack Russell's still sometimes sleep under the duvet.

[Yogi]

Originally Posted by Lara's mom

I just pack my entire brood into bed with me and we share the blankets. Everybody stays nice and toasty warm.

If I did that I would find myself on the floor.
Heating pads have been a standby for years and work just fine. I use them in with the puppies. Also as suggested, if the dog is crated at night. Covering the crate keeps the heat in quite well.

[Lara's mom]

I understand that your situation is different. You'd need to buy a hotel in order to house your brood and, they'd probably want room service!