Our families are very important to all of us and that includes our pets. You know you want to keep your dog or cat just as safe as the rest of your family in the winter. Now, there are a lot of people who put their pets outside during the year and that’s absolutely fine. Dogs especially enjoy the outdoors when the weather is nice and like to relax in their tiny houses in the backyard and even on running lines. Cats also like being outside, a lot of the reasoning being behind the independent attitudes that cats have.
Pets being outside is all fine and good, but the weather is getting awfully cold outside, so you shouldn’t just keep your dogs and cats outside, even if they want to be. Of course, taking them outside to do their business is par for the course, but putting them in a portable shelter or other such place in the cold isn’t safe and would probably be considered cruel. Just think of how cold it gets in November, which was weeks ago.
For instance, this article from Northland’s Newscenter talks about Minnesota’s tough laws on doghouses and kennels during the winter months:
“Minnesota law says if dogs are kept outdoors between November 1st and March 31st…their shelter needs to be waterproof and windproof. If your dog starts to pick up its feet a lot outside, that is a sign their paws are getting too cold.”
If an animal shelter needs to be waterproof and windproof in the winter, it would probably just be best to keep your pet inside, if at all possible. The winter can be particularly difficult for everyone, especially the smallest members of your family. If they start picking up their paws when outside, think about bring them inside.