Why can’t my Husky handle cold weather?

#Middlebury

DEAR PAW’S CORNER: My dog, Jackson, is part Husky, a big dog with lots of fur. When I put him outside in the backyard on a snowy day, he comes right back and whines to be let inside. I thought Huskies could handle cold weather. What’s wrong with him? – Dan in Springfield, Massachusetts

DEAR DAN: Jackson may have descended partly from Huskies, but he’s an indoor dog. He was raised to live in a house with humans, and from puppyhood he was acclimated to the comfortable temperatures inside a house.

It’s not uncommon for some owners to think that because their big, furry dogs are more comfortable in the fall and winter than in the warmer months, that those dogs can handle cold, wet or snowy conditions. This isn’t true at all – unless those dogs are trained for outdoor tasks like herding, hunting or sporting.

Sled dogs, for example, are carefully acclimated to the extreme cold climate that they work in. They’re not house pets that live indoors. Even so, their owners watch those dogs constantly to make sure they don’t show signs of hypothermia, that they’re eating food that will give them the energy to keep warm, and so on.

When the temperature drops below 40 F, dogs of all sizes begin to feel uncomfortable after a short time outside. Below 30 F, owners should stay with their dogs outside and take them in if they begin to shiver or whine.

So forgive Jackson for complaining, and let him in. When a Husky doesn’t like being outside, it’s just plain cold.

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