The last few nights we have been seeing at least 20 below zero with the worst temp out here being -28. It was supposed to be colder in the valleys and warmer in the hills. We are about in the middle of those two extremes.I'm trying a new idea this year for the dogs in the standard dog houses. Instead of piling straw on top of straw I'm getting in there as best I can and scraping out the ice, old straw then putting in all fresh stuff. Its much more time consuming but its helping get the ice up. If my theory holds then all winter I should be able to keep on top of the ice and help the dogs with dry beds instead of dry beds on top of frozen straw.
The insulated houses are working wonderfully and each takes only seconds to clean and refill. They really don't need to be cleaned though since all the straw is staying dry. But this year I thought I would get the old stuff out and fill with more lofty new straw. I'm thinking that will help more than the stuff thats already broken down but I'm not 100% sure.
Mercury's new insulated design is forming a bit of ice on his floor, not much but enough to notice. I think I'm sold on using blue foam and plywood for the most effective house. Those styles are the easiest and most efficient to use.Hera has a wider house, not insulated, but it has a bigger opening for her door with a longer length than most. The observations there are very interesting in that when I put in new straw for her she was content to use the space nearest to the door rather than huddle in the back for extra warmth.
This comes as no surprise to me since she has an extremely dense coat but its nice to get an idea of what her temperature threshold is. Clearly we have not reached it yet...
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