I have been feeding 8 feral kittens. Only one will come to me. I have an old doghouse that some of them are sleeping in. How can I winterize it? I live in Ontario and we get cold winters here. Has anyone used a heat pad from home depot? Supposedly you can heat it in microwave and place it in cat bed and will keep warm for 12 hours. I'm not sure that it will work.
Get some straw bales and pile them around the house, with just a little opening in the front. Put some old blankets inside first though. Maybe even put some of the straw inside the house. Straw is a great insulator and will keep the kittens warm during the winter. They will cuddle together in the old dog house during the winter.
This might sound silly but we used to have an outside dog and we lifted the dog house up on concrete blocks and put a water bed heater on the floor of the doghouse and then put a thin layer of plywood over that. Then we put the thermostat on about 70-75 degrees and our dog stayed warm all winter.
I had an older dog that I had to move outside as he was losing a control.
I built a plywood dog house with Styrofoam sandwiched in a double floor made of presswood in a 2 x 2" frame. I added a staggered entrance. That is to say an extended roof and double wall. The walls were separated far enough to let my dog walk between them. The outer wall had the opening on the left and the inner one the opening on the right. The inner one was covered by a piece of hanging carpet to further cut the drafts. Inside I installed a heat lamp with a thermostat. The dog would sleep so that the heat lamp would aim at his haunches and keep him warm. As the dog house was on my patio next to my sliding glass doors, I installed a window from a garage sale so that he could stay in visual contact while warm in his house. It's a good idea to seal the joints with sealant and insulate the walls and roof to further cut the drafts and aid in saving energy.
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My brother is allergic to dogs so my family can't have one, but my sister and I have kind of neighborly adopted the neighbor's outdoor dog. The owners are fine having us walk him and play with him because they are busy and feel bad that they don't spend time with him. He is a Labrador Retriever.
There are many good suggestions in another link called Winterizing a Dog House on this website, which is to the right of this posting, as I am looking at it. Several of them suggest giving the dog some hay or straw bedding, which keeps them warm very well. You could also Google the question and get ideas for insulating his dog house. E-How and Instructables might have articles on this too.
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Preferably straw versus hay is best and it may take 2-3 bales for a large dog. You might get some from a farmer cheaper than going to a craft store or other business supplier. Staple plastic bought off the bolt at Walmart can be bought for small price and will cover the dog house exterior to help block biting wind and any snow/rain from seeping in. You can also nail down at the top of doghouse a carpet sample to cover the entrance and still allow the dog to enter/exit easily. These samples can be bought for a low price at any carpet store and request to buy one or two. Even putting down a carpet sample on the flooring will help some too. This will help block out additional wind/rain/sleet/snow and keep dog warmer.
