We don't get a lot of cold weather in Texas but just two weeks ago we had a blue Norther' as we call it here. The low went down to 12 degrees with a wind chill of zero or less. Pretty cold outside !! All of our Bassets have a 3 sided shelter with shingled roof and raised deck. They all have a sturdy heavy doghouse under the shelter on the deck filled with hay and a warm roommate (two dogs in each pen) to sleep with. But as they are all my babies, I could not imagine them staying out in their houses when it was that cold. My sweet hubby is not one to argue with my "doggy" heart so we came up with a plan. I forgot to add that we also had two girls in heat which complicated the matter quite a bit. Our dog room (where puppies are born and raised) is divided by a partition with a whelping box and open area on each side so that room became sleeping quarters for Wally and 3 girls on one side with Gabriel and 3 girls on the other side. (Making a total of 8 dogs in the dog room). The two "hot" girls (in heat) Sunshine and Tess stayed a distance away in the utility room with a baby gate up. Annabelle (being cranky) stayed in the downstairs half bathroom. Hank, Fred and Rudy stayed in 3 individual crates (necessary due to rivalry over the "hot" girls). Wilma slept in our bedroom and that makes the 15 Bassets. I almost forgot about our old country dog Betsy (age 14) who doesn't like any of the Bassets and slept on her blanket in her corner of the dining room. The first night was not a very quiet night....a few "howl arounds". But night two and three (yes this went on for 3 nights !) were pretty normal. We also kept the dogs inside during the day until the temperature was at least 20 degrees. Everyone was very happy when it warmed up !! The Bassets love to run outside as a pack and really even enjoy the crisp weather !! But I slept better knowing they were inside !! I attempted to take a video of all of this to post here but it did not come out very well so I will leave all of this to your imagination !!! To us it was just another Blessed Basset adventure !! |
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