Can my dog sleep in the garage?

[JacquiKeren]

Hi ladies,

first of all i just want some advice on the above, i dont really want people saying that im cruel to my dog.

i have a small german shepherd who usually sleeps in her bed in the dinning room as we dont really use the room very much.

we have just had an internal door fitted from the kitchen though to the garage and i thought the dog could now sleep in her bed in the garage so we can finally get some use out of the dinning room. i want lo to eat at the dinning table instead of on the sofa lol

iv put lots of blankets underneath and on top of her cage and a cosy blanket inside. she has a double coat but im just wondering if she will be warm enough. i live in scotland btw.

i forgot to say it will only be at night time. she lives in the house during the day, its just to clear some space up x (i wouldnt trust her to sleep in the house during the night as last time she ate the carpet! haha

 

[mum2b2009]

Hmmm i wouldnt but thats just me!

 

[JacquiKeren]

Hmmm i wouldnt but thats just me!

is it to do with the cold tho? xx

 

[Tanikins]

If it werent freezing i would - dogs live outside so as long as she has a nice blankie and cant escape i see no probs

 

[mum2b2009]

Yea thats right hun.. Plus i wouldnt like the thought of it..but i know gs have thick coats.

 

[JacquiKeren]

If it werent freezing i would - dogs live outside so as long as she has a nice blankie and cant escape i see no probs

its tricky, i feel really mean thinking about making her sleep in the garage but her cage takes up so much space its like half of the dinning room! i really dont trust her outside of her cage at night because she gets bored, and last time she ripped all the carpet up and ate it! lol.

 

[Hawke]

We live in Scotland too and my uncles dogs sleep in a kennel he built them in the garden, always have. I don't see an issue with the dog sleeping in the garage as long as it has blankets and bedding. if its really freezing you can bring it inside those nights.

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

If they are not used to it then no, I wouldnt do it x

 

[SophiasMummy]

I wouldnt do it if the dogs used to sleeping inside at night at least not in winter, if it was introduced to sleeping in there in the summer so it was already out there as the temp got cooler then I would x

 

[xJG30]

I wouldn't personally. Where we used to live, the neighbours used to leave their dog in the garage and the amount of people that reported them was untrue.

Can it not sleep somewhere else?

 

[Samantha_]

im sure it would be fine...unless its really really freezing

 

[kirmal12]

I personally wouldn't, as the dog is used to being indoors and if it's in a warm house all day, is it really fair to leave it in the cold all night?. I would have no issue with it though if the dog had lived out from the start, as yes dogs can live outside happily.

 

[Jemma_x]

I wouldnt but thats just me, weve got two dogs and i could never dream of letting them sleep in a garage or outside if they hadnt from beginning if that makes sense

 

[dizz]

I wouldn't - especially at this time of year - you'd be going from a heated dining room with carpet into an unheated garage when the nights are getting pretty hideously cold even in the midlands they're cold enough for my dogs to object to the weather and blame me for it.

 

[SKATERBUN]

If there was a low wattage radiator in there to take the chill off then yes, but otherwise I wouldnt esp like others have said hes not used to it. Scotland has pretty cold temperatures esp at night.
most farm dogs or working dogs have been known to stay outside in a kennel from birth, I still think its rather cold though exposed to the elemen, rain snow etc, so I guess keeping in the garage may make him a little hardier but still not so bad as being directly outside, but then after a while if you changed your mind and started bringing him back into a domestic warm environment it may confuse him.
Also just my own preference but I wouldnt keep a domestic dog in a cage, if it were locked as I would be scared of the dog being sick or pooing and not being able to roam free but I am sure you dont lock it anyway

 

[feisty_filly]

My gsd lived ina tack room with no heating.shr and the other yard dog just had there beds and a horsr rug each. Also sky ust to live in the house befor I moved to the yard. Im sure ur dog will be fine, there animals and shepards are built for the cold.

 

[PitaKat]

We used to have our dogs sleep in the garage in their kennels when they were younger. Now they're a bit older and never chew on anything but their toys, so they're allowed to sleep inside, loose. Our garage is not heated, but is attached to our house, so it never freezes. If I thought it was too cold, then we brought the kennels inside till the weather warmed up a bit.

One of my dogs is a rescue from an animal shelter and I don't know her past. She was a year old when we got her. We had her sleep the first night home in a kennel in the garage, as our other dog did. At first she barked and howled at being left in the garage, but then accepted it just fine after a couple days. I think your dog would be fine after it gets used to the new routine.

 

[Nicoleoleole]

I wouldn't because the dog isn't used to the cold at night. Like a PP said, I would have tried in the summer first so that the dog could have gotten used to it as it got cooler.

 

[Loui1001]

I'd personally wait until the weather gets a bit warmer before changing his routine. My dogs sleep outside in kennels with loads of blankets and bedding but they're well sheltered and we take them in on really cold nights

 

[Lisa1981]

Chewing/destructiveness is normally caused by separation anxiety and/or boredom so shutting dog in cold, dark, , enclosed, strange garage could make this worse. Personally I wouldn't put my dog in the garage. Lx