How Cold is too Cold for your Puppy or Adult dog?

As I am raising my winter litter and also sending puppies home very soon, I want to be sure that everyone keeps their puppies safe during the cold winter days.   So what is the appropriate temperature for taking a puppy outdoors.   A puppy coat will offer some degree of warmth but for a new puppy that may not be enough.   When the temperatures are cold enough that you need to wear a coat, please limit your puppies exposure to just a few minutes.  I personally do not take new puppies outside unless I am comfortable without a coat.  When temperatures outside are colder than your home, you need to keep outdoor time brief.    Please watch your puppy to see signs of his comfort level.   If he is shivering, you better bring him inside and cuddle him in a blanket right away.   If the weather is raining, make sure he does not get wet.   If he does get wet, blow him dry with a blow dryer on a warm (not hot) setting.   You must not allow your puppy to stay wet, or he may get sick.

If your intention is to potty train a puppy in the winter, keep in mind that a cold puppy will not use the potty outside.  Better to use a potty tray until the weather is warm enough.   You should also know that a cold puppy will not eat or sleep well.  Watch for signs that your puppy is well, a wagging tail and happy face.   Do not wait for him to be shaking, whining or crying.   A new puppy does not regulate his body temperature as well as and adult puppy, so please be especially careful.

I have trained our litters to use a Ugodog potty to protect them during these winter months.  I highly recommend that every family have a Ugodog potty on hand especially for when the weather is cold, when it snows or rains, and for the middle of the night.   Spring is only a few months away and you can start bringing your puppy outside more often.  But right now, you need to keep your puppy very warm.   And when he is an adult dog, you will also need to pay attention to the cold.  Again, a puppy coat are helpful, but is not enough protection for a very young puppy.  This breed does not have a double coat and will not want to go out when the weather is bad.

If you want to be sure to have the best information on safety and your dog, please refer to the PDF by Tufts Animal and Condition Care TFAC which describes safe conditions for your dog.

Also, Dr Kym Smythe has summarized this information in the chart below.   Keep in mind, the Schnoodle does not have a double coat like many other breeds.  So you should always have a winter coat available for the cold weather.

Gyzmo, the Teacup Schnoodle- SOLD Pending Payment

Update of 2/8/18:   Gyzmo has just become available for purchase.  He is 1.3 lbs at 6 weeks.  He has seen the veterinary and is absolutely perfect.  His tiny size charts him to be a Tiny Toy.  Gyzmo is ready to go home on Feb 22

Watch the video below to see Gyzmo the tiny puppy!

Zoey's 6 week puppies

Flynn at 6 weeks

Flynn at 6 weeks

Pippa at 6 weeks

Pippa at 6 weeks

Buddy at 6 weeks

Buddy at 6 weeks

Teddy at 6 weeks

Teddy at 6 weeks

Zoey's 5 Week Puppies

After a long cold spell with temperatures well below zero, the weather changed and we got some very warm days in the upper 60's.   I don't take my puppies outside unless we are comfortable in T-shirts.

Buddy

The warm air came just in time for our 5 week old puppies to go outside for the first time.  My kids love to play with the puppies on the lawn.   


The puppies are always so excited to be outside with all the new smells and room to run and explore.  It is so fun to watch them play.  

Pippa

Teddy

It is so awesome to sniff the ground with all the new smells!

Ready to go hunting squirrel!

This week the puppies were doing so much better with using the potty trays that I set up a wall between their play area and their potty area.   It is helping to keep the puppies off of the stinky stuff.  

 I also cut a piece of PVC pipe and suspended some toys from it....a Puppy Play Mobil!   The puppies love it.  It keeps the toys from getting dragged into the potty area.   The motion of the swinging toys is also lots of fun for the puppies.  Everything was available at Home Depot.  The Store person cut the PVC pipe to length.  3 Way ends slide into the pipe and hold it in place without glue.   The White plastic chain and white Shower curtain hooks were also found at the same store.  Its been an idea floating in my head for a while.   I am glad I finally made one.

It is so exciting to see the puppies growing so fast and learning new things.   Every week brings something new!

Zoey's Puppies at 3 and 4 weeks

Pippa in the purple collar watches her brother play.

So much happens between the 3rd and 4th week.   The puppies activity become so much more like what you expect puppies to be.  Just mini little doggies.   They start exploring their pen.   They start playing with one another.  As they start climbing on one another you will hear their tiny yips and barks, and pathetic little growls....which makes me want to laugh..."Oh you are so scary"   Ha ha!

Buddy gets tackled by Teddy

We introduced food (or rather puppy food mush) to the puppies at 3.5 weeks.   It was a gradual introduction where we let them smell and taste it,  but there wasn't much being eaten.  After a few days they had figured out what this was for and started running to the bowl when we put it down.

Flynn in the green collar investigates the new food.

Another important milestone of the 3rd week is that the puppies start leaving their bed to go potty.   They no longer need their mothers licking them to help them eliminate.   Now they can go on their own.   They walk out of their bed and the Ugodog potty tray is right there to catch the mess.  I am so grateful for the invention of the puppy potty tray.   It sure makes my life as a dog breeder so much easier.   It also keeps the puppies and their pen so much cleaner which  means potty training is easier than it every use to be!

The fourth week has no new milestones to report.   But the puppies just get better and better at everything they were learning in the 3rd week.  And they get so much bigger and smarter.  Every week these puppies make so much progress it is astonishing!

Teddy at 4 weeks old

Buddy at 4 weeks old

Flynn at 4 weeks old

Pippa at 4 weeks old.

Update on Poppy! .... a Coco puppy

Poppies favorite hang-out spot.   Dec '17

Hi Mary,

Poppy (Goldie) is such a bright spot in our home!   She really is the perfect dog: loves to play, be rambunctious and crazy but is also very calm and easy going.  Some of her favorite things, squeaky balls, peanut butter, running off leash outside, her four-legged friends (she's very social) and burying things int he dirt (a schnauzer trait, I am guessing)

She recent met one of her siblings and they played so well together.  It was remarkable how much they looked just alike, sounded alike and behaved alike.  It was so fun!

At 15 months old Poppy weighed in at 10 lbs.   She has a curly, mostly red coat with some blond highlights around her nose and hind legs.  Here are a few pictures since turning one.

Thanks for checking in!

---Noelle

Poppy on hind legs...Coco sitting.  Coco is sibling from next litter.

Birthday Girl post grooming Sept 8, 2017

Poppy with her friend, Henry.  Jan. '18

Dear Noelle,

This update is such a joy to me!   Especially to see Poppy with sibling Coco!   It is neat to see how consistent the look of these Coco puppies are even from different litters.


It is nice to have this update on Poppy's weight.  Poppy was a very tiny puppy at birth.  To see that she grew up to be the same size as her mother is great to know

Thanks again for all the photos and news!

---Mary

PS   And just for fun, I have added a bunch of Poppy's photos from birth through to 8 weeks of age, so you can see what a Schnoodle puppy looks like at all the early stages of life!
  

Poppy at 8 weeks old

Poppy at 8 weeks old

Poppy (Goldie) 5 weeks old

Poppy (Goldie) at 2 weeks old

Poppy and her siblings at 2 weeks of age

Zoeys Puppies 2 weeks old

This week the puppies emerged from the Neonatal stage of development.  They are now beginning the Transitional Stage of development where they are no longer newborns.   Their eyes and ears have begun to open.   And they begin to interact with the world around them.  They respond to lights and sound.  They start to recognize their mother and sibings.   And their tiny teeth are starting to emerge.  

This week the puppies graduated from their whelping pool into the puppy pen where they have more room to move about and explore.  They are still not too strong on their feet, but they are getting stronger.  Their favorite place to be is still nursing with Zoey or curled up with their siblings.  They are still very fragile little puppies but they have grown so much!   They even look more like puppies instead of little hampsters.