Why you need three dogs!

**Cinder & Smoke** · 10-11-2008, 10:59 PM

Originally Posted by Ginger's Mom

I have had two American Eskimo dogs,
and neither of my girls gave off much heat in bed.

I now have a Chihuahua, and let me tell you, he gives off heat, lol.

The *Fluffier* they are, the better their insulation is - and the LESS heat
they give off or that you can feel in their fur!

My all-time *FLUFFIEST* was dear Bowser - the little Husky/Corgi/Shepherd
with the SUPER-Plush rug - double coated, to boot!
Bowz could be out for 20 minutes in a snow storm, and when he wandered inside
he looked like a miniature SNOW-man! The ONLY parts of him that were't caked in
a 1/4" of snow were the end of his nose, his eyes, and his feet!

Same storm would leave Cinder, the rather soft & plush (double) coated Shepherd,
with a mere dusting of snow, head to tail.

Smokey, the very short coated (but also double-coated) Heinz-57 kid, would be
getting 'chilled' and came in with a WET coat - he'd melted off everything
that fell on him.

MiniMutt (Heidi) probably won't be another "Snow Dawg" - Min Pins don't have a double coat, and for sure she's not got much "fluff" to hold in heat!

In the BigBed, Cinder is NOT an under-cover pooch - she gets too hot!
Her spot is draped over my feet/legs at the bottom of the bed -
keeping the blankie from escaping -
and holding the heat in. Sometimes I can't *wiggle* my toes, but they're warm!

SmokeMutt has been my "inside dawg" since he arrived - he might be a little
"cool to the touch" when he first snuggles under the covers;
but in 5 minutes or less he stokes up his furnace and feels like a
big hot water bottle all night!

Heidi shows great promise of being a toasty lil auxillary heater!
She's let it be known that she's an INside the covers kid - and to save pain for
all involved, SHE climbs under the covers first (if she's not already there).

It's a rather compact sleeping arrangement - the Hoomin get about 1/3 of the bed; Smoke & Heidi are the insiders - Smoke heats my arms, chest & tummy;
Heidi warms my upper legs and Smoke's butt; Cinder anchors my feet or Heidi -
depending on how Cinder *flops* down.

What's *amazing* is everybody holds their positions all night (mostly).
I can (sometimes) sneek out for a poddy run and still have almost all of
my
space open when I get back.

We should be all *warm & toasty* this winter!

**Ginger's Mom** · 10-12-2008, 07:52 AM

Originally Posted by Cinder & Smoke

The *Fluffier* they are, the better their insulation is - and the LESS heat
they give off or that you can feel in their fur!

My all-time *FLUFFIEST* was dear Bowser - the little Husky/Corgi/Shepherd
with the SUPER-Plush rug - double coated, to boot!
Bowz could be out for 20 minutes in a snow storm, and when he wandered inside
he looked like a miniature SNOW-man! The ONLY parts of him that were't caked in
a 1/4" of snow were the end of his nose, his eyes, and his feet!

Same storm would leave Cinder, the rather soft & plush (double) coated Shepherd,
with a mere dusting of snow, head to tail.

Smokey, the very short coated (but also double-coated) Heinz-57 kid, would be
getting 'chilled' and came in with a WET coat - he'd melted off everything
that fell on him.

MiniMutt (Heidi) probably won't be another "Snow Dawg" - Min Pins don't have a double coat, and for sure she's not got much "fluff" to hold in heat!

It's funny you should say that, Phred. I sort of assumed that it was their coat that was holding in the heat, and not sharing it with me.

But I hadn't taken it the step further, that the little snowballs in her fur were from the same effect. I just assumed it was because her hair was long, but you are probably right, not only long but also double coated so holding in the heat from melting the snow. All I can say is if those Eskimos wanted to keep warm they should have adopted chihuahuas.