We have a relatively mild climate in Virginia. Snow in winter stays for a few days and temperature remains above freezing point through the winter most of the time. However, we have days with strong wind and low temperatures (minus 10-15 C). I let my dogs to stay outside. Each has a good doghouse with some hay for bedding. During day time they are quite happy, go hunting, playing, etc. At night I take only my female inside, when weather is particularly cold, but the two males sleep in their doghouses without any porblems. They all eat considerabloy more meat then usual, up to 20% fat. I hope the problem is solved. They are active, healthy and chase something every single day. Actually, they already do what I wanted them to do. This is chasing away predators, such as foxes and coyotes.
I wil take them to larger fields some day later on.

Sounds like they are doing ok with your climate, but then I guess they would see worse in their native lands.
We aren't just as cold as -10 to -15C, here typically -2 to -4C. I have started adding "butchers trim" to my dogs diet just to increase the fat content as we are getting fewer rabbits carrying fat on them. One of only problems feeding game only is that its very lean meet comared to farmed meat, if the dogs are working hard they can loose some condition.

Does the cold weather bring foxes and coyotes closer to you property in the hope of easier meals?

Regards

Mark

Yes, they eat a lot more, then usual. I have found a new source of cheap meat. Actually it is free, except I have to do some work. This is what had spent time on the shelf, beef, ground beef, chicken parts and even sourcream and cottage cheese. Disposal of packaging material is on my responsibility, a lot of it!
I did not notice coyotes around. Fox tracks on the snow are seen, occasionally. I believe my Salukis keep them at bay already. I have to take them, where larger fields are to see what they can do.

Virginia as a mild climate? I live in Alabama and its much colder up there where you are than it is down here. Right now we're in a freezing spell and its an average of 20F at night, low 40's during the day. Saluki are desert dogs, and can handle the heat pretty easily. Not the cold. Borzoi are better off during the winters in Virginia than Saluki's are.

If I had to make my Saluki stay outside, they would go in the yard with the "dog house". Granted, the "dog house" is a 14X16' building with a dog door, a couch, dog beds, TV, and a heater/AC combo unit that gets turned onto 70F.

I know several folks who live up in PA with Saluki. Some have dog doors, some don't, but they don't let the hounds stay out overnight. None do.

I would watch your males for frostbite, and would bring them in when the temps dip below 40F at night as well.

Jenn
Selah Borzoi, Saluki, Silken Windhounds

I envy you! Wish I could get free meat for my dogs!

Have your males that stay outside grown any more coat than usual? In some of the pictures of Tazis I have seen, some of the dogs are quite wooly; I was wondering if they would grow more coat when it got cold.

Even deserts are very cold at night, kurdish Saluki appeared to be rugged up to protect them from the cold. Even when we were in Kazakhstan in september it was really hot yet come night time there was chill in the air.

I wonder what winter temperatures fall to in Russia and Kazakhstan where your Tazis come from? I think so long as they are sheltered from draughts with plenty of bedding can't see frostbite ever being a problem especially as the ears being the most susceptable are well feathered and therefore insulated.

My own Salukis curl up into a tight ball with nose and feet all tucked in with their tails covering the nose and feet.

Regards

Mark

I am planning to build some good dog houses out in my yard this year. All the dogs have free access to house and yard through a doggy door, but the Afghans will often sleep outside in the winter when the house gets too warm for them. It doesn't get that cold here, usually around freezing in December and January a few times a week, but I think they might be happier if they can spend the whole night outside. It will be interesting to see if the Salukis join them; they have no compunctions about playing outside for three or four hours when it's cold. On cold days in the fifties they will stay outside all day.

Sevendogs Salukis are probably highly acclimated at this point since they spend all their time outside and experienced the change in season. I have been called cruel a few times because I don't have air-conditioning and don't keep my dogs locked in the house in the summer when it's 110F outside. If the dogs are well-acclimated and provided adequate shelter I don't see a problem with keeping them outside.

Ours, especially Tariq (black&tan Parti-coloured) and Kit (red SalukiX) spend hours out chewing bones on the coldest of nights. Ameerahs coat is so short and fine she really can't take cold well unless she is moving around enough to keep warm, with her I just rug her when she is out and about in the garden on cold nights.

As for meat I get butchers trim which is high in fat from my local butcher at roughly 20p per lb, I get meaty bones for free, that plus Rabbits, Venison scraps and pulped raw fruit & veg.

Last night was pretty cold, about minus 10 C. In early morning I took all the dogs for about two miles walking trip in fields and woods near our house. Very soon I noticed Urtak was playing with fresh killed bird ( a cardinal). I am not sure, if Urtak caught it on his own. He is fascinated with ice, always playing with round blocks of ice, which I remove from the buckets, when it is warming up in a day time. My Laika and other Saluki are careful at the pond, but Urtak finds that clear ice sheet covering the pond is irresistible. He walks on its slippery surface every morning. Today, the ice gave in and he took a bath in truly icy cold water! He went out wet and confused. The sun was raising and he dried out outside. His appetite is great and I am sure he compensated all energy loss shortly after the accident.

I am checking their coat and found that Timur, which came from Sanct Petersburg, Russia, developed slightly longer guard hair and a short, but thick undercoat. Urtak, which is from Kazakhstan, seems perfectly smooth, except some furnishing on ears and tail. However, he developed very short, but dense undercoat. Adel is also from Kazakhstan and she does not have any undercoat, but I take her inside every night. Nevertheless, even when frosty or it snows, she wants outside every morning and runs like crazy. My free natural dog foods supply from the local grocery is very uneven. I get it once per week. Some weeks plenty of meats and some weeks I get mainly vegetables for goats. I discovered that dogs and especially puppies like cottage cheese, sour cream (low fat or not). I do not feed them sausages, because it highly unnatural stuff. It is all fine, but I have a headache pealing off packaging and disposing it the right way.

I think your Adel is like my Ameerah she also as no undercoat at all and she run about a lot in cold. I have just come in from walking the dogs in the rain, all dog soaking wet however Tariq and Kit are totally dry beneath the guard hairs the water only on the surface they are quite happy. Ameerah and her pup Farouq are wet through and feeling somewhat uncomfortable now that they have stopped running around.

Sounds like you have a good deal with your grocer, I use an electric juicer to pulp vegetables to the consistancy of a herbivores stomach contents and add this to the meat.

Do you not get much roadkill where you are? Sometimes I get lucky coming across freshly hit deer on the road sides.

I used to have two Greyhounds, ex-racers, that would grow an undercoat in winter. Very soft and thick. My current elderly Greyhound has a 'regular' coat, and wears a sweatshirt through the winter to keep him from losing weight.

My dogs don't get vegetables, except for potatoes, only as treats. I've done diets with veggies and without, and never saw a difference. I do feed grains, both because I have a lot of dogs and it's more economical, but my diet is chicken based and chicken is deficient in a few things. They get a mix of oats, rice and potatoes that makes up for most of what they are missing. Helps them keep weight on too, even though their diet is very high in fat, they are so active they run most of it off.

I never find roadkill out here before it's gotten nasty; I keep wishing one of the local cattle would just drop dead on my property. I live on open range.

Of course, I am watching my dogs every day for any signs of stress. When discomfort is caused by a low temperature, they would show it to me. I can always take them inside, if I notice some changes to worse. However, their mood is to run, play and investigate. Only a couple of nights it was really nasty, there were no snow, dirt was frozen hard and wind was strong from the north. I fed them well with plenty of liquid and gave them more hay for bedding. Now, we have about 40 and more with clear skies and about 28-30 at night, no wind. This is the first winter, when I keep Salukis outside. I know that in Kazakhstan winters are probably not warmer then here, in Virginia, especially in the mountains. I was told that Kazakh old tradition was to keep Saluki (Tazy, as they call them) inside of yurta. However, usually it was closest to the door part of the yurta, where it was pretty cold. It provided a good protection from the blowing wind, which is probably suffiecient. I remember that in Nura and Sunkar they had doghouses sitting in the open sheds all seasons. This is not much different from what I provided.

^Kennel set up at Sunkar, no bedding in the dog house though. Maybe as it get colder they provide bedding?



This one at Nura had a Felt mat to lie on inside the run.





I did wonder when at nura how this smooth Tazi would cope in the winter? she was the nearest to my ameerah in type.