Hi there guys,

I am looking to get some heating for my babes as it's sooooo cold now. But I want to know what the best type of heating is, i.e. under floor heating or over head heat lamp etc...

My dogs have the beds in the house in a ten foot long cupboard which has direct access to an outdoors covered kennel run which in turn leads directly into the garden.

At night the door leading to the garden is closed and they have the ten foot cupboard and covered kennel run to themselves. The kennel run is not insulated so quite a bit of draft is coming into bedding area and I would like to provide them with some sort of (safe) heat source to make sure they don't feel the chill.

I was looking into underfloor heating for the ten foot cupboard they are in, cause they would only need about four foot of it so that they have the option to move away from the heat source if they are too warm. I don't think an overhead heat lamp would be adequate as I think the chill coming from the kennel run would make it obsolete.

I think the heat source needs to come from below them under their beds cause they would benefit from it more. It will also come in handy later on as we will use this room for whelping and would be a good heat source for the pups.

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I'm also considering this

http://www.thingsfor-pets.co.uk/acatalog/Back_to_Main_Page_Electric_Heat_Pads_68.html

But my only worry is Kira likes to chew on cords and plugs!!

Hi,

Our set up is a bit different to yours, in that the dogs are housed in wooden insulated kennels, with the doors shut over night, so we have put a wall mounted slimline panel heater in a couple of them, and the others have the over head heat lamps. Both types work well, and as the area is closed in, it gets nice and toasty on these cold cold nights :)
Haven't tried the heat pads, as the Danes tend to chew the bedding, so felt it was a bit risky!

Grace

It is the draughts that you need to worry about mostly.  No dog should be in a draught. No amount of heating will work sufficiently unless you solve that problem first.

Underfloor Heating - If you are thinking of the electric cable then it needs to go under tiles or a firm flooring.  You would not be able to put the dogs beds directly onto it unless they are raised.

I agree with Sandra - it is the drafts that need to be sorted.  You can use the electric heat pads under their beds and if you use crates as beds this also keeps the wires out of the way and the pads can go under the floor of the crates.  Covering the crates in blankets can also help eliminate your draft problems.

Christine