January
The rare Houston freeze: what your dog actually needs.
Once or twice a winter Houston drops below freezing. Short-coated dogs, pipes, icy sidewalks and the yard: the short list of what changes for a few days.
Houston dogs are built for heat, and so are Houston houses. When the temperature drops into the twenties for two or three days, the short-coated dogs, the Dobermans, Frenchies, pit bulls and Weimaraners, feel it more than a northern dog would, and the routine changes for a few days.
What changes
- Short walks, twice as often, and a coat on the thin-coated dogs
- Paws checked for ice and for the salt some neighborhoods spread
- The crate moved off the tile and away from the door draft
- Water bowls indoors; the outdoor one freezes
- Older dogs and puppies inside except to relieve themselves
Training through it
A freeze is an indoor training week. Place with duration, crate calm, leave-it in the kitchen and door manners all get better with three days of practice, and the dog is tired at the end of it without a single long walk. A freeze week in the training home runs exactly that way, and the loose leash is still there when the sidewalks thaw.
The National Weather Service Houston office posts the freeze warnings. Plan the dog's week when the first one appears, not the morning it arrives.
Which dogs feel it
A husky or a German shepherd treats a Houston freeze as a pleasant morning. A Doberman, a Weimaraner, a pit bull, a greyhound, a Frenchie or a Chihuahua does not, and neither does any dog over ten or under four months. Thin coat, low body fat and small size are the three things that matter. A coat is not a fashion choice for those dogs on a 25-degree morning; it is the difference between a normal walk and a dog that stands shivering at the end of the driveway refusing to move. Booties are optional unless a neighborhood has salted, in which case rinse the paws when you come in.
Pipes, pools and the yard
The freeze weeks of 2021 and 2024 taught Houston about pipes, and the dog side of that lesson is water: keep bowls indoors, keep the dog out of a pool with an ice skin on it, and do not let it drink from puddles of melt that may carry antifreeze from driveways. The yard is the other risk. A dog left outside during a freeze warning is in danger, and Harris County treats that as neglect. Bring the outdoor dog in, put the crate in a warm room, and treat the three days as the indoor training week they are.
- Outdoor dogs indoors for the duration
- Coats for short-coated, senior and small dogs
- Rinse paws after any salted sidewalk
- Watch for shivering, lifted paws and a refusal to walk; those mean go home
Best Dog University Team
Board and train trainers in Cypress, Houston. 16+ years, 900+ dogs. About our team
