There are too many dogs housed in cold damp kennels and a few unfortunate dogs have no shelter at all. Animals suffer just as much in cold damp winter conditions as humans do.
Ignorance is a poor excuse for what is cruel neglect of animals in winter. It takes a little extra time to give a dog a dry, insulated kennel. It may mean only a bit of carpentry to repair holes and leaks and provide an insulated bed such as straw that can be changed every week. The shelter must be big enough for them to stand up, turn around and lie down in a natural position. It also needs to be clean and well-ventilated, and not too draughty.
Like humans, dogs are better able to face winter's chills if they are well fed. Dogs are often fed once a day. In winter it would be much better if they were fed with half their daily allowance in the morning and the other half at night. Remember that they should have more feed in winter because of the extra energy needed to keep warm.
Most farmers do appreciate the value of their working dogs, but sadly some could spend a bit more on housing and feeding a balanced diet. There's an excellent range of good value dog housing available these days. A lump of frozen mutton thrown into a dirty draughty kennel is not the way to reward a dog for a winter day’s work.
