Thank you, @Kembe.
Heat
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We have been having a heat wave here and also a lot of smoke from a wild fire in North Carolina. I feel bad for the dogs, we haven't been to the dog park in weeks and they are cooped up inside since the temp has been over 100 degrees. Zahra just runs out to pee and then comes right back in.
How are you all keeping your furkids occupied when the weather is like this?
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Its usually cooler early in the morning and later in the evening. Of course there is always sailing and swimming in the lake if it gets too hot. Yesterday we took our Basenji Roo for both after his morning walk, and yes there will be some pictures posted. While we are not in 100 degree weather as of yet, we do get to high 90's and in to 100 range before the summer is over. Since we walk 3 miles in the morning and 3 miles in the evening for a daily total of 6 miles, we have adjusted our walk times. Unfortunately for us, we do not have a dog park close by where we can just let our dogs run but we need the exercise anyway. At least we found a park that has big shade trees along its path and we carry a portable bowl and plenty of water for our dog. When the temp and humidity reaches a certain point, we leave our Boston home for that day.
Currently I am investigating the use of a Cool Vest, which my dogs can wear, that will help control their body temps durring hot weather. A simple google for dog cooling vests, should let you know what is available.
I also ordered some cooling Bandana's for my dogs that arrived yesterday. I will post my opinion about them soon. It will probably be in my other post Heat and Tolerance here on this board.
Hope this helps,
Jason
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I don't really have advice as of yet, because I can't even go to the dog park until after 6:30 now, because it's still almost 90º till then. I figure as long as you have shade, and some water (also in the shade) they should be fine to just do what they want (probably just sleep).
I know that medjai just loves to lay in the sun until it gets to above 80, then he moves his head to the shade, and plays dead. He doesn't even want to come inside, he will just get up run around and go back to the shady spot outside.
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I have noticed that the sun/heat actually calms Tosca down a bit. She just lays out on the deck like she is dead, moving occasionally from the sun to the shade. As long as she has water I think she is ok, at least for an hour or so. Then when she gets back in she just lays around also…like the previous post, she seems to like it, I open the door for her to come in and she just looks at me...I can tell she still wants to be outside. Her behavior has gotten much, much better these past couple of hot days, lol. I guess I see now why they call these the "lazy dog days of summer"
We don't get 100 degree heat, though, often so you may have to be more careful than we do. Tosca even has trouble walking in temps over 80, when I took her last summer, she eventually just laid down in someone's grass...I thought she was going to pee, but then she just sat down...at that point I knew it was too hot for her, so I gave her some water and we got back home asap, with some shady rests along the way. Now, I don't walk her in those warm temps, I either go alone or wait till the sun starts going down.
In the winter, when we are stuck inside, I get out energy with her kong with treats, chews, and wrestling/playing with her...this usually gets her doing the B500, and she wears off some energy! Its a challenging time though, I always feel bad for her being so cooped up! -
When we go to Az the temps can reach 120. We walk the dogs as early as we can in the morning and then they lay around inside with the AC on most of the day. They will go out and sit on the shaded patio but only briefly. Once the sun starts to go down and the house shades the grass, we all go out and lay around and if they want to play they do, but they don't usually play as hard as when the weather is cooler. I'll go out barefoot and check the pavement to see how hot it is and if I can walk on it for a few houses without burning my feet, we'll take the dogs on a short walk with their cool coats on. Once inside, we throw toys around and they usually do the B500 through the house.
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Even the heat in Ohio has been a killer. Last weekend, a charity dog show was scheduled in one of our local parks. All dogs were welcome to participate, even those who are not purebreds. The dogs could win prizes, and all of the money raised was supposed to go to animal charities. Well, the temperature ended up being over 90 degrees, and no one showed up for the event. That is uncharacteristically hot for Ohio this early in June. I felt really bad that this nice event was ruined by the heat. I guess everyone thought that it was too hot for their dogs.
