# 10-month-old lies down on walks in the heat



## Otter (Feb 23, 2011)

I don't really have any good advice for you, I'll let the smart people here offer that, but I just wanted to say your description of Scully sounds just like our 7 year old Pebbles. She DOES NOT LIKE warm weather and never has.

As soon as the temps get into the 60's she is reluctant to go on walks. 
As soon as the temps get into the 70's she will refuse to do anything other than a short walk. 
Upper 70's and beyond, she will sit and REFUSE to walk.
80's+ and the A/C is on? She'll stick her head out the door, sense the heat, and refuse to go outside.

She's trim (kinda - constant battle...) and healthy just hates the heat and is lazy.


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## nolefan (Nov 6, 2009)

Stop trying to walk in the sunshine, it needs to be first thing in the morning, before 8 or 9 a.m. or closer to sunset. It takes time to acclimate and if it's not that much fun, it will be a struggle to keep her moving. Humidity is especially hard on dogs, be aware of how much it can affect them even with temps in the 70's or 80's which may not bother you much. We have had people come to this forum before in the process of losing a healthy young dog to heatstroke just from morning exercise in high humidity that didn't bother the rest of the family. As I recall this was someone in the gulf coast area but it's a brutal way to lose a dog. I am sure you are careful, just push your times to avoid sun.


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## scully91 (Sep 4, 2018)

Thanks, Kristy! Great advice. Our routine is such that after she goes out first thing at 7am to pee, she comes back in for a meal and then asks to go outside to poop around 10:30am (never first thing in the morning) and so our substantial exercise times fall in mid to late morning. Will try augmenting this to see if she'll do her business/exercise earlier. I don't take her out from noon-3ish just because of how my days pan out with work etc anyways and knowing it's just going to get hotter will keep it that way. She does do fine on our evening walks thankfully. 

I guess I naively expected her to be able to handle light exercise if she was kept hydrated and took breaks but at least right now it's just too much. Maybe she'll acclimate as the summer goes on but we will definitely prevent her from being in the high humidity for very long. If I'm uncomfortable I can't imagine what it feels like for a furry dog. (Even though I know their double-layer coats aid in body temp regulation)

Thanks again for your input. I do check her gums etc when she's been lying down for signs of heatstroke etc.


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## nolefan (Nov 6, 2009)

In summertime you might consider starting your day 30 minutes early and bump up breakfast and the walk. I just read through Otter's post and it made me think of my parents' Golden (They live in my neighborhood and Sailor spends a lot of time with us) she has very thick undercoat and has never liked the heat, even more than my own dogs. She is one who will quit as well and can be quite stubborn. My mom just walks her super early, my dad usually walks her late in the evening then. (She has them well trained  ) Something else to consider would be looking for an airconditioned dog training facility and take her to an extra class during warmer months. That would compensate for not doing as much walking outdoors.


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## daisy1234 (Jun 17, 2018)

Last summer when mine was a fuzzy puppy we ended up having the ac on way more than we normally would have. She was hot. Today it got to 80 and she didn't want to play out as long at noon as she normally does. I agree, early morning and evening walks durning hot weather. Goldens get hot with all of their fur.


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## pawsnpaca (Nov 11, 2014)

I agree with what has already been said... some dogs just seem to "run hot" and are more sensitive to the heat, and better walked in the cool of the day.

That said, you may want to take a look at some of the "cooling coats" that are made for canine athletes. Some are more effective than others, and you should monitor your dog, at least at first, to make sure they don't get TOO cold, but Clean Run has some very good options.
https://www.cleanrun.com/category/dog_shade_and_cooling/dog_cooling_coats_and_cooling_mats/index.cfm


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## daisy1234 (Jun 17, 2018)

I also just got out my little kitty pool. Mine loves to splash in it while running in the yard.


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## diane0905 (Aug 20, 2010)

I'm in South Carolina and have always been careful about heat with my Golden. He gets too hot when it gets in the upper 70s. We're muggy too in summer and in July and August it gets too hot period -- there is no cool of the day to be found. We've done rain walks (not monsoons lol) and he loves that when it's hot. I'm lucky because we have a pool, so exercise is around 9:00 to 9:30 a.m. and in water in the summer. If you don't have a pool, mine also loved a kiddie pool and sprinkler toys before we had out in-ground pool.

My poor baby is very sick now and not expected to live long. It makes me so sad. He'll be nine on June 14.

On a funny note, when we first got him I worried he got cold in the winter in South Carolina. haha

Scully is beautiful!


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## Berna (Jun 14, 2016)

When it gets hot we plan our walks where there is water. If she likes swimming, it's a good idea for her to cool off. We avoid walking during the hottest periods of the day. I see you are walking in the woods, maybe it's not just the temperature, but the humidity too, that makes her uncomfortable.


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## GoldensOldie (Apr 23, 2017)

I get my Dax out first thing in the morning... we are walking the woods or roads before breakfast. It takes him 15-30 minutes to get done what he needs to do. Then, he's good for a few hours. 



He gets heated quickly, too. But, we have a pond that he can jump into anytime he wants to cool off, and fill the house with fishy-doggy smell. 



Some dogs just run hot. Out last Golden loved to lay in the sun until his fur was too hot to touch, Dax is always looking for the cool spots.


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## three retirees (Aug 31, 2018)

Hi from the desert southwest. 

To get a better idea as to what your dog is going through, put on you warmest fur coat and walk in that 70's or 80's weather. Really hot! Your dog cannot take off that two layer fur coat he/she was born with. I am from an area where it will routinely get to 110 degrees in the summer. Hot for me, deadly for my dog. Rule of thumb for me is anything over 75 degrees will cause my dog discomfort or heat stroke. Diarrhea is a common sign of heat stroke for a dog. All it takes is a few minutes in a hot environment for a dog to get heatstroke. A dog with heatstroke will lie down an not want to walk when overheating. De-shedding your dog twice a year is a must. 

I take my dog out twice a day. Once at 5am or just before sunrise. The second time at midnight or when the temperature falls below 75 degrees. During the day I will take her out for a short bathroom break. But it only takes 3 minutes for her to want to lie down and die. I can't count how many times I have had to pick up my 60 pound dog and bring her back inside to the coolness of our home. 

So while it is comfortable for us in 70's, it can be deadly to a double coated dog.

Go slow, lots of water and watch the signs your dog is giving you.


Here is a link that may help you. https://www.hillspet.com/dog-care/healthcare/heat-exhaustion-in-dogs


Three retirees


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## jomiel (Feb 15, 2019)

pawsnpaca said:


> I agree with what has already been said... some dogs just seem to "run hot" and are more sensitive to the heat, and better walked in the cool of the day.
> 
> That said, you may want to take a look at some of the "cooling coats" that are made for canine athletes. Some are more effective than others, and you should monitor your dog, at least at first, to make sure they don't get TOO cold, but Clean Run has some very good options.
> https://www.cleanrun.com/category/dog_shade_and_cooling/dog_cooling_coats_and_cooling_mats/index.cfm


Thanks for the recommendation! Last weekend was unbearably hot in San Francisco (91 degrees in the house) and we don't have AC, so Tomo the puppy napped/panted all day despite lots of water and ice, the poor little guy has so much fluff. I ordered the Cooler Dog hydro mat (plus an extra insert) and a kiddie pool, hope to keep him cool during the next heat wave.


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## nolefan (Nov 6, 2009)

jomiel said:


> Thanks for the recommendation! Last weekend was unbearably hot in San Francisco (91 degrees in the house) and we don't have AC, so Tomo the puppy napped/panted all day despite lots of water and ice, the poor little guy has so much fluff. I ordered the Cooler Dog hydro mat (plus an extra insert) and a kiddie pool, hope to keep him cool during the next heat wave.



A field trainer's trick is to freeze water bottles big 2 liter sizes, and put them in the crate with your dog so he can lean against them if he'd like to. Don't forget that dogs love a floor fan too, my collie will lay with his face an inch from it even with air conditioning.


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## jomiel (Feb 15, 2019)

nolefan said:


> A field trainer's trick is to freeze water bottles big 2 liter sizes, and put them in the crate with your dog so he can lean against them if he'd like to. Don't forget that dogs love a floor fan too, my collie will lay with his face an inch from it even with air conditioning.


Thanks!! I'll pick up some bottles this afternoon, that's way safer and sound cooler than my current set up of ice gel packs wrapped in a towel.

We have a box fan but it's kind of loud so I haven't pulled it out yet... but maybe I should, it'd be good desensitization.


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## Kora2014 (Sep 15, 2014)

scully91 said:


> So Scully is now 10 months old and very healthy and happy! We keep her on the leaner side (she's 50 lbs) and she enjoys walks and off-leash hikes. Here's where we're starting to run into some issues:
> 
> She's been used to being in cold temps all fall/winter long here in Michigan and now that it's getting warm and humid, she's finding it difficult to walk outside for very long. I'm talking like a simple 1-2 mile flat walk on grass or trails. She'll start panting heavily and I give her water from her portable dish which she'll drink but then end up blowing bubbles in and wants to just lie there. I'm worried for when it gets actually hot here like in the 80's this summer. I'm pregnant and figured I'd be the one most affected by the summer heat but now I'm thinking our poor pup may be. We have A/C thankfully and we got her a nice gel cooling mat and she has a little fan but I'm worried about not being able to exercise her adequately this summer.
> 
> ...


 
My older girl is 5 and refuses to walk in warm temperatures also! If I do manager to get her out during the day for a walk, she jumps from shade to shade.
I find that I will walk her early in the morning and later at night in the summer if it is too hot!
She is definitely a winter dog too...she would spend hours out in the winter! 
We a lucky too...as we live very close to a lake so often in the summer we will take Kora and now Tessa down to the lake for a swim and then do our walk while she dries off!


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