What type of training do you do when it's it's 90+ F outside?

[c0_re]

Hey everyone I've implemented 10 minute daily morning\evening training sessions for Harley. The only problem were running into lately is with the tempeture\humidity(90+ degrees with 68% humidity) he doesn't want to really do any stressfull(mental or physical) like fetching\retrieving\Holding excersizes.

Any advice for teh hot evenings or should I jsut back off until the heat goes back to normal?

[GreyhoundGirl]

I've been noticing the same thing with a lot of dogs in agility. Lets face it, they don't want to do agility when it's this hot. What we do is soak them in water. Freeze a wet towel and wrap it around them. Offer lots of cool water. Ice cubes are very handy to keep the water cool. we use cold treats, like frozen tiny cubes of low sodium beef broth. Whenever we aren't working we make the dogs lie down in the shade. Some people bring mini fans, but I haven't tried that because Jenny would probably stick her noes in it and cut herself.

Is there an indoor place you can practise? Elementary school gyms here are common places to find dogs practising obedience. Maybe a cold basement would keep your dog happy.

Hope at least one of those suggestions helps.

[c0_re]

awsome thanks a ton GHG, some great idea's there for me to try.

[Cherokee]

Well if you need to be out in the heat the really important thing will be to keep the dog cool. Wetting down their feet with cold water will help. There are also special cooling towels sold (I'd need to go find mine to tell you the exact name) but they're made of a special material that holds water very well...it's almost like a foam, you place it on your dogs back and it'll help lower their overall body temp. Best of all the towel lasts for quite awhile, longer than a standard cold/wet towel.

[Rivsky]

If you want to do retrieving stuff is there somewhere like a beach or river you can take your dog to do retrieving type exercises mixed in with whatever else you want to do in between?

[britishbandit]

Same here, Rivsky, I take the dogs out to the lake and just work on retrieve. It's both fun for them and works on their training. And in between throws they get some fresh water (although they still prefer to try and drink the lake water...LOL), and do a few basic commands before the actual throw....(sit, down, wait, stay...etc). Plus doing those gives them a break physically.

I try and stay away from actually teaching anything new when it's that hot though, unless I can do it indoors where it's cooler. Their attention spans (my two anyway) for learning new stuff seems to drop drastically when it's really hot out. And I can't blame them, I really don't feel like learning new things when I'm too hot either.

[GreyhoundGirl]

Originally Posted by c0_re

Hey everyone I've implemented 10 minute daily morning\evening training sessions for Harley. The only problem were running into lately is with the tempeture\humidity(90+ degrees with 68% humidity) he doesn't want to really do any stressfull(mental or physical) like fetching\retrieving\Holding excersizes.

Also, looking at your avatar, your dog has a slightly pushed in snout so a short airway, be careful because there dogs are even more likely to have heatstroke because they can't cool off as readily. Other dogs more likely to have heatstroke are black dogs, who absorb more heat. If your dog shows any signs of being tired bring him into the AC ASAP.

[c0_re]

Originally Posted by GreyhoundGirl

Also, looking at your avatar, your dog has a slightly pushed in snout so a short airway, be careful because there dogs are even more likely to have heatstroke because they can't cool off as readily. Other dogs more likely to have heatstroke are black dogs, who absorb more heat. If your dog shows any signs of being tired bring him into the AC ASAP.

Nope thats Molson in my pic, he wouldn't last 10 minutes of exersion in this heat. Like you said I have to keep a close eye on him when him and Harley are outside playing together he seems to regulate pretty well on his own drinking lots of water and comming into the AC when he gets to hot.

Yep we do some training on our daily walk down to the river(it's like a block away) but it's Molson and Harley together on these walks so any serious training kinda goes right out the window when their together in the water.

I'm just avoiding training during hot hours altogether and only working in the very early am(pre 6am) and just before the sun goes beneath the trees after 8:30.