15/06/2022
It is going to be hot this week, especially Friday, so we need to be really careful with our dogs.
My dogs will either be walked ridiculously early on Friday or they will not be walked at all. I know that might seem shocking to some people but it is okay, for the majority of dogs, for them not to be walked every day. I would rather play and train at home than risk taking them out in the heat.
When I was in Canada, we went dog sledding in a place where it was -10 degrees celsius and interestingly, they had husky mixes not purebred huskies because -10°C was TOO HOT for the purebred huskeys to work in!
So what will I do on Friday instead of taking my dogs out?
🐾 Make sure they have access to fresh water at all times.
🐾 Have ice cubes prepared in the freezer.
🐾 Buy them a doggy ice cream or two!
🐾 Do short (2-3 minute) training sessions throughout the day. This will only happen if they want to participate.
🐾 Luna will be getting dog sun cream put on her nose.
If we end up getting a prolonged period of heat, then also consider clipping your dog short. Please be aware that clipping them short does increase the risk of sunburn but it decreases the risk of heat stroke (You will still need to be very careful). There are always posts that say that certain breeds with heavy coats keep themselves cool because of the way their coat work. This is NOT TRUE, it is based on thermal imaging studies and honestly, shows a really poor understanding of how this technology works.
Dr David Marlin's post (link below) goes through why this is incorrect and he has a lot more information on this topic on his page if you search for it.
https://www.facebook.com/DrDavidMarlin/posts/pfbid02TdXCEWpcGGpyLhjkmpNuJGFMgXu9cL6VP3XnuPEEhf6oJgmjuP9PqyUT46Z9eyWxl