08/01/2024
🚨 Heat and health!! 🚨
ACCLIMATION (and how I apply it with my own dog)
From the K9 Conservationists Podcast interview with Dr. Janice Baker
(https://k9conservationists.org/heat-safety-working-dogs-with-dr-janice-baker/)
"The main risk factor for heat injury is a rapid change in the ambient temperature, humidity, of the dog's environment...
So the primary risk factor is, is your dog prepared to be in the temperature that it’s going to be today? And a really simple way of sort of estimating that is, look at the average high temperature for the last two weeks, and the average high humidity, and if there’s going to be a 15°F (8°C) change, or a 15% humidity change, then we know your dog’s more at risk. And that’s a simple thing that anybody can calculate. It doesn’t mean don’t work your dog, just means you have to be extra cautious and cool him down a lot during the day and things like that...
I get a lot of inquiries through email or just questions when people say, you know, we want to make some kind of chart, like when, at what temperature should we stop and rest? The thing is, it depends on your dog’s acclimation and it depends on the individual dog within that environment.
I worked on a lot of sled dog races up in Alaska. And I remember this one particular day, it was five degrees above zero fahrenheit, and with the windchill it was 25 below. I couldn’t feel my face. My feet were frozen and I was all done up in an Arctic suit. I should have been fine. I was just miserable. And it was right after the sun came up which was about 9:30, 10 o’clock in the morning. And this team came in off the trail and and we always go up to the mushers and ask how their dogs' doing. And he said "I’m gonna rest my dogs they're getting really hot." I can’t feel my face and your dogs are hot? Well they were dogs that lived up above the Arctic Circle, and they’re used to subzero temperatures. So they’re used to living at 10 below or 20 below over the winter. And it’s five above. That’s too hot for those dogs. And that just blew my mind. It’s not the ambient temperature. It’s what the dog's used to. And if you can have a dog heatstroke at 5°F (-15°C), while I’m dying of hypothermia.
It’s all about what you’re acclimated to.
Q: Any tips for acclamation, or is it kind of just time in the environment?
Yeah, that’s a great question. And I’ve seen this be misinterpreted or interpreted in a not so great way. We used to say in the army, you take your dog, dog handler, you’re gonna deploy to Iraq, or Afghanistan or Africa or somewhere. When you get there, you have to acclimate the dog for two weeks. So what they were doing is going from these training programs, like these six week pre-deployment training programs, where these dogs were the most fit and acclimated to heat that they’d ever be. And then they take them there and put them in their air conditioned little trailer or h***h and let them sit for two weeks, now that’s not what we mean't.
What we meant was for about two weeks, your dog isn’t going to be able to work quite as much as it did before.
So we say just incrementally, every day, challenge the dog a little bit more. So if you’re gonna exercise the dog, if you’re gonna base it on time, we’re gonna go for a 15 minute walk the first day, and we’re going at a nice leisurely pace, and it’s gonna to be 100 degrees outside as it was often there. The next day, we’re gonna go for a 20 minute walk in 100 degrees, assuming it’s all flat ground, the next day, we’re gonna go for a 20 minute walk and 105 degrees. Every day, increase one thing just like we do training dogs, we train dogs we don’t change the entire environment and problem for the dog, change one thing at a time.
So that’s what we mean by acclamation.
And what we know, this is some incredible work by Mike Davis, Dr. Mike Davis from Oklahoma State University. He looked at dogs, in acclimating these working dogs that they put them into an environmentally controlled chamber. Chamber, meaning it’s a kennel, it sounds horribly scientific, but it’s where they could control the humidity and the temperature and they took them up to, they’d been at a lower temperature, and they took them up to mid to high 80s. And the first few days, the dogs had a higher panting rate and a higher heart rate. And after a couple of days, they didn’t anymore, but then their body temperature increased slightly as well in response to that hotter environment. So when their heart rate and their panting rate went back down to normal that told them the dogs were acclimating to that heat, the body temperature was higher, their temperature was a little bit higher, but the body didn’t care anymore. And that took just a couple of days, it’s incredible. We still say two weeks arbitrarily, we say two weeks, because that sounds safe. And you know, that kind of coincides with like altitude and things like that, or other kinds of acclamation. But that’s basically it, is when you get there, just be hyper aware that your dog probably won’t be able to perform like it used to. So test it out a little bit, and every day, work a little bit harder and work a little bit harder. That’s exactly what we mean... "
Lots more in the interview!
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How I apply it with my own dog when conditions change and it warms up...
I try to not go running over 80% humidity even if that means going out later although sometimes it's not possible, I try to balance temps and humidity, I don't focus on the temp alone, being aware of the 'feels like' temp, not just ambient, sometimes very early is just too high humidity.
Being aware of all environmental conditions, wind, sun, cloud cover etc.
Check hydration status, make sure he's well hydrated.
I always carry water, frequent breaks if needed, I pay a lot of attention to Hydration before and during exercise.
Make sure there's good Airflow where he sleeps the night before a run, have a window open and a fan running all night if it's warm so he rests and sleeps well.
Water cooling options on route.
Make sure there is shade, I don't avoid the sun completely, depends on the conditions, and how he's reacting. Have the option to cut distance shorter.
I watch him like a hawk, what's normal for him, how he walks, how he runs, his attention to his surroundings, all signs of thermal stress.
I keep intensity low, only running at a trot when temps are rising, trotting is probably 90% of his training anyway.
On the days it's too hot to run him, drop the intensity further by lead walking, with breaks/water stops in the shade.
Lead walks daily, rarely can't get out at all even if I have to reduce the duration.
If he's hot when he finishes stick a fan in front of him to help cool down faster, have water cooling options if needed.
I do sometimes check re**al temp post run to gauge how he's doing, I know his normal working temp.
If they are hot, body temp can continue to rise for a period of time after they stop before it drops off, so I aways keep a close watch on him post exercise to make sure he's cooling down and his temp is not increasing.
I step outside before exercise to see how it feels, ambient temps alone can be deceptive, I use a hygrometer to measure humidity where I am.
If temps are fluctuating I use time of day, shade, sun to try and keep it consistent or control how it increases for us during exercise.
Adjust distance/duration accordingly.
This all starts from Spring when we start getting those temperature spikes.
He could do more than we do if I pushed him but as he is not a working dog in the sense he has a job to do, there is no need to push him beyond what we do do and increase the risk.
I keep him fit, active, happy and safe with the conditions we have.
In the short duration of time we have more extreme temps then we don't go out, but it's rare we have to completely avoid exercise because of temps.
He is lean and fit, and at the current level he's at which he's acclimated to over time I wouldn't walk him beyond 25°C, or run him at a trot beyond 18°C, and at those temps it's short duration.
I am very carefull, taking into account all factors above.
I've never had a heat injury in my own dogs, I don't take any of this lightly. Have a plan.
Currently he hasn't been running consistently for 2 weeks, it's just too hot for him running at the moment, but still managing lead walks.
That's my dog, yours may be different, remember...
"There is no Safe Temperature"
Things I pay close attention to:
• Body Condition - he's a BCS of 4
• Fitness & Conditioning
• Hydration
• Acclimation
• Most importantly... understanding the signs of Thermal Stress, knowing my dog's normal and reading my dog
"A chain is only as strong as it's weakest link."
