Summer is almost here, well here in North Ala, the temps have
been in the 90's way too early if you ask me. Anyhow, my 2
year old white shepherd Luna hates the heat. We go for our walks
before 10a.m. and after 4p.m. We play in the yard totally shaded
every couple of hours and I have a wash tub that Luna plays in to help cool her down. How do you all handle exercising when it gets really hot? Luna is the "needs lots of exercise type" or she
becomes a pain in the (you know where). When we play ball in the
yard its only for 5 to 7 minutes and she is ready to come in
and lay on the cool kitchen floor. We do our obedience work
after our walks. I am afraid to play longer so as to not
worry about a heat stroke. How long and how often do you all
exercise your dogs?

I will actually hose Tucker down completely before we head out on our walks. It seems to really help if we need to go out during the day.
I do the same as you though, when it gets really hot, i wait until after 9pm to take him out for his walk.
If i do play with him in the yard, I'll also hose him down first there.
I definately need to get my hands on a little plastic kids pool that I can fill up for when it's hot in the back yard.

I feel your pain Betty. It is the same here in Texas in the summer!

We do early morning and after sundown walks. My dogs love the hose, so they enjoy getting sprayed. I usually do their underbelly area to keep them cool.

But you are right, it is tough to get a full, hard workout in the extreme heat.
My long coated GSD, I really keep an eye on because his back is solid black and heats up so fast.

For summer, they seem to notice the routine change and don't mind it. But surely they really love our winters here much more.

We have a pool, and my female loves to swim so she is perfectly fine, my male, the long coat is still not wanting to swim.
I swear, it is a case for Cesar Milan! I have tried everything, bits of steak to lure him, and he refuses to enter the pool.
I sometimes wonder if I got him one of those life vests for dogs if that would help him, but if I can't even get him to step in the pool, I doubt that life vest would help.

I too have this problem. It got to 98 yesterday here in Phoenix and is supposed to reach the 100s by the end of the week

Yesterday I took the dogs for a long walk at 7 am. It was still warm, but I knew I couldn't take them during the afternoon. We also went for a walk/run after the sun set. The problem here in Phoenix during the summer where the temps can reach 120 degrees is the heat as well as the heat of the pavement. You really can cook an egg on a rock and the concrete maintains the heat for hours after the sun is down, plus it stays at about 105 at night.

In addition to early morning and late evening walks, we do a lot of training inside. I try and wear them out mentally in addition to physically. Another thing we do is give them toys that challenge them mentally (Kong Wobbler, Bob a lot, Nina Ottossons toys...)

I do feel your pain and was thinking of posting something like this as well. We take the dogs out on some grass next to our house, but within five minutes they are all so hot we bring them in but they are not tired, just hot.

I think challenging them mentally is huge when you can't challenge them physically. Also, playing tug games with them inside should wear them out a little. Between early and late walks and mental challenges, you should have some tired pups.

It gets miserable when it gets so hot. The dogs get bored, I get bored, everyone is bored. They say here we get SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) here in the summer since we have to stay inside, where everyone else gets it during the winter. But, we do have 7-9 months of weather we can spend outside in amazing weather, so for the most part it is worth it.

Not looking forward to breaking 100...Good Luck.

If I had a built in pool I'de have a problem keeping Luna out
of it. She loves the water. You would think that being white
alot of the heat would be reflected but she is bothered by it.
I've seen plastic kiddy pools at the family dollar for 5 or
8 dollars, think I'll get one and see if she will play in it like
she plays in the wash tub, only problem is constantly changing
the water, I have to do it manually as my water line is in the
front or buy 3 or 4 hoses to reach the back yard. Ide rather do
manually, I hate dragging out hoses, and winding them back up.
Your right about routine change. She would be like the energizer
Bunny if this was winter.

oh, yeah, i forgot that part.

i will take Tucker down to the beach and let him wear himself out swimming. That is a great alternative on a hot day.

 Quote: keith kaplan

I too have this problem. It got to 98 yesterday here in Phoenix and is supposed to reach the 100s by the end of the week

I hear you, Keith. We're looking at four months of 100+. I guess it's the other 8 months that keeps us here, huh?

It drives me crazy to see people out walking their dogs on 115+ days. The pavement is what, 160+? Unfortunately, even in the evenings, the pavement is still pretty warm. By morning, it's cooled down again. I guess we sortof copy the lizards around here in the summer. Stay under rocks in the heat of day, and come out when it cools down.

I really like your idea of training inside during the summer. It makes alot of sense and there is alot you can do. There is an awesome You-tube video of a lady with a border collie who will bring her 20-30 different toys and items, one at a time. The lady will say "bring me the blue duck" and off the dog runs...that sort of thing would be fun in the summer.

Also, get out of town and go camping in some cooler country. You and the dogs will enjoy the time away.

what I do is fill up the kiddie pool, if they get to hot during excercise they jump in and take a break.

I've tried indoor mental games like find it, tug, catch the
dumbel(rubber squeek),obedience work but that doesn't do the
trick for Luna. She needs physical work. I'm thinking the
Kiddie Pool may help alot.

Yeah, I think of the inside work as "in addition to..." late night or early morning exercise.

In the heat of the summer here, even the water in our in-ground pool (appx 12,000 gallons) is 95+ degrees. It's the evaporation after getting out that is cooling...so a soaking with the hose prior to and during exercise really serves the same purpose as getting in the pool.

If you want to be active here in the desert in the summer, you have to follow the hours of the construction workers. Four in the morning until about noon, then hole up in the A/C for the rest of the day.