HI, Chris.

I live in South Louisiana. On a 95 degree day, the heat index is 100-105. The vast majority of dogs that I have owned through the years have been yard dogs. Until I adopted Sadie, who is a full-coated sable GSD, I had never made special arrangements for the heat, outside of fresh water throughout the day and a vented, shaded dog-house, preferably made of cinder block, which retains moisture and stays cooler.

Sadie does not handle extremely high temperatures well, so I had to establish a rule of thumb... if the mercury is going to be above 90degF (HI~100), I don't leave her out. Ironically, since I started taking temperature into consideration with this dog, several people I know have lost dogs and attributed it to heat stroke. While that may be a catch-all for many unexplainable deaths and may not necessarily be the case for all of them, I am still mindful of it and am diligent about checking the weather and keeping her in if it's going to be very hot.

This may not be helpful to you, but it is the info you requested. In your situation, one of the obstacles you have is 10 years of foundation in the unwanted behavior. I think your best bet is house-training (if that is possible with the SA), but you have some huge hurdles to overcome. Good luck!

Candi, thanks! I've seen the cooling beds before but have read kind of horrible consumer ratings on them. I will check out the one on Leerburg. The mister spray system was also a thought in the back of my head. These are great suggestions.

Duane, my brother just lost his six year old GSD to heat stroke. It was awful. He and his wife always worked from home, so could keep an eye on the dogs during the day. When they both got jobs outside of the house, they kept their GSD in a kennel during the day. Everything was fine under a thunderstorm, and Eva freaked out, became over-agitated and apparently succumbed to the heat. That is weighing heavy on my mind.

A mister system and a kiddie pool is definitely a must have if your dog is going to be kept outdoors while you're gone.

My two GSDs are outside 24/7.
They always have shade in the yard plus there is a ceiling fan under the patio cover and a box fan inside the garage, pointed at their pen. A 5 gal water bucket gets changed a couple of times a day, winter or summer.
On days in the 90s I also soak their bellies with the hose and wet down the concrete pad where they lay under the covered patio.
The still bring me their kongs every time I go out the door but in the heat I toss it maybe once or twice each dog. Then it's only a 15-20 ft toss.

http://www.natural-wonder-pets.com/dog-separation-anxiety.html#product-info1

This site has pretty good information on SA.

I'm not familiar with the product, K9 Calm but it does seem to have good ingredients if you wanted to go Holistic, at least prior to trying stronger allopathic meds. But check with your vet regarding medications, either herbal or allopathic.

You could try Rescue Remedy and/or other homeopathic remedies as they have no contra-indications with any other meds. They might help take the edge off while you work on the SA and house training issues.

Since it was never mentioned, I'll assume he isn't left too long (some can't wait as long when they get older)...it probably is anxiety. I remember when I worked at the grooming shop, many pets would pee in the kennels from anxiety...and lay in it *sigh*

Dogs that are aclimatized do better in the heat than one that's used to the AC. Logan stays outside or in the work shop. He always has shade and water...and a pool if the heat index is 95 or more. When its over 105 he is crated in the work shop where the weak AC takes the edge off. Do you have a window unit in the garage?

 Quote: Tresa Hendrix

Dogs that are acclimatized do better in the heat than one that's used to the AC.

I second this.


IME, dogs that have better cardiovascular conditioning also do better in the heat.

Shade is of great importance. Dogs heat up quickly due to solar gain. It was 120 degrees in this picture. I had to make some shade. We worked through the afternoon in the heat, taking regular breaks. When we first got to Afghanistan, Fama would heat up pretty quickly. I would monitor her temp and give her a break when she got close to 105. As she acclimatized and got in better shape, she could go far longer working in the heat, and her resting temp went down as well.

We are having a typical British summer, three weeks of temps in the 80's, which compared to some of the temps mentioned on here is nothing, but my lot are getting walked dawn and dusk and spending the in-between times in front of the fans, they don't even go into the garden, such is their intolerance to sudden and unusual heat.

It reminded me of the holidays we had in Gozo when the kids were small, and the sun in the Mediterranean can be ferocious to the uninitiated, somewhere in the high 90's, and the house opposite ours was home to a Pharaoh Hound, that laid out on the highest flat roof all day long, I don't think I even saw him panting!

There was a pack of Springers next door to us, and the family that lived there had a courtyard with trees creating a canopy, and a swimming pool that the dogs were in and out of all day, plus they were clipped, but they didn't have as much energy as the Pharoah.

My female Pointer gets really anxious in the heat, I have to keep her quiet and calm or she paces, which makes it worse!

Personally I can't wait for the autumn!