getting hotter out..

It's getting increasingly warmer out, and Gracie is getting tired faster.

Should I start laying off the conditioning now? I was thinking of giving her 1/2 of sprinpole in the morning (6:00), feeding her at 7:00, then exercise her (flirt pole and fetch for 45 minutes) again at 7-8 pm and feed her a 1/2 hour later.

 

I pushed a dog to hard one summer afternoon and about a hr in he suffered a heat stroke..I was in a postion where I could take action immediatly so I saved the dog,but there was definetly lasting effects..I really regret pushing that dog as hard as I did and will definetly not make that mistake again..
I would most certainly keep the workouts in the early am or after the sun goes down..

 

Agreed SPF

Also, why are you feeding twice a day? Theres no need, with the canine digestive tract. To avoid additional bloat, twisted gut, kidney damage, and a whole host of other problems, a dog needs to be empty when worked. Feeding twice a day, theres a good possibility she's not empty.

 

I third the being careful in this heat. Just lost one of my favorite males last week to heat stroke. It's not pleasant burying a culled animal, but it really sucked putting dirt over him. He was a good one.

 

Two things to remember to combat heat stroke one is SHADE and the other is WATER and not only for drinking but to be sponged over the dogs body during very HOT conditions. Also never walk a dog on asphalt or cement when its really hot as you could burn his pads.

 

An IMPORTANT NOTE; Never excercise a dog after he/she has eaten any food untill they have completly digested all there food which can usually takes up to 4-24hrs. depending on what kind of foods you fed them as they can get seriously hurt like 14Rock stated with the most commen being is twisted stomach.

 

Sorry to hear of youre loss PP Big Game

 

Sorry to hear about all the losses... that really sucks.

I feed twice a day because Gracie takes about 8 hours to digest, so I'm not too worried about that.

So, what is the hottest temperature everyone will exercise their dog?

 

All year round, they become used to the heat as you do.

However, a large part of my summer workouts, involve running creek bottoms and swimming to cool down.

 

digesting and shitting to empty are 2 different things. dogs should only eat once per day.

75 degrees or so. definately not when the sun is high in the sky. if on a mill inside, whenever.

 

I agree with the feeding once a day. My dog that stroked out got loose and was in the pen with a female in heat, so he *&%$ed himself to death.

You have been given great advice.
1. feed once a day, preferably 30 min after you work the dog.
2. work the dog in the coolest part of the day. Either early in the morning or in the evening.

I'll add, even if you are not working the dog, feed the dog in cool part of the day.

3. water, and shade. I spray mine down once or twice in the afternoon. This LA sun is a killer.

Someone from Florida should chime in here, as they have a different kind of sun than we do and should have some good stratagies.

Over my pens I have some of that rolled screen from a paper mill, blocks the sun, but lets wind and water in. Also if you can, a large fan will not only help the heat, but will help with flies and mosquitoes.

 

My vet said I could feed twice a day and do heavy exercise -- as long as I don't feed before conditioning (like I said, she digests in 8 hours or less. She defecates right before she exercises, and if she doesn't, she doesn't condition).

Since Gracie isn't so great at endurance (and she doesn't really need to be), I condition her in the morning at 5:30 am (30 minutes springpole), feed her 30-45 minutes, then I condition her again at 8-8:30 pm (30 minutes flirt pole) and feed her 9:00 pm or later.

 

Well if you trust your vet...

Just know this, many folks have had the vet tell them that because their dog got parvo they might as well go ahead and put the dog down. Sad thing is, there is no sense a dog, or pup, should die from parvo. It is actually simple to pull one through with the nasty issue.

 

And I know some vets recommend Eukanuba.

However, I do trust my vet, and as a pretvet major, I trust myself.

 

"Almost" everyone I know disagrees with me,but I feed my dogs 2x a day approx 12hrs apart..In my expiriences I have come to the conclusion that dogs keep easier & look better when fed 2x a day..

During ANY type of conditioning program the dog should be fed 1x a day..

 

I feed twice a day too. and they stay fit and trim. two small meals a day will kept them in shape and theres no bloat. and i always work my dogs at night when its cooler and when the dogs is in a workout then i feed them after the workout. about 30 min after.

 

All great advice so far.

Also another thing worth mentioning is:

knowing when your dog has had enough...your dog will give you plenty of signs. Certain exercises require some short breaks(recovery)...an example would be sprints/flirtpole. Keep an eye for when dog breaks & needs to recover.

I know someone mentioned the sponge(great idea). I use a spray bottle myself. I put a couple in the freezer prior to workouts, this really helps in keeping the dog cool.