It's hot here and my dog is very uncomfortable.

[selzer]

Move to NE Ohio. It gets hot in the summer, like 90 and occasionally a little hotter. Rarely do we hit 100 here. It rains pretty much all the time too, so it doesn't stay hot long. A few hiccups of hot and humid and back to winter we go.

They say there are 4 seasons here: winter, still winter, almost winter, and barrel.

They USED to take the barrels off the highway during the three winter-seasons because they aren't going to work on the highways then anyway, but now they just leave them there and just don't work on the roads most of the times.

[Capone22]

Oops sorry. I didn't literally mean dying, in that sense.


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[Zeeva]

I've raised a husky as an outdoor dog in Las Vegas. To be fair, he had an air conditioned dog house but preferred to hang out in the sun!!!

If you're really worried, look up swamp cooler. They're cheaper to run and work fairly well.

[DollBaby]

You might check in to ColdFlex. It's primarily for horses but they may have dog stuff by now. Even mini horse size could fit a large dog

[mycobraracr]

I have had to deal with the same thing. I would invest in a cooling vest or mat for training days. Also if you can keep your dog outside more so she has a chance to acclimate. I'm also going through it with my puppy right now. He's from Alaska and showed up here panting because it was 80 degrees.

[sparra]

Maybe she just needs to get used to it. 71-75 is like about 22-25 degrees celcius I think and that isn't very warm.....that is a very comfortable temperature so maybe you need to go outside a bit and get her used to it a bit more. We average about the same as you in Summer over here (we have just had a VERY hot summer) and our dogs will work quite fine up to 33 degrees celcius so about 90 fahrenheit but they get used to it over time.

[TrickyShepherd]

Here in Central FL, we get some pretty extreme heat. Here it's also very moist, humid heat. So the dogs have a hard time. I have a good fan in their room, and we keep the AC on at 72*F. For training, we have fans for the crates in the car, and we will be getting some cooling mats soon since this summer is looking to be brutal.

I'd suggest getting her used to it little bits at a time. I know when MWD or police K9s are sent to different climates they are given about a month or so to just acclimate. Start small and each day work her (or walk her) just a little more. She'll get used to it with time. My dogs still hate the heat, but, they adjust every year. Though, because of our horrible heat and weather.... during summer we keep all the walking/biking, and some training all at night when it's a bit cooler.

[arycrest]

Originally Posted by Capone22

Ok, maybe a little dramatic, but it is warming up here. It's been about 90 degrees here this week and she definitely seems affected. I have been keeping the house around 74, and this morning when I let her out of her crate it was 71 and she was panting. She's also lazier and seemed to tire out quickly during this mornings training session. It will get up to 113 here, average for summer is probably 95-100. I'm guessing were going to see some major shedding? Anything else I can do to keep her cool, besides growing broke on the AC?

Not wanting to cause an alarm, but IMHO at 71 degrees she should have been comfortable ... could she be ill instead of having a problem with the temperature?

[jocoyn]

I would vet her first and make sure nothing is going on if it persists.

During the summer my dog is outside all day during the day and inside during evenings and sleeps inside with thermostat set to 78-80. With shade we did fine last summer with temps over 100 - much above that I did bring him in because her hot = hot and muggy and the ozone levels.

Temperature acclimitization. They do well with hot temps but not with living in AC weekend warrior in heat.

Transition winter to spring has always done a but of a number on them. Summer to fall is usually welcomed with bursts of energy.

[selzer]

Well, it is cold here and I am miserable.

My joints hurt, particularly my wrenched knee. Most of the time it eclipses most of the other pain, though my jaw has been aching pretty good for the past week for some reason. It seems like when the weather is damp and cold everything I ever did to my body in my youth starts screaming at me.

The way it looks is downright gloomy and depressing. The trees have not started budding yet, they remain darkish gray brown with bare branches denuded of the leaves and color. The sky is gray and everything is wet. It has been raining, on top of the snow creating a six-inch slush fest which periodically freezes. Then it sleets, or snows on top of that. And a minor slip on the slick surface sets the wrenched knee into screams of agony.

And the poo in the kennel -- it comes out at 102 degrees F, drops through 40 degree temperatures onto whatever snow and ice is still hanging on. It immediately melts itself a rut to remain in half submerged. So that I, armed only with a foul gray sweat suit and a pooper spade and shovel, must go out and find and eliminate all of the slushy yuck or scrape out the semi-frozen yuck from within the craters. My girls help me remain miserable by rushing up to the gate panel of the kennels jumping up and down in puddles of watery yuck. This invariably lands on my foul gray sweat suit, face, and hat, and if I tell them to cut out the foolishness, in my mouth. UHHHGHHH!!!! When they rush back and fourth, the slushy semi-frozen water gathers in all the drainage paths, and then freezes there. For some reason, probably volume vs. space and possibly some straw, those are the last places to give up the ghost and finally melt.

Taking seven seven-week old pups to the vet for first shots today, and there is no tool created that can carry 70+ pounds of puppy over snowy slushy gravel and up steps to get into the vets office through the rain. I took my tall laundry basket to carry the pups out to the crates in the back of the car, and then when I got there, they carried a crate with four pups in, while I carried the other three in my hip-hugger laundry basket. And yes, that really did not make my knee feel all that good either.

The only good thing is that I really don't know anything else, since I have lived in NE Ohio all my life. Well, until I read a thread on the internet complaining about how hot it is. GSDs were over there in Iraq when temperatures were reaching 130 degrees. These aren't fragile dogs. Their double coats provide warmth in the winter and protect them against the heat as well. If my dog was having trouble with temps like these, I think I would be getting him checked out, and wonder if he is over-weight or otherwise out of condition.