I live in Miami, Florida. Let me say up front that I am not going to habitually be running around with my dog outside in midday heat or anything. There's a lot of sun unless it's dark out, however, and Florida isn't exactly known for being cool at any time.
The dog is going to be an indoor dog. Miami's too hot for anything else. There's a couple trees in the backyard and we usually have a two-foot-deep pool set up in their shade during summer (covered when not in use). But should I still have some sort of run-in available in the yard? I'd been planning to buy or make some kind of sun shelter that we could take to the beach and it'd be even better if we could use it outside of beach trips too.
Opinion on eye protection? I know there's a company called RexSpecs that advertises their glasses as being helpful for dogs with eye disease (though I'm not about to hand over $80 bucks for a trial run). But apart from the possibility of needing something like that, would you consider doggie sunglasses in general? I know GSDs are genetically predisposed to keratitis/pannus, and I'm kind of concerned about UV protection. Plus it's usually just really bright out.
Any other tips or tricks would be appreciated. I know dog-friendly popsicles were usually useful with my last dog, a Lab girl named Sandy, though we lived further north when I was with her. We would soak towels in cool water and spread them out on the patio and she'd lay on them. And she absolutely loved it if we froze peanut butter or chicken broth inside her Kong toy. Never used cooling vests/collars/beds though we would sometimes just wet a kerchief and tie it around her neck. And I'm aware that you shouldn't clip double-coated dogs.
The dog is going to be an indoor dog. Miami's too hot for anything else. There's a couple trees in the backyard and we usually have a two-foot-deep pool set up in their shade during summer (covered when not in use). But should I still have some sort of run-in available in the yard? I'd been planning to buy or make some kind of sun shelter that we could take to the beach and it'd be even better if we could use it outside of beach trips too.
Opinion on eye protection? I know there's a company called RexSpecs that advertises their glasses as being helpful for dogs with eye disease (though I'm not about to hand over $80 bucks for a trial run). But apart from the possibility of needing something like that, would you consider doggie sunglasses in general? I know GSDs are genetically predisposed to keratitis/pannus, and I'm kind of concerned about UV protection. Plus it's usually just really bright out.
Any other tips or tricks would be appreciated. I know dog-friendly popsicles were usually useful with my last dog, a Lab girl named Sandy, though we lived further north when I was with her. We would soak towels in cool water and spread them out on the patio and she'd lay on them. And she absolutely loved it if we froze peanut butter or chicken broth inside her Kong toy. Never used cooling vests/collars/beds though we would sometimes just wet a kerchief and tie it around her neck. And I'm aware that you shouldn't clip double-coated dogs.