Millie lurcher has no ‘off’ switch! Heat exhaustion....

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Took the dogs out this morning aware that it was warmer than it has been the previous few days, but still fine for walking.

Millie has been so good off the lead for the past couple of months, staying around me for most of the time and coming when she is called. Today when she took off after something (deer probably) I didnt think anything of it and assumed she would come back in a few minutes as usual.

When she hadn’t come back after 10 minutes I began to call her - she finally came back after 5-10 minutes of calling and I’ve never seen a dog like it! She was staggering so much she could hardly stay on her feet, panting frantically and with red gums..... cue a VERY quick march down to the lake where we stayed for about half an hour, initially just splashing water all over her and letting her drink and paddle around, then a full submersion when she had cooled down a bit!

I’ve never known a dog like it, and I’ve had quite a few sighthounds over the years - she doesn’t seem to know when to stop? I’m now thinking I’ll have to keep her on a lead in any warm weather, I can’t risk her doing that again. How can she have so little common sense!

 

[planete]

I feel for you, I have got one exactly the same. He took off after deer a few years ago with one of my other lurchers. It was not particularly hot but he does not know when to give up and came back in a very worrying state just like yours. The bitch who had gone with him however, came back absolutely fine five minutes later having obviously gone for a dip in the river on her way back. She is collie /saluki so plenty pf stamina and some collie sense as opposed to my mostly greyhound kamikaze one who is faster but fades quickly. I am afraid I no longer take the chance of them chasing anything these days for various reasons and my life is a lot less stressful. I used to believe I could make high prey drive dogs 100% reliable but I have had to admit I cannot.

 

[Cinnamontoast]

Bear is exactly the same. Brig potters round the woods, stops, trots, meanders round. Bear does 100mph at all times and is deaf when chasing muntjac. He actually lay down today at the end, totally wiped. I have to therefore limit the length of walks.

You’re lucky having a lake, the best ones near here are fishing lakes :rolleyes3:

 

[splashgirl45]

my lurcher was exactly the same, she used to take off and sometimes be gone for hours and she would always come back but would be in a sorry state. a couple of times she had been running through the rape and had cuts all round her eyes and her coat was really sticky. luckily the weather wasnt as hot as it has been this summer so she wasnt suffering from heat exhaustion as well...

 

[{97702}]

Well it's nice to know it isn't just Millie that does this She did come back covered in scrapes and scratches too splashgirl45, but to be honest I am quite used to that with the hounds so I tend to ignore it mostly.... she was dead lame but has improved during the day so she is nearly sound now, clearly a muscle wrench of some kind!

She has slept for most of the day today (I wonder why!) so I will be keeping her on the lead tomorrow and any other warmer day from now on - the three others (all aged between 10 and 12) had a great time pottering around wondering why Millie needed so much attention

 

[Annette4]

Dobby is exactly the same and gave me a similar fright recently. I’m having to be really careful about when he’s allowed off lead and playing fetch games. I’m also looking at a cool coat for when he starts Flyball.

 

[MurphysMinder]

Freya is the same. During that very hot weather I didn't dare leave her in the kennel and run when I was at work as I was worried she would spend all day digging and running around and not notice she was over heating! Yesterday it was quite warm but not ridiculous, and I had some friends due to arrive late morning so I left the dogs out. Sure enough, they said she was running around like a loon with her tongue hanging out when they came, no sense of self preservation!

 

[Moobli]

We have to be very careful with a couple of the working collies as they literally put their all into work and will run themselves to exhaustion if not monitored.