Sun and Dogs

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Gladioli

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I have two dogs Lady (Greyhound x collie x whoknows what) and Busta the Sloughi. In this weather Lady is happiest inside, she really doesnt like the heat. Busta however loves the sun and would quite happily stay outside all day, he does move from sun to the shade if he gets too hot but I worry that I should be keeping him in and out of the sun. My husband thinks that it is down to genetics and to be fair he is happy and full of beans at the moment.

So my question is:

Do you limit how much sun your dogs have?
Should I just leave Busta to get on with it and control his own temprature?

A x
 
I let mine have the option of in or out...

shes currently sat inside with me on the wooden floor... (well im on the settee shes on the floor! :D )

SHe has the option of the garden tooo - lots of shade and nice cool grass or soil

she normally has a paddling pool too but wrecked it already...!


shes spoilt. :D
 
My lab is like busta i worry as all my previous dogs hate lying in the sun but he seems to be ok i make sure he has water shade and can get indoor if he wants. he seems to regulate himself well and doesn't lie panting but moves when he needs to. I don't walk him in the heat tho.
 
My dogs have access to the garden all day, Diesel lays in the shade and dosnt get too hot, Darcy and Pip lay in the sun and are in out in out most of the day. I keep a watchful eye on Pip as she is young and has a slightly longer coat and if I think she has been lying too long I bring her in.
 
Max is sunbathing as we speak:D - every now and then he obviously gets to hot so dramatically throws himself on the cool hall floor......:rolleyes: he is obviously trying to top up the colour on his black coat - the big eejit......:rolleyes::D

Sweep stays inside napping on the sofa - pops out every now and then for a potter and a wee:rolleyes::)

They both go to the brook for a swim every afternoon/evening - although Max has a sneaky one in the morning as he can get in and out of the high sided brook:D
 
Depends on the dog, my older dog hates the heat to the extent where he lies outside at night and is never really comfortable in the house, even in mild/cold weather.

My young dog s black and very hairy and people assume he is a nightmare in the heat...but I have to say he copes very well, travels very well and it doesn't really seem to bother him...he's been out and about a lot this weekend and while I do make sure we are always close to a river or standpipe so he can get a dunking, he is not suffering at all.

I think it's up to your own discretion :)
 
I have noticed in the past few days that Skye (lab) likes to lie out on the patio in the morning when its a bit cooler but after about 12pm she mooches about between living room, garage, garden and her pool.

She is quite lethargic too unless you mentioned those magic words.
 
if my dog wanted to sit in the sun id let them as long as theres the option of shade and cold water but we have a black lab/rottwieller and a black and tan lab/doberman and so they just want to be as cold as possible and so are both flat out on the slate floor.
 
My JRT will lie in the sun panting for hours- if she is panting hard I will encourage her to come inside, but she normally finds shade occasionally. Usually I let her make the decision where she wants to be, she's spoilt enough as it is without me making every decision for her :p
 
My dogs, all arctic breeds and double coated, have the option of in or out. Usually they stay out and follow the shade around over the day.

As long as I'm back from their walk by 630/7 am they seem to cope okay in the heat, but I do keep a close eye on them and bring them in to sleep on the tiles if it's too bad.
 
Mine get the choice. Normally spend time indoors but they do that whatever the weather!!

I just make sure wherever we go for our walks has constant access to water, so along the river edge etc.
 
My older one likes lying just outside the kitchen door against the step where its cool and shaded away from the sun. The whole lawn is shaded from the sun so my younger goldie often goes and lies on there. They also have a paddling pool. They prefer to be outside, but the living room is on the north side of the house where its cool so they can go in there if we need to leave them inside for any reason.
 
2 of mine prefer the shade but the JR and dobie are avid sun bathers. I sometimes call them in cos their fur is boiling. The JR lays on the metal man hole cover in garden as its warmest place!
 
I watch my young saluki/greyhound x whippet does not overheat during free running. I put him back on the lead for five minutes if his panting starts getting loud. Exercise early and late. At the field, tie up in the shade. Not allowed any mad playing in the garden during the day right now. But he is a bit of a nutter when he starts running and would go on until he drops. Also like others I try and walk him near water.
On the other hand my newly adopted long-haired JRT x long-haired dachshund (sp?) can sunbathe, run all day in the heat and hardly pant, even though he is still a bit overweight (I am working on that). His coat seems to act as insulation whereas the lack of fat of the longdog means he finds it much harder to regulate his body temperature in spite of his short coat.
At home, they both still need to be supervised most of the time, so they are where I happen to be which is mostly indoors with short forays into the garden.
 
Gladioli said:
I have two dogs Lady (Greyhound x collie x whoknows what) and Busta the Sloughi. In this weather Lady is happiest inside, she really doesnt like the heat. Busta however loves the sun and would quite happily stay outside all day, he does move from sun to the shade if he gets too hot but I worry that I should be keeping him in and out of the sun. My husband thinks that it is down to genetics and to be fair he is happy and full of beans at the moment.

So my question is:

Do you limit how much sun your dogs have?
Should I just leave Busta to get on with it and control his own temprature?

A x
Click to expand...

To answer your questions:

1) No, I don't limit how much sun my dogs have . . . I let them figure it out for themselves
2) I would leave Busta to get on with it . . . but perhaps put a water bowl outside in the shade/make sure he has plenty of shady areas to lie in (or can go inside) if he gets too hot

Mine will pretty much want to be wherever we are . . . so if we are outside, they are outside . . . but there are plenty of cool surfaces (shady patio, freshly dug soil) and shady places for them to lie down if they choose and I find that both of them seem to self-regulate quite well. Both are double-coated - and Fred is black so seems to heat up more/need more shade.

P

Edited to say - I do, however, think carefully about where we walk and what sort of exercise they get when it's hot . . . Daisy doesn't have the sense she was born with to stop running when hot so I tend to stick to places with lots of water (rivers, lakes, ponds) so she can cool off and have a drink while on the go.
 
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Mine are tied outside with individual kennels so all have access to shade, however they have barely left the roofs of their kennels in almost a week, they haven't been walked on the lead though, playtime has been off lead in fields where there's lots of trees for shade and has been limited to 15 minutes at a time (runaway dog has no interest in leaving his sunbathing spot so I haven't been taking him out). We had to stop using metal bowls though - the water was heating up after about 5 minutes and i nearly burned myself on an empty one :eek:. i'm just letting them enjoy sunbathing while it lasts - I know it won't last long :(. They're going to be totally unfit afterwards, but they're collies/lurchers so at least they're not going to get fat :D
 
Oh and water dog has a tub trug full of water (he would bust a paddling pool), he just puts his back legs in it though, weirdo :rolleyes:
 
My mally isn't a fan of hot days but fortunately our house is very cool on hot summer days so she'll often lounge around inside but has the option of going out to the garden when she wants as the backdoor is kept open (the garden always has some shade but she lies wherever she likes). The only thing we do in terms of helping her stay cool is we re-schedule her walks in the summer - she gets a quick walk in the early morning when it is cooler and then stays in until 6/7pm then she gets her long 1 1/2 or 2 hour walk as its much cooler then. In winter she goes out at lunchtime and in the evening instead, but we find she'll plant her feet on her lunchtime walks and wants to head home as she overheats in her big fur coat. We do shave her belly when it comes to June-ish time as well.
 
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