# Hot versus cold.



## jack van strien (Apr 9, 2009)

Many people here from different countries and very different climates.When is it too hot or too cold to work dogs?For me i have never had a problem working dogs in a very cold environment,hot is a whole other issue,here in Thailand it find it often so hot i can tire the dog out in about ten minutes.I have seen dogs doing ring in France almost passing out in the hot afternoon sun.
When is too hot or too cold?,where does sport stop and almost become cruelty?
Any views on both side of the scale?


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## Jennifer Coulter (Sep 18, 2007)

I will speak to cold...

It does depend on the kind of work you are talking about. I can assure you that the dog will be fine to work at most cold temps, the handler will likely wuss out long before the dog does.

Dogs do start to "hot foot", (pick up their feet when the surface is really cold) at around -15 celcius. It is always fun to do obedience and have the dog try to heel on two or three paws :mrgreen:

Remember that the air temp and the surface snow temperature are often different. In the morning the surface snow temp may be much colder than the air. I pretty much ignore it when the dogs are picking up their feet on cold snow surfaces.

I would want to ensure that the dogs are warmed up before vigorous excersice at those temps. The possiblility of them injuring something would be greater.

I have seen working dogs (non husky breeds) shut down in very cold temps (-20 to -30 celcius NOT including wind chill) but only if they are tied out with no protection for long periods over a day. If they are kept moving they are generally fine.

One of my dogs got frostbite on his lip (outside margine) once. It actually blistered and discoloured. I think it was a combo of picking something frozen up in his mouth (think toungue on a metal pole), and running a long ways with very, very cold snow stuck to his face.

I have seen a dog get cold tail from being immobile in cold temps too long.

I have seen rotten looking pads from cold surface snow temps.

Scent related work becomes more difficult in very cold and dry conditions. It is pretty interesting to see buried (in the snow) articles disapear to the dogs at a certain point in super cold temps...or to maybe see interest without final alerts.

My new pup is an outdoor dog, and being a young mal she is skinny and doesn't have a very thick coat. Her kennel box is too large so I use a dog heater in it at temps below -15 celcius for now. In my truck or at work both my dogs have no heat source on cold days. They do have kennel boxes though. I try to get them out and moving around more, ensure they are dry and out of the wind on insulated surface when at rest.


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## Brian Anderson (Dec 2, 2010)

I will speak to the heat. Here in Louisiana the summers can be punishing with 90-100% humidity and temps hovering at 115 at times ughhh. We work the dogs in the mornings and after dark. We typically have cooling breaks where we use a garden hose or kiddie pool to allow the dogs to cool. We use a product called Go-Dog (I think thats what its called I need to look to be sure). Its basically a "gatorade" type drink for dogs to aide in hydration. All of our breeds are short haired dogs capable of coping with the heat. Our kennels have cooling fans and Im thinking about adding a misting system this spring as well. It does seem to cool some but not nearly as effective as in a dry climate. The mosquitos, flies, ticks etc are what really cause problems here in the woods of Louisiana.


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## Guest (Dec 1, 2008)

I guess we don't do much here in NC, temps in summer are 95+ with 100% humidity, nothing on pads, fresh water and time worked. We work in the blistering heat at times, but its like anything else, look at the behavior of the dog and be aware of signs. If the dog is never worked in these conditions, what makes you think he will ever want to, you have to push them, but know when to slow down. There isn't anything too cold or too hot, it has to be monitored with time and alertness. 

If you never go outside in the blistering heat/cold, then are expected to go to work in it, your not going to want to, let alone enjoy it....all this is is climitazation of the animal for the enviorment. I have seen dogs go from 100 degrees to 30 in a few days and work fine. Got to know how to adjust and monitor the animal.


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## Dave Colborn (Mar 25, 2009)

I can speak for the heat. I worked my last military dog in Kuwait on days it got to 140. My vehicle was air conditioned and it would stay around 100 (while driving) pretty consistently with the AC running, he wouldn't even pant at that temp after a couple months. The search pit was was covered and was around 110 on the hotter days. I would park in the shade with a fan at the gate to keep him acclimatized to the heat. He did well. I took his temp frequently while working and he would get to 103 at the highest, and still work fine. Never got him above that that I know. 

We ran a lot in the mornings there, doing 5 and 10K fun runs sometimes. 80-90 degrees then. He did fine in that too with some running conditioning and biking. Harder on me in the heat than him. The big deal for him seemed to be the acclimitization period, and not using too much AC. 

We got back to the states and I almost killed him on a 90 degree day from the humidity, or he was sick. Worked him about 10 minutes similarly to how I did in kuwait, and got him up to 106 before we got him cooled back down. It happened very quickly, and it could have been fatal pretty easily. I was much more careful the next time I deployed with him, and after that heat injury, he would get up to 104 while working and seem to top out there when he worked. 

He lived to 14 in spite of all the times I came close to killing him with electricity (220), a bad bounce of a ball of a building in a port in kuwait, almost put him in the drink, and heat injuries. I really did a lot of safety checks, but he would always find something to try and hurt himself on.


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## Geoff Empey (Jan 8, 2008)

Our big thing here in Ontario Canada is the 2-3 months of the summer especially where the humidity is unbearable. 

The humidity hits fast and hard and there is really no way to acclimatize a dog to it in as much the way the humidity hits us. 

I've heard of many a PSD falling dead on a track in these type of weather conditions up here because of no time to acclimatize the dog to it. 

We have quite the swing of weather here it can be 39/40c in the heat of summer plus humidity, and the winter can be easily -28/30c plus winchill. 

IMO it is the heat that is harder on the working/sport dogs here more because the severity of it, plus how fast it can change into it from cooler weather.


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## Ben Colbert (Mar 9, 2010)

Jennifer,

I wish I could put you on speaker phone an have you explain that to my wife and in-laws. When we go to visit (Virginia) my dog comes with us but spends most of the time in the car or outside. You would think from the way they talk that if he spends the night in my car in 30 degree (-1 Celsius) weather in the morning he will be a frozen block of dog. 

Over Christmas he was in the back yard. He could get up, walk, run around etc. and I look out the window and my wife and mother-in-law are putting a sweater on the dog. It was 36 degrees (2 Celsius).


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## Brian Anderson (Dec 2, 2010)

Jody Butler said:


> I guess we don't do much here in NC, temps in summer are 95+ with 100% humidity, nothing on pads, fresh water and time worked. We work in the blistering heat at times, but its like anything else, look at the behavior of the dog and be aware of signs. If the dog is never worked in these conditions, what makes you think he will ever want to, you have to push them, but know when to slow down. There isn't anything too cold or too hot, it has to be monitored with time and alertness.
> 
> If you never go outside in the blistering heat/cold, then are expected to go to work in it, your not going to want to, let alone enjoy it....all this is is climitazation of the animal for the enviorment. I have seen dogs go from 100 degrees to 30 in a few days and work fine. Got to know how to adjust and monitor the animal.


What a cruel and inhumane dog owner you are!!!! For shame .... work that poor thing until he's near the melting point......LOL J/K Jody...Our dogs live in outdoor kennels (with a fan mind you whipping the hot air around lol). They are acclimated to the heat pretty good. I don't dare to proclaim on a WWW forum that I worked my dogs in the heat until they are slobber mouthed and panting lest the SPCA find out ;- ). When they discover we give our dogs well water to drink instead of sparkling bottled water we could be fined and possibly imprisoned [-(.


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## Guest (Dec 1, 2008)

Jody Butler said:


> I guess we don't do much here in NC, temps in summer are 95+ with 100% humidity, nothing on pads, fresh water and time worked. We work in the blistering heat at times, but its like anything else, look at the behavior of the dog and be aware of signs. If the dog is never worked in these conditions, what makes you think he will ever want to, you have to push them, but know when to slow down. There isn't anything too cold or too hot, it has to be monitored with time and alertness.
> 
> If you never go outside in the blistering heat/cold, then are expected to go to work in it, your not going to want to, let alone enjoy it....all this is is climitazation of the animal for the enviorment. I have seen dogs go from 100 degrees to 30 in a few days and work fine. Got to know how to adjust and monitor the animal.


Forgot to add every dog is different, but good physical stamina and a conditioning program is always a plus.....that was a given, but wanted to make sure....


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## Gillian Schuler (Apr 12, 2008)

In Switzerland, where we live, temperatures can rise to 94 F (34°C) in the Summer and - 7 F (- 14° C) in the Winter. But we can have big changes just like last week - 14°C to today + 11°C.

If the dog is healthy, there is no problem. In Winter, we make sure they are warmed up before protection and in the Summer, we train in the evening mostly. However, some of our Summer trials start at 5 in the morning, meaning that the protection part is often around lunchtime - can be 32-34°C.
The dogs are always willing to work in heat and in cold, that is why we have to exercise common sense.
But, at the trial, weather prevails, and you have to send your dog out.

I often take them out at lunchtime, do a bit of obedience in the sun. I even track with them in the sun, but take into account the heat and only do short tracks that they will always succeed at working out.

The last training before Christmas I think we could have cancelled. Two rounds in about 12 -14 C°. We left the hatches of the cars open but the windows inside the car were frozen over. We had to leave the engines running for a while.


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## David Frost (Mar 29, 2006)

I remember when I was in that part of the world, we'd have to be careful how hard we trained at certain times. We did a lot of training at night, on post. You just had to make sure everyone knew you were out there sneaking around. I just remember the heat could really be oppressive. Short spurts of energy burst from the dogs, seem to work alright. 

DFrost


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## Jim Nash (Mar 30, 2006)

jack van strien said:


> Many people here from different countries and very different climates.When is it too hot or too cold to work dogs?For me i have never had a problem working dogs in a very cold environment,hot is a whole other issue,here in Thailand it find it often so hot i can tire the dog out in about ten minutes.I have seen dogs doing ring in France almost passing out in the hot afternoon sun.
> When is too hot or too cold?,where does sport stop and almost become cruelty?
> Any views on both side of the scale?


Here an Minnesota I've worked with plenty of dogs in the extreme cold and heat , from hunting dogs to Police K9s . It can get well below -0 F in the winter to the high 90s F with lots of humidity in the summer . 

I never really had much trouble working dogs in the cold . I've worked with Labs in below freezing weather hunting waterfowl on lakes , swamps and in the backwaters of rivers . They can be covered in ice with steam coming off them after making a water retrieve and still keep going . If they get too cold they simply find a place out of the wind , curl up in a ball and use their own bodyheat to "recharge" . Never worried about my PSDs working in below zero weather , as long as they are working and moving around they have been fine . It's me that's going to freeze well before they ever do . 

As for the heat that's a much more difficult thing to deal with . Dogs are different and have varied degrees of tolerance to it . My first PSD could deal with the heat much better than any of the K9's working in the unit with him at the time . I never had to give up a track to another K9 team because he was getting too hot but we took over many searches for other K9s that had . My current K9 tolerates it ok but I have for his safety turned over searches to other K9 teams . I could easily overwork him if I wasn't paying attention .

Like others have said it's knowing your dog is at risk , paying attention to the factors ( heat , sun , humidity ) , knowing your own dog's tolerance to it and the signs showing they are becoming overheated .

It's important to add that it can become tough seeing the oncoming signs of heatstroke while the dog is actively working . I see that problem alot when seeing hunting dogs working the scent of Pheasants for an extended period and in PSDs while working the scent of badguys , either while tracking or air scenting . If they are in scent they will concentrate so hard on working out the scent they will not show any outward signs of becoming overheated until often times it's too late . We lost a dog several years ago like this . The K9 team was on an active track during a very hot day . They hadn't worked it all that long compared to other tracks they had done and the dog was tracking well showing no signs of tiring or getting hot . The dog suddenly collapsed and by the time they got him to the emergency hospital it was too late . 

They expend and alot of energy doing this and it doesn't need to be extremely hot to pose a risk of heatstroke for a working dog . We have numerous hunting dogs die from heatstroke in this area every fall during Pheasant hunting season . This is when the outside temp. can run from 60 to 40 degrees F .

Most of the hunters said they didn't see a problem with the dog until it was too late . On dogs that work hard in even moderate temps it's important to take breaks , allow the dog to calm down , evaluate and hydrate your dogs .


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## Kadi Thingvall (Jan 22, 2007)

During the summers 100+ temperatures are not unusual during training. And when it's 100 or 105 on the thermometer, it can be 130+ on the ground (temps read using a laser device an animal control friend has). Especially since our field usually doesn't have grass but is mainly dirt.

We just keep an eye on the dogs, and have a hose or small pool available. Don't wet the entire dog though, just the belly/groin area. And we'll wet the dog as needed during the session, to help them keep their internal temperature down. After a training session I'll make sure the dog is cooled down before I put them back into the crate, usually by letting them hang out in the pool until they stop panting.

There is a minor difference in stamina in those temps vs an 80 degree day, but if the dog is cooled a few times during the session, I really haven't seen much difference in how long they can work.


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