How Hot is Too Hot?

[kodiakpm]

Anyone living in a state with weather like NJ - hot humid during the summer knows how uncomfortable it is for humans but for our pets how hot is too hot? Kodiak doesn't mind going for walks in the heat as long as they are not too long. Mind you we only go early in the morning or late at night - but it can still be very very warm and muggy.

Now that we have gone from a wet Spring to a Hot Summer in two days I have to think about Theo as well. Last night's walk was late and cooler but it still felt muggy and hot to someone in a fur coat - I would think... Neither doggie wanted to walk far....

Please let me know what you do! Thanks!
Melissa

 

[mrs big dogs]

We do not walk in hot or humid weather, here in Wis it gets pretty humid, we just turn on the air and I play with them in the house, we play alot of hide and seek

 

[dfwmiket]

Texas= lots of AC.

 

[newfy]

I walk my guys early in the am in the summer (530-6), I try to be home by 7 to 730am, if it is too hot, the newf stays home, just the border collie goes. Merlin the newf likes the roller coaster, so in the summer I'll take him for a stroll at night to see it, he gets very excited & it makes him happy, plus its cooler then & he likes the attention he gets from the summer crowds.:kgo_027:

 

[Baloo]

It can hit 100+ here some days...usually in the summer it's high 80's with lots of humidity. We spend most days in air conditioning or if at the trailer, in front of the fan or at the lake.

 

[ardeagold]

It's hot here today (mid 90's) and was yesterday as well. The dogs all go out in the early morning and play, come in for a bit, go back out for a short while, then are in for the afternoon. They start livening up a bit when the sun starts going down. Late afternoon (4pm) is hotter than mid day.

When they're hot here, they'll go for a stroll in the pond. Not a swim...just enough to get their tummies wet. Then they'll come in, get towel dried (because I KNOW they'll do it again in a few hours), and lie around on the tile floors in front of the floor fans with the AC on. You can buy a kiddie pool so your pup can lay down in some cold water for a while!

All of our Newfs will stay outside around 30 mins when the temps are in the low to mid 80's. When it hits closer to 90...that time rolls back to about 15 mins max. BUT...they're wandering the back acres...lots of shade, and a pond. This happens several times a day.

Cole prefers only potty breaks when the temps hit over 80 and he WILL NOT go into the sun (even if I'm walking him on lead). He'll stay in the shade, and when we reach a sunny area...he'll stop, or turn around. He's been like that since he was a puppy. The other Newfs are more tolerant of sun...and heat, by a few degrees.

I don't walk them at all when it's over the low 80's. Here that means the humidity is also very high, and that's as dangerous as the heat for them. I let them do their own thing in the yard...at their own pace. I'll wait till evening for walks, or a few minutes of training, etc. If I have to have them out...I keep them in the shade, have lots of water, and get back to the AC within a very short time.

The AC went on here when it hit 82 (yesterday). That's when the house started warming up. Of course it's pretty humid too. Plus the pine pollen started yesterday. Everything is yellow! So I do NOT want my windows open right now. :lol:

 

[SunnyD]

Merlin the newf likes the roller coaster, so in the summer I'll take him for a stroll at night to see it, he gets very excited & it makes him happy, plus its cooler then & he likes the attention he gets from the summer crowds.:kgo_027:

The image of this made my day!

 

[jane]

I'm on Long Island and I have the central air on today. Very warm and muggy, and neither I or the newfs like it.

I do early morning and late walks in the summer time. I cut down from 2 mile's to 1 in the hot weather.

 

[SheilaT]

I moved my boys with me to Puerto Rico. I stripped out their undercoat, but we still only venture outside after the sun goes behind the mountains and the breezes pick up. It is very hot and humid here in the south of the island so we don't walk much, but we do swim swim swim. At night we walk on the boardwalk at La Guancha and there's always a wind off the Caribbean, so they do pretty well.....so far.

 

[R Taft]

Well we get very hot...............We have a pond for the dogs in our 2 acre garden and we spend a lot of time at the river and lake.............We only walk very early in the morning and late at night. Annabelle was a slug during training in Summer, even though it was at night. She is the life of the party at pesent, because our cooler weather is starting up. During hot times they love to take a dip in the pond and snooze on the verandah's in the breeze. We do not have Ac, because we would never go out if we did. But our house is Solar designed, so it is cool in Summer and warm in Winter. I think humidity would be a bigger problem, we don't have much of that. Just very hot and dry in Summer

 

[SarahZ]

Because its so hot here in DE right now, Moe just goes to parks he can swim at. I had to work all weekend, but Andy reported (I have to have my Moe reports when I can't go with them) that Moe swam swam swam the whole time, and when he got tired he just laid down in the creek (sat)/pond (sun) up to his chest and reeelaxed with his new buddy Ralphie (the white boxer in his pics).
Newfy- I think its too cute that Merlin likes the roller coaster!
Sarah

 

[Ursa]

Like Mike said Texas=AC. In the summer we walk really early in the morning or really late at night. If it's too warm at night then we sometimes load the kids up in the car and go to a dog friendly store to walk around in the AC.

 

[Erika]

Bingo Donna ..our kiddie pool came out, the fans with the AC and only 2 of our 5 wanted to walk. We also keep huge bowls of water and add fresh ice when they are outside..of course they try to bathe in that too.......Ice blocks in the kiddie pool is a great fun game for them.......lol.....I even got my feet in there while we were adding on stockade fence today. Our gang now have an acre or close to , to run with 3 more big Sycamore trees to pees on. They walk us to death in the winter but come summer..........nope...they say walk alone you wacky humans............lol

 

[Wash]

I just asked Wash, he says anything over 30 is too hot.

Even though we are in MN we use the AC a lot in the summer.

 

[joestephr1991]

We lived in Texas and New Mexico and it was cookin' hot. I think as long as they have lts of shade and WATER WATER WATER they do okay. Of course my dog didn't want to be outside at all during the summers!

 

[Abbey]

In Idaho, the hotest part of the day in the summer is around 6 pm. We have temps in the 100's here a lot of the time, so for us, the walks are at 5:30 am. Or, we take them swimming instead of walking. As for what is too hot, Abbey and Zeke agree with Wash. If it's over 30, they want the air conditioner on!

 

[cedarvalleynewfoundlands]

We are in Missouri, and our Summers are hot and very humid. The humidity is worse than the heat. Our dogs have access to A/C, both in the house with us and outside in the kennel house in their excersize area.We have several pools for them in the dog area, so often they stay wet until it gets really hot and humid. Our dog areas are in very wooded parts of our land, so are really shady and there is a lot of breeze that comes through where they are. I have found that they prefer the pools outside until it gets to about 90 with humidity, then they are in the A/C most of the time except early morning and late evening.

 

[AngusMcDubhsMom]

Hot here too. The AC was hooked up on Sat., Lixit installed on outdoor faucet, kiddie pool inspected for damages, Gracie has vanished under the deck for the duration, Maneen taken up residence on tiles....Miserable in MA. (94.5F on Saturday).

 

[sara722003]

We lived in Houston/Galveston for 8 years with our first Newf almost 30 years ago. We lived in upper Michigan when he came to live with us as a pup, and we felt so sorry for him in Texas that we installed A/C in the garage (where he loved hangin out with doggy door access to his backyard with his buddy, the most idiotic bloodhound on the face of the planet.) King Kong was mostly a house dog, but that bloodhound was a mental case, and for a couple of years, we had a nanny living with us who was (reasonably) petrified by the bloodhound. So we banished him outdoors and Kong seemed to want to follow his older bro outdoors at least 3/4 of the time. So what else could we do....but A/C the garage???

What dog lovers do for these wonderful creatures!!!

In memory of Sunnyside's King Kong 1977-1987 (he died EXACTLY six months after Holmes, the bloodhound died. And we got them both as pups, with Holmes six months earlier than Kong. Rather amazing, looking back at a partnership that was something else entirely.)

 

[msumner]

It was 101 and 102 here last week. That is too hot. Storm was in the ocean before most were up. She doesn't like it and will complain any time the temp goes above 70.
Inside the AC is kept at 69 for her during those high heat temps.
It was 63 today. Fine for her.