# Very Hot Walk for a Black SPOO



## TeamHellhound (Feb 5, 2021)

Depending on the humidity, even under 80 can be too much. At 10:30 this morning, the heat index was already 95, thanks to the 80%+ humidity. Leo and I stayed home, instead of going out to do parkour. Even with AC in the car, a fan, a cooling mat, and plenty of water, I knew she would be too susceptible to over heating.


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## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

It’s so easy to get into situations like that. And amazing how heavy a baby spoo can be if confronted with a situation where you have to carry one! Glad all turned out okay and there were ample water sources. 

Peggy was still only doing sniffy walks at Elroy’s age, just meandering around at her own pace, mostly on soft surfaces. We used the Puppy Culture chart as a guide:






Exercise Guidelines for Puppies (By Puppy Culture) – Inugami – Finnish Spitz







www.inugami.ca


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## For Want of Poodle (Feb 25, 2019)

It's so easy to overdo it, isn't it?

For future reference I find it helpful to wet down the dogs back and legs and head and belly if you can - like plop him in the fountain or wipe him down with water. Dogs don't sweat and I find the evaporative cooling helps cool Annie down much faster. They lose heat through panting and their feet, so wet feet help too. 

I overdid it with Annie a few days ago, so drove her straight to the beach to wade a bit on the shore.


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## TeamHellhound (Feb 5, 2021)

PeggyTheParti said:


> It’s so easy to get into situations like that. And amazing how heavy a baby spoo can be if confronted with a situation where you have to carry one! Glad all turned out okay and there were ample water sources.


I know a 35 pound pittie is unbelievably heavy when carried for more than a block or so.


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## reraven123 (Jul 21, 2017)

For Want of Poodle said:


> It's so easy to overdo it, isn't it?
> 
> For future reference I find it helpful to wet down the dogs back and legs and head and belly if you can -


Be very careful about wetting down a dog's back. If the sun is out water on the back can heat to boiling very fast and burn the dog. Much better to wet the belly and legs.


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## 94Magna_Tom (Feb 23, 2021)

PeggyTheParti said:


> It’s so easy to get into situations like that. And amazing how heavy a baby spoo can be if confronted with a situation where you have to carry one! Glad all turned out okay and there were ample water sources.
> 
> Peggy was still only doing sniffy walks at Elroy’s age, just meandering around at her own pace, mostly on soft surfaces. We used the Puppy Culture chart as a guide:
> 
> ...


This was the longest walk he's had on pavement. At least one good thing came of it. A good portion of the walk was on a busy avenue. He was jittery about traffic whizzing by on the first half of the walk (we stopped during busy traffic and "talked" and treated), but by the time we were done, he wasn't phased by it.
I hadn't read that puppy culture chart before and the walking part is unclear to me. It says he can go 100-200 ft at a time, stopping and sniffing. What does this really mean? Rest every couple of hundred feet, then OK to continue? I always (with exceptions) let Elroy go at his own sniffy pace.


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## Skylar (Jul 29, 2016)

Tom, we always carry water for the dogs to drink and offer it regularly. I don’t let my dogs drink random water, you never know what is in that water. There’s several different easy to carry gadgets that combine a water bottle with something that they can drink from. 

I also followed Puppy Culture and stuck to mostly sniffy walks at Elroy’s age. I wouldn’t have walked a puppy that far at that age. With puppies you, as the human, never want to keep the puppy doing the same repetitive motion such as walking a long distance. A sniffy walk is very slow, puppy walks a little, puppy stops and sniff, puppy turns right to sniff, puppy turns left to sniff, puppy walks and repeat. You don’t go far then you head home. You probably are doing this in your backyard. You build up slowly walking a little farther.


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## Misteline (Mar 10, 2019)

Evelyn can't tolerate much over 75°F so it's amazing to me that Elroy did so well given that he's black! Evelyn spends a lot less time outside though and my apartment stays chilly since its on the ground floor, so he's not acclimated to the heat.


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## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

94Magna_Tom said:


> This was the longest walk he's had on pavement. At least one good thing came of it. A good portion of the walk was on a busy avenue. He was jittery about traffic whizzing by on the first half of the walk (we stopped during busy traffic and "talked" and treated), but by the time we were done, he wasn't phased by it.
> I hadn't read that puppy culture chart before and the walking part is unclear to me. It says he can go 100-200 ft at a time, stopping and sniffing. What does this really mean? Rest every couple of hundred feet, then OK to continue? I always (with exceptions) let Elroy go at his own sniffy pace.


I interpret them within the general rule of thumb for puppy exercise, which is 5 mins of exercise per month of puppy age, up to twice a day.

So a four-month-old puppy can tolerate 20 minutes of physical exercise twice a day. Using the Puppy Culture guidelines, that would be two Sniff ‘n’ Strolls. It could also be two 100-200 ft “sustained” walks, with some grassy playtime before or after to pad each session to 20 minutes.

Not only do these guidelines protect a puppy’s joints and growing bones, they force you to get creative with mental exercise and prevent you from building puppy’s stamina to an unsustainable degree.


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## For Want of Poodle (Feb 25, 2019)

reraven123 said:


> Be very careful about wetting down a dog's back. If the sun is out water on the back can heat to boiling very fast and burn the dog. Much better to wet the belly and legs.


Sorry, but that's not how evaporative cooling works at all.

I put water on my own head and on my clothing all the time while out on the water for hours or while working construction. I don't worry about my head boiling if my head sweats, or my sweaty neck getting burnt by the evaporating water! Sweat (which is what wetting down a dog mimics) is an adaption designed for humans to do great feats of exertion in hot weather, and regulate temperatures to our big brain in the hot sun. Should I tell my black friend with a bald head he can't go in the sun because the sweat on his scalp will boil if he goes in the sun?

A puddle on asphalt doesn't boil - it warms and evaporates. My wet black t-shirt doesn't scald me, either.

Water helps with dissipating heat and reduces the insulative value of dog hair (or a down jacket, or even a fleece jacket). It's much more effective in dry weather than humid, but still helpful even when muggy. This ability for water to compromise insulation and dissipate heat is why you can get hypothermia from spending too much time even in surprisingly warm water (think 15-21 C) 

Better to use a wet white t-shirt and reflect some light and hold more water than just fur alone, but just the dogs coat does in a pinch. You do have to keep them wetted down if wearing clothing.


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## reraven123 (Jul 21, 2017)

Sweat on skin evaporates and cools. Water trapped in a dog's hair heats up in the sun and can burn.


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## Basil_the_Spoo (Sep 1, 2020)

The good news is that our poodles are a bit resilient to our mistakes, and you learned what not to do. I had a *very *similar and scary story of limit testing with Basil pre pf forum. You're not alone. 

Now, I would much rather she smell every square inch of grass under the shade. The fresh air + sniffy time is like exercise the same way yoga is exercise but it's not what we normally think of as exercise.


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## For Want of Poodle (Feb 25, 2019)

reraven123 said:


> Sweat on skin evaporates and cools. Water trapped in a dog's hair heats up in the sun and can burn.


Source? Any science to explain your theory?

Water lowers the temperature of the area around it as it evaporates. It's not trapped in a dog's coat - even matts aren't air tight. Even if it was - it's not going to heat above ambient temperatures.

I do this frequently while hiking or canoeing in the summer. Her hair is cooler to the touch and Annie stops panting, particularly if I wet down the topknot/back of neck area in addition to belly, feet, back, etc.

If wear a black wool sweater in the summer and soak it in water, it isn't going to spontaneously boil. I might be a bit uncomfortable, but definitely cooler than if I was wearing the sweater dry.
Try it! I've done it - a black merino wool turtle neck undershirt I was wearing when it got hotter than expected. I peeled off my jacket and down vest, but was stuck with the merino shirt, so dumped water on it to cool off. It was actually pretty comfy.

I wear always long sleeve shirts in summer for canoeing (often flannel) and dunk them in the lake. I am cool until they dry out, then I redunk them. I dunk my hat in the lake too, keeps my head way cooler. Failing that, I dump some on my hair.


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## 94Magna_Tom (Feb 23, 2021)

Lots of hairy animals get wet and end up in the sun. I've never heard of any animal getting scalded by water heating up in the sun. Tried googleing it, no results. I'm with FWoP on this one.


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## 94Magna_Tom (Feb 23, 2021)

Forecast today is 93°F and 55% humidity. Another scorcher here in CT! Playing fetch now. Dentist appt at 11. After that, Elroy is going to have a indoor kind of day.
Oh yeah, he's already had a digging session in his digging spot today too! Groomer visit is tomorrow!


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## cowpony (Dec 30, 2009)

Ritter commends Elroy's engineering chops.


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## Christine.G (Nov 19, 2020)

94Magna_Tom said:


> Forecast today is 93°F and 55% humidity. Another scorcher here in CT! Playing fetch now. Dentist appt at 11. After that, Elroy is going to have a indoor kind of day.
> Oh yeah, he's already had a digging session in his digging spot today too! Groomer visit is tomorrow!


So precious


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

We haven't taken any real walks this week. It is too hot on Long Island. They go out in the yard for just a few minutes at a time. I think that distance is a bit much for a younger puppy even if not too hot. Play brain games in the house instead by my way of thinking.


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## Mufar42 (Jan 1, 2017)

I found this and you may find it helpful








Exercise Ideas for Puppies - What is Safe & What Isn't?


Exercise ideas for puppies - what is safe and what isn't? Here are some ideas you can use for exercising and socializaing your puppy safely!




www.thatmutt.com


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## buddyrose (Jul 27, 2011)

PeggyTheParti said:


> I interpret them within the general rule of thumb for puppy exercise, which is 5 mins of exercise per month of puppy age, up to twice a day.
> 
> So a four-month-old puppy can tolerate 20 minutes of physical exercise twice a day. Using the Puppy Culture guidelines, that would be two Sniff ‘n’ Strolls. It could also be two 100-200 ft “sustained” walks, with some grassy playtime before or after to pad each session to 20 minutes.
> 
> Not only do these guidelines protect a puppy’s joints and growing bones, they force you to get creative with mental exercise and prevent you from building puppy’s stamina to an unsustainable degree.


I follow the same 5 minutes per month rule. On the one hand puppies have so much energy to burn off; on the other hand they exhaust themselves easily.

I have these water bottles attached to a bowl that sling over my shoulder. But when it's hot out, I don't walk my dog so long that she needs that water. On hot days I stay in the shade and only walk for her to do her business plus a little play. Then back inside.

Have you considered getting one of those little hard plastic toddler pools for your yard? Or putting a lawn sprinkler outside? I suspect your pup will have a blast. Have a towel handy. Lol.


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## curlflooffan (Mar 27, 2020)

This is a terrifying thread to read when ones brain thinks in celsius


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## Jilly SummerSunset (Sep 16, 2020)

94Magna_Tom said:


> I decided to go for a walk to the post office with Elroy this morning. It was 80°F when we left at 10:15ish. At about 5 minutes in, he pooped, and I realized I forgot to replenish my bag supply so we went back home to get them. By the time we got back to the poop spot, it was 10 minutes later and now it was warmer and the sun was higher. I picked up the poop and decided to keep going as I wanted to get the letters into the mail and last I knew, the high for the say was going to be around 80F. The post office is about 1.5 miles away. Anyway, long story short, I regretted that I didn't turn back (for Elroy's sake). It was 11:15am-12 noon for the walk home, the sun was high, it was 90°F+, and shade was sparse. I hadn't realized that the forecast had changed and it was going to be another scorcher. I stopped to let Elroy take breaks in the shade every few hundred feet. We also stopped 3 times for drinks of water, a stream, a brook, and a public water fountain (the kind you toss coins into) on the town green, so he had water. When we got home he was happy to get inside, drink more water, and crash out in the cool AC. So was I! Learned a lesson. Check the current forecast, and no lengthy walks if it's going to be above 80°F. I won't be doing that again if I have a choice.


My Maggie is black. On the hot days we've had, she goes out, pees or poops and back inside ASAP. My apricot, same thing. My GoldenRetriever wants to stay out. I tell him to get his butt in the house. 🤣


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## Jeanette M Medina (Jun 15, 2021)

I usually go with her for an evening walk. This is the only exercise we are doing.


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## Thomazine (Aug 9, 2020)

I have a black spoo in VA. On hot days, we meet his husky friends at the park at 7 am. Then he naps most of the day until I walk him in the evening. I try to do short training games inside to break up the day, but despite being high energy, he really won’t walk in the heat - just lies down on his side pointedly. He is a different animal when it’s under 80.


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