# Trialing In Summer Questions



## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

I would hope that the organisers will have taken the summer heat into account and arranged cool space for dogs - I would ask, based upon this assumption! If they have not perhaps you could work with other competitors to watch over each other's dogs/cars while you take it in turn to walk the course.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

fjm I hate to say it but the organizers have probably not made such arrangements.


Click, get there very early and see if you can plot the path of the sun to be in the shade as much as possible. I do a lot to keep my vehicle as cool as possible even if I am sure of crating inside, like finding the shade of trees for parking during loading and unloading. Being there early will hopefully get you space for your crate.


I have a windshield sunshade. Sunshades for my front side windows which are not tinted (back windows are all pretty darkly tinted). I also have several sizes of lock bars for my tailgate so I can leave it open part way but secure. I further have solar shade cloths in several sizes like this one from Clean Run. https://www.cleanrun.com/product/14...ed_shade_cloth_panels/index.cfm?ParentCat=254 And finally I have two fans that can run on batteries that I can stuff into windows to keep air moving through the vehicle. Also the dogs have cooling coats.



I am going to Binghamton, NY next week to trial and all of this stuff will go with me even though we will be crated inside for the weekend. I am also thinking about a trial in Western Maryland in August but need to check on FB to see what people think of the site to know I will be able to keep Lily safe since I think I would plan to take only her for rally.


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## Click-N-Treat (Nov 9, 2015)

It's too small of a venue for the amount of people coming. I looked at the satellite photo. There are 50 parking spaces and 119 dogs entered. I don't think there are any trees at all, either. Just a building out in a cornfield. There are two obedience trials on Saturday and an obedience and rally trial on Sunday. Since it's a titling weekend in obedience, I am going to assume that a majority of people will be there on both days and leave their crates behind on Saturday. Sunday morning obedience starts at 8. Rally starts at 9. I'm concerned about finding a place to park. I can see myself completely freaking out over that. Maybe I should get there at 7:30? 

Hopefully I will be able to find a spot for my chair. Noelle prefers to hang out under my chair instead of in a crate. During the course walk, I'll put her in the car with the A/C cranked up. 10 minutes maximum alone time in the car should be OK. As soon as I'm done walking the course, we'll hang out by my chair. Show, then go together to my car for a rest until awards. Seriously, I don't care how air conditioned the building is, with that many dogs and people, it's going to be far hotter in there than in my car. And noisier, too. If I estimate 2 minutes per dog, I'll be back in time for awards. 

We're team #5 of 13 in Master, team #4 of 12 in Excellent B, and team #6 of 16 in Advanced B. This gives me time to walk the course, collect my dog from the car, and return to my chair without having to worry about time. 

Sound like a plan? Get there at 7:30? Thoughts? Please peel me off the ceiling. I kinda freaked out when I saw the judging program and thought about the venue.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

Sounds like as good a plan for the conditions as can be had. I would definitely plan to be there by 7:30!


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## Skylar (Jul 29, 2016)

Yikes. Good luck. Hopefully there will be plenty of people showing more than one dog. 

Everyone had to crate outside at my last AKC nose work trial. We were not prepared but luckily it worked out because it was hot. I saw most people had those aluminum fabric mesh thrown over their cars. Some one told me not to buy the cheapest version because the better ones have more grommets so you have more options to tie it down. If I have to crate outside in the heat again, I will buy one. 

People also had pop up tents and or these pop up ceilings so they had shade to sit under. I’d probably buy one too. 

Plenty of people had fans that ran on batteries. 

The one thing I could have done was leave the trunk hood up on my SUV. When we lifted the trunk lid (DH was with me) we realized it kept the lights on and we didn’t know how to stop that and was afraid it would drain our battery. I would look into that....how can you leave your trunk open without lights turning on. With trunk and all windows open we had some good wind flow. If you have a hot but windy day, look to having this as a back up plan to running the air conditioning. 

Since DH was with me, he checked out the campus and found some seating in deep shade that were more comfortable to sit it. I also clipped Babykins very short in a Miami bikini. 

When I did AKC Rally there wasn’t room for crating. We stood around inside the building. It wasn’t fun.

Edited to add. Most of the people at that nose work trial were used to outside crating from others sports such as agility or the NACSW nose work trials which crate outside most of the time. I had never done it and was so uncomfortable with the concept but it worked fine.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

Skylar the sun shades from Clean Run are good. They are well made and have sturdy grommets, although mostly I use alligator clips to hang/secure them. You should also think about these so you can have the tailgate door open but secured. https://www.cleanrun.com/product/ventlock_car_tailgate_locks/index.cfm?ParentCat=255 



I also have an easy up but don't generally take it on the road with me since it takes up a lot of space.


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## Skylar (Jul 29, 2016)

lily cd re said:


> Skylar the sun shades from Clean Run are good. They are well made and have sturdy grommets, although mostly I use alligator clips to hang/secure them. You should also think about these so you can have the tailgate door open but secured. https://www.cleanrun.com/product/ventlock_car_tailgate_locks/index.cfm?ParentCat=255
> U
> 
> 
> I also have an easy up but don't generally take it on the road with me since it takes up a lot of space.


Thanks Catherine. I will say that the people who came with all these accessories were comfortable even though it was really hot and we had rain with some thunderstorms that weekend.


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## scooterscout99 (Dec 3, 2015)

Skylar described what I saw at the NACSW trial in Geneva, IL yesterday. I ran my AC since it was allowed (at a prior trial at this site, it wasn’t), and I was only there for about 2 hours total. Another method of holding down reflective blankets to cars is with magnets. Some of my friends have offered to lend me the gear, blankets and pop-ups, before I go out and purchase. I invested in a cooling gel crate mat that would be useful for my hot-blooded dog for most of the year.

I did run my AC for an entire day at a barn hunt in Kalamazoo last year. It was sooooo hot and there wasn’t room for crating in the non-air conditioned building.

BTW, the first time that I crated in my car was by accident, arriving at the trial site to find 3 rings packed into a smallish building with little crating space available. I titled my (non-poodle) dog in RA that day so it didn’t have the effect that I expected, though it raised my stress level.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

Since I am in the midst of doing some research and thinking about going to a trial site I haven't been to before let me suggest that there are some FB groups that have reviews and comments on trial sites and judges that you can join. I am not a huge FB user, but I do belong to a few of those sorts of groups and use them when I really don't have personal knowledge about the places I am considering going.


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## Michigan Gal (Jun 4, 2019)

When you leave the with the air conditioning on, the air conditioning will automatically turn off after a few minutes.


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## Click-N-Treat (Nov 9, 2015)

My air conditioning doesn't shut off if I idle. I had it blasting for half an hour at my last trial. The car would be my last resort, though. I talked it over with my rally teacher. She suggested arriving early, like I planned. If I can't find a crate spot right away, I'll have friends at the trial who will Noelle's leash while I walk the course. It sounds like several people will be done with Open before I start rally, so those crates will hopefully be gone. I am pretty sure I'll be able to find a place for my chair and crate.


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## Skylar (Jul 29, 2016)

Click-N-Treat said:


> If I can't find a crate spot right away, I'll have friends at the trial who will Noelle's leash while I walk the course.


 That's what I had to do when I went to my club's AKC rally. There's plenty of people who are more than happy to hold the leash.

Good luck - this is the weekend correct?


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## scooterscout99 (Dec 3, 2015)

Just an FYI for NACSW competitors. We have two early August nosework trials, and the heat is a concern to me since NACSW requires crating in cars. The first trial host was explicit in stating that there would be a parking area for those choosing to run their vehicles for the AC. The second trial instructions didn’t mention this so I e-mailed the host club. They responded that I could run my AC but would have to move my vehicle if someone complained. I plan on following up to see if an early arrival, thereby ‘establishing’ an AC-friendly zone, would be acceptable.

Yesterday I met a friend early (7 am) to train nosework before it became too hot. (It was 77 F at 6 am on my covered back porch.) We both parked on grass in the shade at a local ball park. We started with container searches on concrete, and progressed to exterior searches on grass and concrete. My friend’s dog totally shut down in response to the heat, and my dog wasn’t in full search mode. We both then closed our cars and started running them with AC on full. My friend’s dog did slightly better, but she told me that he headed for his AC vent and a long nap as soon as they arrived home (she’d been advised by her trainer that heat was a problem for him). My spoo did well on the final exterior search on concrete after the cool-down. He tends to be warm, and I use a portable fan even when crating indoors.

Take aways for me are that my dog’s (and my) safety are paramount. And if we can’t perform at our best, I don’t want to even show up. Nosework isn’t an endurance sport for me. I plan on using car blankets and fans as well, but I don’t think that they are enough for the weather conditions currently affecting a large swath of the U.S.


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## Streetcar (Apr 13, 2014)

Lately here, I have been aghast at reading some competitions "'require'" crating in cars. There are so many ways that can go awry, and to think sport organizations willingly and purposefully put dogs at risk like that disgusts me. Scooterscout99, I fully agree with you. Btw, I'm not a freak who believes dogs should never be left alone in cars; far from it.

A title search is not worth the loss of a beloved dog, whether from heat or theft. If one has an RV or well-appointed camper with superior power source, that's different, of course. Though I have read of a professional handler whose RV unexpectedly lost power during a hot day, so generators are not 100%.

Wishing for full safety for all PooFo Poodles - I know no one here willingly puts her/his Poodle at risk. We humans may need to reassess our schedules to deal with these massive heat waves.


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## Johanna (Jun 21, 2017)

Another way to keep a dog cool is to put ice packs on the floor of the crate then put a pegboard floor over them. I used to do that when I went to shows in warm weather.


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## Skylar (Jul 29, 2016)

Johanna, that’s a smart idea to use ice. 

Streetcar, I’m not fond of this extreme heat....we’ve been under a heat advisory. My dog doesn’t like heat. I’m very sensitive to things like that. While our crating in the car worked beautifully for our trial, I have no problem staying home or pulling out early if it’s too uncomfortable. I wouldn’t even go under this heat advisory.

I did pull my dog from a WCRL Rally competition in the spring because she had some digestive upset and clearly wasn’t feeling well. She wasn’t throwing up, no temperature etc., just a little off. I felt she needed to stay home and rest. 

I think the members here are game to give challenges like crating in the car a shot if only if we can make it work safely and comfortably.


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## Click-N-Treat (Nov 9, 2015)

Well, we did end up finding a place inside where I could squeeze in my crate and chair. We're back home now and all is well.


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## Skylar (Jul 29, 2016)

I’m so happy you were able to crate inside so you were safe from the heat and comfortable.


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## Streetcar (Apr 13, 2014)

Skylar said:


> Johanna, that’s a smart idea to use ice.
> 
> Streetcar, I’m not fond of this extreme heat....we’ve been under a heat advisory. My dog doesn’t like heat. I’m very sensitive to things like that. While our crating in the car worked beautifully for our trial, I have no problem staying home or pulling out early if it’s too uncomfortable. I wouldn’t even go under this heat advisory.
> 
> ...


Oh Skylar, I trust you and all our sporting members here, just not necessarily these clubs, car air conditioning, and, living where I do, complete honesty of strangers happening by to not steal a dog. In other words on that last, there are all types who'd want to snag a dog from a car, from regular thieves to AR types. Maybe not such an issue at a dog performance venue !


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