Labs and the Heat

[broken line]

My yellow lab is 4 1/2, and over this summer, I've noticed she seems to get quite hot and tired very easily. I know to be very careful with them in the heat, but she seems to tire and pant a lot even after 3 or 4 throws of the training dummy. She loves to retrieve, so I hate to not let her, but I sure don't want her to overheat. Should I be concerned, or are others seeing this same thing with your own dogs. Curious to hear about your experiences.

[LABS4ME]

Do water work when it's hot out, or limit it to 3-4 retrieves. If you need more training then that, do 3-4 retrieves 2-3 times a day. Don't risk heat stroke...

Good Luck!

Ken

[BigDaddy]

I have one of those hard plastic kiddie pools (about 5-6' in dia). I fill it up with cold water from the hose. After every couple of retrieves, my dog lies in the pool. It seems to do the trick.

[LABS4ME]

I forgot to mention training in the mornings. Back in the day when I was running dogs, we'd get up at 5 am and run the dogs on their land work before it got hot out, then we'd switch over to water late morning. I had an aquaintance who never could get up and go out with us for the morning work and would want to run his dog on the land retrieves/blinds once we were done with thewater work. His dog would be totally spent after those work outs. I think we opened his eyes a little when he showed up one particularily hot day and wanted us to set up the land exercises for his dog again. I handed him my insulated duck parka and said we'd run the dog until he was uncomfortable wearing the jacket. It was probably in the mid-90's and there was no way he was going to put that jacket on. After that he started showing up with us for the a.m. times...

Good Luck!

Ken