Guest Blaze Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 We have had Blaze and Hannah for just a short time. They are doing great but I have a question. Today in Boise, Idaho the high temp. is 93 degrees. I took them this morning for their walk while it was only in the low 70's but currently in our home it is 84 degrees now late in the afternoon. I have the windows open, and the ceiling fans on to get a breeze but should I be concerned. They are resting on the cool hardwood floors and are not panting which is good. It cost money to run the AC system and I am comfortable enough myself wearing shorts and a tee shirt, I just want to be careful with them. If it gets much warmer I will run the AC. What is too hot? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Energy11 Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 I KNOW where you are coming from! I used to live in hott, horrible Central Florida! A good rule of thumb is ... if you are hot, your greys are hot. If they are resting quietly, not panting or stressing, you are okay, but if you notice they are panting a lot or stressed, time to turn on the AC. You CAN wipe them down with cool clothes, too. HUMIDITY is your/their worst enemy! A body cannot cool properly in high humidity. Even turning on the AC to 80/82, BUT getting the humidity out of the air, helps a lot! If you do that, keep the fans, ceiling fans, etc. running as well. You can also add Gatorade/50/50 to their drinking water, YOURS too, to help replace the electrolytes .... (other sports drinks are fine, too). Yes, walk them EARLY in the morning, and LATE in the evening, but remember, high humidity is your and their enemy! Good luck and try to keep cool! D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Blaze Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 I KNOW where you are coming from! I used to live in hott, horrible Central Florida! A good rule of thumb is ... if you are hot, your greys are hot. If they are resting quietly, not panting or stressing, you are okay, but if you notice they are panting a lot or stressed, time to turn on the AC. You CAN wipe them down with cool clothes, too. HUMIDITY is your/their worst enemy! A body cannot cool properly in high humidity. Even turning on the AC to 80/82, BUT getting the humidity out of the air, helps a lot! If you do that, keep the fans, ceiling fans, etc. running as well. You can also add Gatorade/50/50 to their drinking water, YOURS too, to help replace the electrolytes .... (other sports drinks are fine, too). Yes, walk them EARLY in the morning, and LATE in the evening, but remember, high humidity is your and their enemy! Good luck and try to keep cool! D Thanks for the reply. I remember Florida being very humid where as here in South West Boise, Idaho we live in a dry climate. Not humid at all. Good and bad. We don't have the green hills like parts of Washington state but we don't get that much rain either which I like. They do seem fine but will keep an eye on them as it gets hotter. In the summer it can get into the 100's and that is when I run the AC. I will add some Gatorade in their water after their morning walk to help replace the lost electrolytes like you have mentioned. That is smart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Energy11 Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 I KNOW where you are coming from! I used to live in hott, horrible Central Florida! A good rule of thumb is ... if you are hot, your greys are hot. If they are resting quietly, not panting or stressing, you are okay, but if you notice they are panting a lot or stressed, time to turn on the AC. You CAN wipe them down with cool clothes, too. HUMIDITY is your/their worst enemy! A body cannot cool properly in high humidity. Even turning on the AC to 80/82, BUT getting the humidity out of the air, helps a lot! If you do that, keep the fans, ceiling fans, etc. running as well. You can also add Gatorade/50/50 to their drinking water, YOURS too, to help replace the electrolytes .... (other sports drinks are fine, too). Yes, walk them EARLY in the morning, and LATE in the evening, but remember, high humidity is your and their enemy! Good luck and try to keep cool! D Thanks for the reply. I remember Florida being very humid where as here in South West Boise, Idaho we live in a dry climate. Not humid at all. Good and bad. We don't have the green hills like parts of Washington state but we don't get that much rain either which I like. They do seem fine but will keep an eye on them as it gets hotter. In the summer it can get into the 100's and that is when I run the AC. I will add some Gatorade in their water after their morning walk to help replace the lost electrolytes like you have mentioned. That is smart. It IS good that you are living in "dry heat," but heat is heat. As I mentioned, IF YOU are hot, they are hot as well... cutting the Gatorade/sports drinks, 50% drink to 50% water, ACTUALLY does get it into your/their cells faster! Hoping you have a cooler summer! I am happy here in the N. Ga Mountains! Possible FROST tonight! Yeee HAW!!! Hugs to all! Dee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anne Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 I live in Arizona and it's HOT here. My dogs tend to be very comfortable until it gets to about 80 in the house. But last year when my air conditioner died, they did fine with the heat up in the 90's in the house, but I had a ton of fans blowing and did go buy a window air for the night or two we had to live without the central! Make sure they have cold water to drink, when it's really hot, I put ice cubes in their water and they love em! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Spencers_Greyt Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 I could only wish for your "hot" temps. It was 107 here today. Too hot is if you're uncomfortable in the heat. If you can't take it neither can the dogs. From what you're describing I would say that it is definitely not too hot for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahicks51 Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 In the summer, we walk late at night- sometimes it never dips below 90F. The dogs vary in terms of endurance, but some will pant or breathe heavily for an hour or so afterwards, and that's only after a mile walk (at night!). There's also adaptation- dogs and people will acclimate to reasonable differences in temperature from 72F. Make sure there's plenty of water- and if you have hard tap water and live in a harsh climate, consider getting an RO unit. It's less work for the kidneys. Quote Coco (Maze Cocodrillo) Minerva (Kid's Snipper) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest hvacman250 Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 84 in your house, sheez. I would melt... We keep our AC on 73 all summer here in the south. I guess mine are spoiled. Anything over 75 and Im dying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Energy11 Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 God, remind me NEVER to move to Arizona! OMG! And, I thought Florida was bad! Heat is heat, dry or not! Keep cool there y'all! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAJ2010 Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 I think it varies from dog to dog. Rainy starts to pant heavily while at rest around the mid 80's. We have a high humidity here, plus are on the top floor of the apt building. If your pups start to pant heavily while at rest you can always toss them in the tub and wet them down with some mild temp water and let them dry while the air conditioning kicks in. Quote ------ Jessica Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest EmilyAnne Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 (edited) ^^^ yes, I agree that it definately varies from dog to dog. Watch the dog for signs, and let them lay down and rest whenever they want. we rest on the grass between the sidewalk and the street on quiet streets. I bring water when temps get to upper 60's or above. (for 3 mile walks) I definately suggest using more caution with elderly dogs. I'm anticipating that we will need to shorten our walk a bit this summer as Henry has aged some over the winter. Henry is my first grey (he's a grey mix actually, but back to the point...) and I thought because of his low body fat and super short hair and blad tummy and etc., he would do very well with heat compared to other breeds. I was wrong! My eskie did better with heat last summer than Henry did! (my eskie btw is older than henry) I guess if they are more prone to cold, then they are more prone to extreme temps on both ends? We live in Michigan, towards the north. So currently we are spared of extreme heat. But we plan to move to Florida... edited to fix typo Edited May 19, 2009 by EmilyAnne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trudy Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 Not something we have to worry about here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Energy11 Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 Not something we have to worry about here very true on that one! :-) lol I bet your furkids are totally used to the cold by now. Hot warm does it get there in the summer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Greensleeves Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 I agree that it varies from dog to dog, but... sighthounds evolved in desert climates, so you'd THINK they'd do better at heat! Whistler was a huge drama queen when it came to being too hot. "Too hot" for Whistler was 55 degrees in February. Flint and Baloo don't do well in the heat, either (if the house gets above 76-78 or so). What you might do is keep wet bandanas tied around their necks, and keep spritzer bottles handy to cool them off. A kiddie pool is another good, inexpensive investment (if they'll go in it!). They also make cooling beds/mats of several different types, which can help ENORMOUSLY, but they'd cost you a little more. Look in pretty much any dog supply catalogue. Good luck! We're having a cold, wet spring, and I am MISERABLE waiting for the heat we're supposed to be having! They're promising 80s this week, finally.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BlackandBrindle Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 We normally keep the ac about 78-80. I can't stand it any hotter than that inside. If I'm doing stuff in the house I turn it down to 77. Two years ago my ac unit broke. By noon is was 93 in the house (it was about 118 outside though). Both my dogs were laying on the tile, had fans on them, and I was regularly spritzing them. Anything over 80 and they start to pant so we keep it there. We have ceiling fans in every room as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest FordRacingRon Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 Leia shuts down at 80. If it's going to be warmer then that, afternoon walkies are out as there is no point. Its time to break out her swimming pool. If our house gets over 80 inside, on comes the AC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest sheila Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 I can't help but remember the time I visited a greyhound farm in KS. It was 98 degrees in the shade and I was melting. All the dogs were fine. The dogs in the kennel were fine (they had fans) and the dogs outside were fine (they had pools and a shelter). Yes the dogs were hot, but they were also playing/sleeping and doing everything else dogs so. The only ones whining about the heat were the humans. I've said it before and I will say it again. Greyhounds are not hot-house flowers......they are dogs. They will acclimate themselves to the conditions they are kept in Mine are house pets and acclimated to a temp of no more than 80 degrees in the summer and no less than 60 in the winter. I do know they could survive and thrive in more extreme temps though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dillymom Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 I live in Central Fl- it's hot and it's humid most of the year. I keep the house at 78 and my girls are fine. I don't add gatorade or anything to their water. They're indoors the vast majority of the day. They get their morning walk around 7am and evening walks around 8pm so it's not excessively hot. During the day they love to go outside and lay in the sun but I worry more about them getting sunburnt then dehydrated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Echobelly1 Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 My vet mentioned to me that since dogs don't sweat, a fan doesn't help much unless it is bringing in cool air, or the dog is wet (evaporating moisture creates a cooling effect). I always hose my dog down before walks in the summer, and give him ice cubes to eat. Some sports shops sell gel-filled neckerchiefs for joggers that you keep in the fridge. I tie one of these loosely around Ali's neck if he's really panting. Ali pants whenever it's above 50, unlike my last great, who shivered if it was below 50. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmdsmoxie Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 Just a reminder, if the road is hottop and hot to your bare foot, it's hot to your pups feet also. Dick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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