Cooling Down After Zoomies...a Q?

[Guest SteveO]

Grace has been in our home nearly two weeks and has been pure joy (except for the gas bombs! lol) to become part of our family. So far so good. It even seems we were blessed with getting an extraordinary hound with few if any issues. She has really settled in nicely and even likes to play with me romping on the carpet every now and then.

 

My question is about greyhounds in general. After a race do the track dog handlers assist in cooling the dogs down? Do they get wiped down like race horses do? Do they get spritzed with cool water or wet toweled?

 

Just curious if I should be doing anything with her after some extra big zoomies around our half acre lot. She waited a few days before doing any but now has a "racetrack" around the swing set, across the yard, around the garden, past me, and around again. Last night during our last trip out she made a few extra runs and worked up a big pant. Obviously, she cooled down herself but wondered would something from my part have helped that I don't know about.

 

thanks, SteveO

[dmdsmoxie]

My question is about greyhounds in general. After a race do the track dog handlers assist in cooling the dogs down? Do they get wiped down like race horses do? Do they get spritzed with cool water or wet toweled?

 

 

This is Rachel's photo essay about a dogs life before you adopted. You will see the cool down procedure.

 

Dick

[TheFullHouse]

I don't usually cool mine down, they do it on their own. I also don't let mine run for extended periods of time during the summer months. For just zoomies in the back yard for a couple of minutes, coming into the air conditioning and some cool water works just fine. If I think they over did it, a squirt with the hose works well.

[Tallgreydogmom]

At the race track I am familiar with there is an area where the dog is hosed off, cooled down, mud and whatever is rinsed off from the dog. They are checked for any cuts (greyhounds have very thin skin) and their feet are carefully checked over for cuts, stones, toes going in the wrong direction or nails hanging off.

 

I know of incidents where a greyhound has run into something in their yard and it was not noticed until someone noticed the trail of blood. Greyhounds are sight hounds but I think sometimes they can't see whats right in front of them, like a branch or pitch fork. They turn the corner in the yard and their the foreign objects are. They do not expect to find these objects because they never had any on the track.

Edited September 1, 2011 by Tallgreydogmom

[OwnedBySummer]

I don't do anything special to cool Summer down. She has her own wading pool and if she's hot, she plops herself into it.

[Yamaha_gurl]

I'm extreme. I hose Bella down if her tongue is hanging out of her mouth, she gets hosed! My bf says I sould have gotten a turtle...soon she's gonna start to go moldy!

[Time4ANap]

We will sometimes use a cold wet towel on Rocket if he seems to be overheated. We also have a cooling jacket made out of towel material. You need to be careful though, and change it or re-wet it with COLD water as it warms up. You don't want to trap the heat in under the towel. We only do this if he doesn't seem to be cooling down enough on his own once inside the house in the AC.

[cleptogrey]

I'm extreme. I hose Bella down if her tongue is hanging out of her mouth, she gets hosed! My bf says I sould have gotten a turtle...soon she's gonna start to go moldy!

ha-ha-like the bf comment!

 

felix runs hot, really hot.(when he is not running and you touch him he is a hot dog). he always gets hosed down- weather permitting. during the colder months it can take him nearly an hour to cool down. annie runs but never gets as overheated. i don't know if it's the training, felix was never on the track. when he goes it's one speed, one mission and it's either get that ball no matter what or get that frisbee no matter what. each dog is different, but he loves getting watered. i start under the chest and belly and work my way up.

[Gryffenne]

My question is about greyhounds in general. After a race do the track dog handlers assist in cooling the dogs down? Do they get wiped down like race horses do? Do they get spritzed with cool water or wet toweled?

 

 

This is Rachel's photo essay about a dogs life before you adopted. You will see the cool down procedure.

 

Dick

Love the photo essay!! Gorgeous pics of gorgeous greys

 

 

(tho I will admit I was hoping to see the famous one-foot-on-the-ground pic )

[Guest KennelMom]

They usually hose 'em down at the track or walk them through a cooling pool

 

Here's the world famous Cracker getting hosed down by his trainer after a stakes race

 

But, there's a bit of a difference between yard zoomies and a race...I don't do anything special for yard zoomies. In warm weather, if I have a dog out coursing, I'll hose them down after a course (sometimes before too) like they do at the track. Sometimes they have kiddie pools available and I'll offer that to the dog. Cool water over the belly,chest and ears are the best places to cool them down quickly. I also usually do the paws and booty muscles.

 

I don't like cooling jackets and don't recommend them. I think they can be more dangerous than helpful.

[Guest zombrie]

I walk my dogs out after they run. Doolin runs are very intense so he NEEDS to be cooled down. Mira is a little older and her hind legs shake after zoomies, and when I walk her out the shaking stops

Edited September 2, 2011 by zombrie

[Guest SusanP]

We have a children's plastic-shell wading pool out in the yard all summer for Spinner. After zoomies, he runs right to it to lie in the cold water. (But our other hounds, who are older and no longer zoom much, won't lie down in the pool). The pool water needs to be changed about every other day, though.