Activity/exercise In The Heat

[Guest ms3569]

This is the first greyhound we have owned and also our first summer. We live in PA and the weather has been in the upper 90's with high humidity. How is the safest way to get exercise for my dog. He's young and active. I try to walk him very early or later in the evening. This isn't enough exercise for him. Does anybody have any suggestions of how they safely in the heat get more activity/ exercise for their dog. We do have a fenced backyard but it's not very shady. I appreciate any advice as this is all new to me.

[smurfette]

When it is very warm outside we have our activities indoors. I take little treats, put them in small balls of newspaper paper and make other balls without treats. I put them all over the living-room and let my dogs search and unpack them.

After that I have tired dogs and a living-room that looks like a hurricane went through it.

 

Or you can hide treaties in your house and let your dog search them. He will be tired because thinking is very stressy.

[Guest afulton]

We live in Phoenix and in the summer it gets well over 100 degrees. Sometimes in the evening my little girl would run around the yard a couple of times like a crazy greyhound then lay down in the cool of the grass and pant away. Of course, she's older now so she prefers to lay in the sun for as long as she can tolerate it rather than try running. Obviously, her sun bathing times are much shorter than they are in the "winter". We recently had a 19 month old boy in our home and he LOVED water. On the rare occasion it would rain, he would go out and love being in the rain. Perhaps you could get a small plastic pool he could step into and he could scratch at the water as tho he was digging in the dirt, then lay in the water to cool off. At our annual Greyhound picnics they always have one of the blue pools with hot dogs in the bottom for the hounds to do a sort of bob for apples type thing. Of course, the hot dogs sink to the bottom but certain dogs will do it and others won't.

[Guest WildSparkler]

Brain activity is a good exercise when it is super hot out! We have a feeder ball that my girl has to roll around to dispense the treats from (or kibble), although smurfette's idea is a cheaper version of a similar thing:) This is the one we have http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001F0RRUA/ref=sr_ph?ie=UTF8&qid=1437616270&sr=1&keywords=feeder+ballYou can also get more challenging puzzle games where they have to lift flaps and things to reveal treats. Kinda fun:)

I was going to suggest the plastic pool idea as well, as long as your grey likes water! You can get them for about $10 I believe.

[Guest OPointyDog]

Maybe look for a place nearby that has obedience classes and is air conditioned? We have a couple of places nearby that do boarding/training that have indoor play areas, too.

[3greytjoys]

Our younger hounds enjoy playing hide and seek by chasing us up/down fully carpeted stairs in the house. Interactive treat puzzles, scent games (hide plain boxes turned over with different treats or toys inside the house), etc.

 

Tip: Whenever playing chase games, encourage dog/s to chase their human (not the other way around). If the hound ever gets loose, you want the dog to be used to the fun game of running towards you (not away from you).

[Time4ANap]

Check with your local Home Depot and Lowes stores to see if dogs are permitted in the store. Many allow it, but it is up to the discretion of the manager unless there is a specific local law like a health code that forbids it. It is a good, air-conditioned place to walk on a weekday if it's allowed. It seems that most of the stores do allow it, but every so often we hear of one that doesn't.

 

Also farm supply stores like TSC and Rural King if you have them may also allow dogs. Rural King actually encourages you to bring your dog and gives them a free treat. No sure how far outside of the Midwest they have stores now.

 

Even though it;s not exercise, we also just do rides in the car. It's mental stimulation instead of being stranded in the house. A good ride will wear a hound out, until the next ride...

[TXRedbo]

Right now, we're in the high 90s in south Texas, and it will probably get hotter as we move into August. To be honest, we still take Redbo out for walks, even at noon or 4pm because he's a little high energy and gets destructive when he's bored or not exercised enough. However, we don't walk on the concrete/asphalt (keep it to the grass and dirt areas) and we try to stay in the shade as much as possible. We also carry bottles of water and his water dish so he stays hydrated, and I'll wet his head and body with water during the walk. When we get back, I'll drape some wet towels on his body and give him the clear pedialyte.

 

We've tried the treat puzzle thing, but we haven't hit on the right toy/activity because he tends to quickly lose interest if there's no immediate payoff. Then he starts chewing on furniture or himself.