So the weather around here has been a beast lately. We went from seemingly constant rain to 102 with a heat index of 112, thank you humidity
What’s a 2-legger to do? Our dogs have been slightly stir crazy as the weather does not allow for much outdoor time, which can be difficult when you own two hunting dogs. We are limited to evening outdoor play, and even then it’s limited to 10 minutes for anything that might remotely mentally/physically wear Luna out. Or we get the above picture (which I love btw)..
And when we go out on excursions in the morning and it starts to get hot towards the afternoon we make sure we take bench breaks in the shade.
And maybe we will plop them in a pond to cool them off… whether they like it or not, which in the end makes them happy. Doesn’t Melody look happy?
And if you are working a very excitable dog with outside and inside jowls galore that do not help him cool off at all, you head to the creek. He surprisingly walked right in and laid down, I always say he is the smartest pit I’ve trained. Most out of control sure, but he has a good brain and not a mean bone in his body when it comes to people. But more on him another time.
Wyatt gets hot just as easily, but he also does not require as much exercise to be content in the house. We added WAY more hair to the house when we added him, but not more energy. He is a fantastic example of having a lab’s temperment, friendly but not OCD about it. Crazy about birds and fetching but is still controlable. I will take that any day over a dog that can hardly think straight when birds are in the picture. He is right on the edge of that sometimes, and I think the way we trained him around those situations help us control that. But I’m getting on a tangent.
So I have gotten creative with inside outlets for our 2 smart 4-leggers. I patched up a bunch of toys that have been in the ER for about a year. I found out that’s a good activity to do while watching TV (am I weird for feeling bad about sitting and watching TV and doing nothing else? I need to be working on something if I’m sitting). I also put a pack of the marrow bones to good use and let the pups have at them. I then refilled them with a ricotta cheese, PB, bacon, chicken mixture (sounds good huh) and let them have at them again. But I can’t keep giving them all these filled bones as I don’t need either of them getting fat.
What do you do when it’s too hot to do all the exercise your 4-legger needs? Oh and not to mention the rivers and creeks are still high and someone just drowned over the weekend, so we have to be careful with any water exercise. So ideas? What are your favorite things to do in the heat? I have 2 new toys on order (which hopefully will last their tug fests), as well as another kong (we only have 1) and a new puzzle ball. The dogs are also getting into more tug with each other to release their frustrations, and Luna has gone back to having zoomies on her own at night.
Tomorrow the weather will drop by 10 degrees and be breezy… or so they say. Let’s hope it’s true, for all of our sakes
Vizsla Inspiration 
You have some beautiful dogs.
thanks, the Vizsla (red dog) and Lab are the only two on here that are mine. The others are friends or trainees. Thanks for stopping by
A
Poor doggies, they all seem to be struggling with the heat. George is bad with heat, too, so I’m praying that this summer won’t be too hot. When it’s unbearable, we just laze around, to be honest. George isn’t usually interested in anything until it cools down.
Both your dogs are beautiful, but that first photo of Luna is fabulous. I love her alert eyes and cute dimples 🙂
It is hard to find things to do when it is so very hot. You can’t really train much, a little water maybe. Ours were getting a bit stir crazy earlier this week, but the temperatures came down so we have been able to get out training the last couple of nights (and why I am way behind blog reading). Love the photo of Luna and Wyatt!
About dogs that can hardly think straight when birds are in the picture…I don’t know, I’ve seen some of those run master tests and they run nice. But I guess as trainers still learning, a notch or two down from that would be better for us. 😉
Love the new header! (Or am I sooo far behind that it has been there for a while?) Anyway, love that picture of Luna.
yeah unless we can find a pond water is basically out of the picture. The rivers etc have been too high to let them really swim in it. Hopefully we can get out more this weekend with them, rain or not.
I know the high drive ones can do well in the field… and many want that (like my boss) but knowing my personality and C’s too… having a little less is more worth it in the long run as training will be more enjoyable. I rather have a dog have ears more open and willing to take direction without having to go heavy handed on them. Part of the reason I like vizslas probably, because they just “get” stuff quickly, whether they want to do it is the next obstacle but at least I know their brains are working. Wyatt has a good brain he is just more laid back than Luna so sometimes motivating him to do the new task is tricky. He will be FF this summer though so the real fun can begin this fall with him.
Glad you like the header, not sure when I put it up. No worries about being behind, life is busy here too 😉
do they need physical, running type stimulation or does an activity work to tire them out as well? i came across a short video the other day about making ice treats for dogs on the Animal Farm Foundation website — it looks like it could be an awesome way to keep a dog occupied for an hour or two: http://www.animalfarmfoundation.org/pages/TRAINING_AND_ENRICHMENT-ENRICHMENT-VIDEOS
that’s a tuff call Aleksandra… usually they need a bit of both. Luna is the type of dog that really does need to physically exercise. Wyatt is content with less of that. I almost bought stuff to make my own cups of ice “cream” for them. I may just use containers I already have though. I think Wyatt may continue to be entertained with the ice block, Luna would probably give up. But maybe the dogs here would enjoy it, def. an outside game though. Thanks.
A
Beautiful tongue-focused photos! Your dogs and me alike—I can do without the heat and humidity, thank you very much. In Singapore, however, it is impossible to escape the sun, so we usually have to time Maple’s outdoor activities when the temperatures have dipped slightly like in the early mornings or late evenings.
If it’s raining, then we really have to scratch our heads and think of ways to preoccupy the Lil’ Miss—usually it involves my husband and I chasing Maple around the apartment for 30 minutes before we leave for work (LOL, she seeks her thrills by taking on the role of a ‘prey’). There are times, too, at night when Maple would do zoomies on her own just like Luna!
By the way, I’m the same when it comes to TV watching—I have to find something else to do at the same time, otherwise I feel guilty about being so unproductive! Patching up toys sounds like a good use of time to me, and I’m sure your pups appreciate it 😀