Exercising Tips to Beat the Heat:
In New England our really hot, humid days arrive towards the end of July, and really nail us hard in August. I can’t really complain about the weather we’ve had thus far because we’ve had some really beautiful days.
The last couple of days though, we’ve had some hot (upper 80’s, low 90’s) humid days, which makes exercising the pups challenging. No worries on this end, we’re used to dealing with challenges.
I thought I’d share some of our tips for beating the heat with you.
The morning walk is fairly comfortable because we leave the house between 6:00 and 6:10. Even if it’s a tad humid, it’s not uncomfortable. If I had my druthers (and Sampson didn’t need the second walk) I’d make this walk the ‘walk’ and extend it to half an hour or so. It’s so quiet and peaceful, we rarely run into dogs never mind people. (I probably just jinxed myself.)
The afternoon walk is harder. We have no sidewalks in our neighborhood so we walk on the road. The road that has been sitting in the hot sun all day. Because of this I encourage the dogs to walk on the grass as much as possible.
This grass is nice and soft and very cool on my paws.
Since I know the area, I guide the dogs to take the shadier route. The route where more trees line the road, shading it from the hot afternoon sun, because we live in an elevated area, there is often a gentle breeze blowing.
It could almost be Mayberry, no?
Keep our walks short.
For our morning walk, I set the timer on my phone for 11 minutes, when the alarm goes off, we turn around and head for home. The afternoon is slightly different because Sampson and Delilah get separate walks. Because I walk the area so much, I have a general idea of what constitutes a quick walk for Delilah. For Sampson I set the timer on my phone for 9 minutes and turn around when it goes off. I know those are odd increments of time, but for Sampson I am trying to keep his walks to between 15 and 20 minutes, leaning more towards the 15 if possible. The extra time in there accounts for sniffing and time to do their business.
I know I don’t need to say this, but make sure your dog has access to water. They can get heatstroke just like we can! Always check with your Vet if you have concerns about your pet and what type of exercise is best for them.
Indoor fun
Sometimes on really hot days, we will have a heat warning and be advised to stay indoors. That’s when I have to find some fun things to do inside.
I’m sure you know this but I’ll say it anyway, switching things up for your pet can be as tiring as a long walk. Making them use their brains to think also has the same affect and can actual tire them more.
Sometimes I’ll hide some carrots around the house and let them run about finding them. We also have some boxes saved for scent work, or we can work on cavalettis, trick training or basic obedience. Don’t be afraid to mix it up, especially when it’s really hot.
I prefer to be outside. Please and thank you!
Interview:
I was super excited to be invited for an interview on Confessions of a Rescue Mom yet? It’s good practice for me for when I finally get that book finished. 😉 If you didn’t see my post on Facebook and you’re interested you can read it HERE.
Welcome to Thursday’s Barks and Bytes Blog hop hosted by 2 Brown Dogs and Heart Like a Dog.
The Barks and Bytes hop is for anything at all and all bloggers are welcome. You don’t have to be a dog blog to join.
For new blog hoppers, a blog hop is list of links that is shared on multiple blogs. In order to be fair to all participants we ask you to please use the linky list. If your blog does not support a linky list, please link back to your hosts.
Heat is one big reason we are not fans of summer, but so far this year, it hasn’t been too bad. We do our run or hour walk early around 6-7am too. We avoid the heat and then we are set for the day. Our other walk stay around 30 mins because it is too warm and our big exercise is already done. We like to walk on the concrete on the side of the asphalt, it isn’t so hot on our paws. Stay cool!
I wondered at the random times, but yeah, now I get it. Factoring in the sniff-time is important. I try to encourage Cupcake to walk on the grass since the sidewalks in our complex are asphalt and HOT, but she mostly sticks to the walkways, and sometimes flops down and rolls around on the blacktop and tries to sneak in a street nap. Go figure….
While we know the importance of exercise we prefer our potty breaks in the back yard. In fact Katy really only goes in the back yard. Bailey will do his business anywhere. That takes care of the bathroom issues. Then we have to work on keeping them exercised enough when its hot.
DH usually will take them out when its cooler in the evening for a walk. During the day we play quite a bit in the house with the A/C on to get some activity without overheating.
Getting them to drink away from the house is always a challenge.
I’m not a fan of summer heat, and neither is Daisy – big time! She may be small, but she has a double coat that makes her very uncomfortable outdoors on hot days. Fortunately, she lets her instinct rule, and just wants a quick potty break outside before pulling us back in. We make it a point not to travel anywhere with her in the summer where there would be lots of walking – we leave that to fall and spring. Congrats on your award! 🙂
All great advice…it has been hot and kayla doesnt seem to take the heat as much any more..she just had her yearly exam..so dont think anything is up..but will keep an eye on her
Also a pool or sprinkler is great exercise for those brutal days and they love it!!
Not a fan of the heat so we walk at night… gets interesting because of the cats, rats and cockroaches in the dark though 😛
Barley’s not a fan of the heat, either. We’re getting ready for another trek south in a few weeks. It wasn’t too bad when we were there in mid-May, but I’m thinking we’re probably going to have to wake up at 5:30 just to get a decent walk in! Luckily, her grandparents’ house has way better AC than our apartment does 🙂
Great tips for exercising when hot. You do need to be careful about the heat and provide lots of water. I like to do a lot of lake work on hot days. Do you have lakes or ponds by you they can swim in?
Good tips. We walk early in the morning and late in the evening to try and beat the heat. Plenty of water is definitely a must!
Those are all HEAT Busting Good Ideas… WE like them… Our mom puts carrot SLICES in a tub of water… and we go Diving fur GOLD…. THAT is refreshing. You might like to try it some time.
I WISH I could get my ass in gear for morning walks! But depsite having tried, I am just not capable of getting up earlier than I have to for work (I’m up by 5:30 as it is). So that means it’s late night walks for the Newfs – it was 31°C here yesterday (87°F), which is hot and untolerable for us, so we weren’t out the door until 11pm when it had cooled off. But it works and we definitely run into other dog walkers with the same strategy.
Hiding carrots sounds like a great–and non fattening way to spend time.
For some reason the code isn’t working to show other participants in blog hop. It was there and it disappeared. Gremlins?
The grass is better for the dogs’ joints and muscles, too — especially as they age, like Sampson and Delilah and Callie and Shadow — it’s not as hard on them physically. I know my girls love going to the park; but between the asphalt in the parking lot and on the walking trails and the miserably humid (though not always hot) air, they are better off in the back yard at home. At least here they can lie down in the weeds and dirt (what’s grass? never heard of it. 🙁 ) when they want to rest. And if it gets hot & humid, all we have to do is come inside and find some toys to play with or doggie manners to brush up on.
All great tips! My huskies definitely prefer to be out for a walk versus indoor play, but there are days when we just can’t. They love doing nose work with boxes and other hide and seek treat type games.
Interesting how your walks are times for things like 9 mins and 11 mins, and not 10 mins….I like it!
ღ husky hugz ღ frum our pack at Love is being owned by a husky!
I started using Musher’s Secret on Blueberry’s paws this summer. So far it has really helped. Normally she has very dry paw pads that sometimes crack – that stuff really took care of that issue. I have to put it on her like every couple of days – but I have a 1 pound jar of it and it should last the rest of the summer.
Another trick I use is to turn the sprinkler on before our evening walk, and toss treats in the area to make sure Blueberry gets watered. Then we head out. It does a lot in making her more comfortable even though she’s usually dry by the time we arrive at our destination. And I always have to carry a regular bottle of water in my pack along with a frozen water bottle that halfway thaws by the time we are finished (30-45 minutes).
Our temps are in the 100’s with a dew point of like 60 degrees and humidity of 28%.
Hi Y’all!
Sampson looks so happy in that photo!
Y’all come by now!
Hawk aka BrownDog
We get out and walk early to beat the heat, about 5:00 am for our first walk. It can be humid, but usually it is cool and comfortable. Great idea about the inside work.
I really like your idea of setting the timer on your phone. I had not thought of that. I usually just check my pedometer.
It stinks that you have no sidewalks, but your neighborhood looks much more appealing to walk than my side-walked neighborhood.
Sometimes if I have to walk the dogs on asphalt or hot concrete. I will bend down and put my hand on it for a bit to test it. 🙂
I need to check your interview. 🙂
Great tips, thanks for sharing! Can’t wait to read your future book! 🙂
Great tips! Lately I’ve been trying to get Maya and Pierson’s walk done in the morning. The temperature hasn’t been so bad here either. It’s the humidity that’s a killer. Yuck!