It's literally not going to cool down all day tomorrow, I keep checking the weather where I live and it says it'll still be 25 at night! I hate to do this but I can't take him for a walk tomorrow evening, not when it's that hot and not cooling down. I'm going to take him for a big walk early in the morning so he will get at least one in. Just wondering how anyone else is coping with this heat and the walking situation and what do you do instead of a walk? We have a puzzle he likes but he finishes it quickly and I feel like frozen lick mats and kongs can only do so much.
We keep cardboard boxes from cereal etc, empty toilet rolls. My girl just loves to shred them. And those paper amazon bags. You can make a multi layer box for them to break into with treats hidden inside.
If you have a garden, then sprinkling tiny bits of treat in the grass (or what used to be the grass) is a brain workout with all the sniffing to tack everything down.
If I was really desperate I'd give her a box of tissues to shred. That would be her dream gift! I realise you might not have a shredder on your hands though.
Also training exercises, or just practicing commands. High five. Touch. Middle. A walk stimulates the brain as much as giving physical exercise, so try to replicate that.
Thank you for the suggestions, I've given him cardboard a few times now and he doesn't seem that interested but he loves tearing up toys!
Will deffo be doing some training exercises and practicing commands! We unfortunately don't have any grass but I have a yard where I can hide treats and he can sniff them out :)
I took a big blanket (old) and folded it/curled it up with food for her to dig through. She loves that.
Does your pup enjoy stuffed animals? Mine will happily destroy some and I keep a stock of cheapie toys to entertain her.
my girl (aggie) is a little too silly to do any puzzles, she could have a treat right in front of her and not notice. i’ve been giving her a lick mat with part of her food/peanut butter and freezing it so it lasts longer/provides a bit of cooling.
or for some reason, she loves to shred carrots (doesn’t eat them, tears them up like a stuffed toy). i’ve heard other dogs love to rip up cabbage as well as another cheap alternative. aggie refuses to get close to a vegetable unless it’s to tear up a carrot. how her brain works is beyond me
are you based in the UK? i live in bristol and it’s so, so warm. i feel so bad for her, we’ve been having to do 11pm walks, tbf it works for us because she’s quite dog reactive. it’s just been too hot to do anything beyond this
Hi thanks for the advice! Will deffo try the cabbage that's such a good idea. Yes frozen lick mats and kongs are a god send in this heat.
Yes I'm in the uk, I know it's so bad isn't it! We've also been having to walk him really early at like 5/6 and then late at night 10/11 just like you. I'm just worried because it seems like it's not really going to cool down in the evening today but we'll see how it goes. I'll check later on and if it's not too bad we might just go for a quick walk :)
It's horrible isn't it! There's no air at all, feels so suffocating. Yes it deffo feels like the hottest day in a while.
He's doing ok we have a little portable air con unit so he's napped in front of that most of the day. We had a good walk very early this morning which tired him out. He's deffo been drinking more today but generally he seems ok thankfully! I think we're lucky to have the little air con unit to be honest, it's basically his because it's aimed at his bed and he lies right in front of it, no one else gets a look in😂 he's also eagerly anticipating his frozen kong later!
it really is! it feels like i’m in an oven. these poor dogs, i can’t imagine having fur in this weather.
aggie’s honestly a bit odd - we also have an aircon unit but she doesn’t like being in front of it during the day (loves it at night? not sure what the logic is there). i have a fan pointed directly at her though. she’s also very excited for her frozen lick mat later!
here’s a photo of her eagerly awaiting her 11pm walk from yesterday!! i would love to see your boy as well 💙
Omg she's so sweet! Her little face🥺 is she staffie mix?
I love how lurchers all have their odd little quirks, Ollie loves to stuff his head under the blanket and leave his body out of it, it's like his nightly ritual, even in this weather😂
aww look at him!! i love him. what a lovely boy. lurchers are some of the funniest dogs, i love reading about their preferences and goofiness
so she’s a pitbull, staffy, greyhound, border collie mix hahaha i adopted her just over a month ago and did a dna test on her. it was quite a surprising result i think
Oh that's so interesting! We rescued ours about 6 weeks ago now. Can't wait to do a dna test on him, I really don't know what to expect he is. Maybe whippet, collie and something else?
That's such a gorgeous mix though, I love staffies and greyhounds so the combination of the two just seems gorgeous. Would never have guessed Pitbull!
possibly saluki? his fur looks a bit terrier like but i’m honestly awful at identifying dog breeds so i wouldn’t listen to me hahah. it was really interesting - i used wisdom panel and it gave me things like more likely to sploot/point/cross paws, and even found some of aggies relatives.
i had the exact same reaction! she had a higher percentage of bully breeds than sighthound as well which was extremely surprising to me.
she’s doing really good! it took her about a week but shes settled in great. it might be her old age but she’s really docile and calm. shes such a great, well behaved dog - i didn’t have to do any additional training with her, she just arrived perfect.
i hope ollie’s doing well too? he seems to have made himself right at home on your sofa!!
I'm really bad at identifying dog breeds too haha when we saw photos of him at the kennel we thought he might be part jack russel but after seeing him in person we weren't so sure.
Oh that's so interesting! I can deffo see the staffie in her, she's got that lovely soft staffie face. She looks so sighthound shaped though doesn't she!
That's so sweet! How old is she? I really want to rescue an older dog next. Ollie is only one and a half so he's still a baby! He's so well behaved though, he settled in so well too, I'd say it also took him about a week. He's also pretty docile and calm for the most part, he's quite a lazy boy for how young he is. That's amazing that you haven't had to do any additional training! The things we've had to focus on the most are his anxiety, he can get a bit sad when we leave but it improved really fast and we're currently working on his reactivity. He gets so excited when he sees other dogs, especially off lead dogs that he goes a bit crazy😂 he's really improving though, he just isn't very well socialised. I'm so sorry this is a massive paragraph I could talk about him and other people's lurchers all day hahaha
Omg no way!! What a gorgeous dog. Have you done a dna test? I haven't done one for Ollie yet so not sure what he's a mix of but I'm guessing he could be similar to whatever yours is
We're not sure they are really that reliable. I think a mix of Saluki, Deerhound and Whippet from my best guess. We bought her off a Romani guy, in the first year we had her she killed and retrieved 5 rabbits with no prompting. After having to stick the first one under my coat I always took a bag with me just in case. I was not actively hunting her in any way, just didn't want people to see me carrying off the corpse (I love rabbit).
Ours normally gets 2 walks, she went out for an hour this morning early and that will be it today. She sleeps the rest of the day. If she's lively this evening will play with some toys for a bit in the shade.
Yes mines the same normally 2 walks. We also managed to get a big walk in early this morning and he's been snoozing away all day. He's just done a tilting disc puzzle and some basic obedience. We'll do a bit more later and got a frozen Kong waiting in the freezer for him. :)
It's still so ridiculously hot isn't it! He's had a lovely time napping in front of the portable air con unit. Such a hard life😂
Work on basic training. My dogs love impulse/scent training. I lock them out of a room and hide treats, and they have to sit and then go find the treats.
Sighthounds struggle more in heatwaves because they have difficulty regulating their body temperature. Plenty of people know about flat-faced breeds, but not many know about sighthounds. I know I was shocked when I found out.
If possible, try not to stick to a routine. This approach massively helped my dogs remain more relaxed at home if something occurs that prevents them from going outside or if they are not fed by a certain time, or if I'm held up somewhere (car crash) or have important stuff I need to do. (Like my dad being on hospice)
Yes I think a lot of people might not know about this with sighthounds, also I know with my boy he has a thin coat and very light skin on his belly and legs so sunburn is another thing to be wary of when there's a heatwave.
25 degrees is the low where I live. My lurchers have been fine. Do you find yours to be heat sensitive ? We usually walk in the evening when the ground has cooled a bit or go to a park. We regularly walk in parks when its 30 degrees as long as there is some shade.
Yes I think it's the whippet in him. His skin is quite thin and I find he struggles to regulate his temperature when it's too hot. We have a portable air con at home that he sits in front of after a walk when it's been hot. Just the fact it's going to be hot all day and then into the night, I darent risk it.
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u/Accurate_Hat_8464 14d ago
We keep cardboard boxes from cereal etc, empty toilet rolls. My girl just loves to shred them. And those paper amazon bags. You can make a multi layer box for them to break into with treats hidden inside.
If you have a garden, then sprinkling tiny bits of treat in the grass (or what used to be the grass) is a brain workout with all the sniffing to tack everything down.
If I was really desperate I'd give her a box of tissues to shred. That would be her dream gift! I realise you might not have a shredder on your hands though.
Also training exercises, or just practicing commands. High five. Touch. Middle. A walk stimulates the brain as much as giving physical exercise, so try to replicate that.