WATER CONTROL IN KEEP

[Pbk]

Living in the South its super hot in summer and hot in fall. How would you handle heat and water management?

[CYJ]

Pbk, There are generally two weather type heat problems in the south. One with heat along with high humidity. Are if in a desert type climate,having heat with very low humidity. That sucks the moisture out of man or beast. Which type of hot weather are you dealing with?

I live in the Pee Dee area of S.C., with high temperatures along with high humidity. Very similar to the weather in Louisiana. Cheers

[ceasar]

Not to get off topic. But CYJ warms the heart to see you posting. Have missed your stories, experiences and helpful nuggets. Apologies to the op.

[EWO]

Great to see CYJ post.

And as always very accurate. Depends on what type heat and where.

I do not take the water away from the dog during the first part of the keep, regardless of weather/time of the year. Wetting the food down into a brothy solution, and ensuring the dry food (if used) is soaked.

As the dog is worked and watered in time he will come away from the bowl on his own. He will piss himself to a really good hydration point.

Some good information on a thread on this board called "drying out naturally".

EWO

[CYJ]

Thanks Gentlemen. Been meaning to give you a call EWO. I never had any experience with Hot/Desert type Climate. Since PbK has not replied yet. Not sure what type environment he is having to cope with.

When V. Jackson finally settled back in Texas. He went back in the summer instead of the late fall. Believe his dogs took awhile to get acclimated. Working a dog down there and back up here where he left from. Was a different ball of wax. Being he had a lot of open space and flat ground. I believe he did more road work which was done in the early A.M before the Sun was up. I will call him this week to see if I am correct on that. If not will correct and let all know.

Dogs in the wild state move about during the sunlight hours and sleep more so at night. Since most persons have 08:00 to 05:00 jobs. The main workout is usually at night and hand walked in early A.M. I am one who believed in at least a four to five mile hand walking. On a extra long lease at least one time a day. From what I learned from EWO and his way of doing things. My main work out would be like he likes to do it. My type mill would be that extra large round table. I had built to my specs. It allowed a mill to road work blended type exercise.

Now back to the heat problem. Best time for the main and hardest workout would be in the early A.M. before the Sun comes up. Second best choice on the main and hardest work would be around 09:00 to 10:00 p.m. Want the Sun to be down for at least a couple of hours or so. Just remember on that main workout, dog will be getting it's main feeding as well. The time has got to be consistence. That main feeding has to stay on a regular schedule. It will only vary as the main work out gets longer farther into the workout.

Any inconsistence, dog will defiantly have problems with hydration and over time be hard to correct if dog get too dry too early in keep. Cheers

[EWO]

Agreed.

Based on my swing shift schedule I was not as regular or consistent as I would have liked to have been. I think it would have been easier if my work schedule was straight shifts, straight night shift even better.

The summer heat can be brutal and water content plays a huge part in the dogs health and performance. If the dog has any underlying health issues the summer heat will bring them to the surface, especially anything associated with the kidneys or the heart (blood/cardiovascular).

Like was mentioned before summer heat is not summer heat across the board. Humidity factors in as well. Same dog, same work, same heat and different levels of humidity will usually mean a different level of conditioning for said dog.

Like already mentioned, the idea would be to beat the heat/humidity with the timing of the work.

The drying out process is a lot trickier in the summer months. The EXCESS water has to be removed. The dog must move from over-hydrated to HYDRATED and not continue the slide down to DEHYDRATION.


EXCESS water will layer just under the skin the dog will retain heat/not be able to cool.

The majority of dogs that run hot and tie up is really due to water content not amount of work, diet, supplementation which are usually thought of as the culprits.

EWO