The Heat Is On... Piper always, always is up for a walk---any walk, anywhere, anytime! I work graveyard and she usually allows me about 20-30 minutes of decompression time when I arrive home, but then her little ga-ruffs escalate to piercing barks and off we go. Well, it's starting to warm up here in lovely Sparks, NV (even at 9:15am) and as I allow Piper to set the pace, we move along quite quickly. I'm just wondering, being as I must be the voice of reason here (in spite of Piper's willingness to gogogo), how do I determine when she's had enough? Generally, our walks are between 30-45 minutes and done early in the day. Also, as in winter, is there a certain temperature 'cut-off' insofar as the heat--when one simply forgoes the walk (for our little ones' well-being)? Thank you for any and all advice and recommendations; I just want to avoid over-doing with my Piper and keep her safe and healthy. |
It sounds like you're doing great walks for now, and I'm sure you could easily go up to an hour and be fine...you just might need to bring water along. As far as paws - at the shelter where I volunteer, the rule of thumb is if it's too hot for your hands/feet on the surface, it's too hot for paws. |
We must have the same dog. Duchess does the same thing except she only gives me about 10 minutes to unwind before the whining starts.:p As far as how much she can walk.....we when first start our walks, she is super hyped but after about 30 minutes, she will slow down. My last yorkie just came to a complete stop when she got tired but Dutch is hyper energetic and will walk until she drops dead. When she starts slowing down, I will pick her and carry her for a little while depending on how far we walk. |
I got a 9 year old Yorkie in January who could barely walk to the end of our block and back. I started going around the block after a bit, but cutting back through our neighbors yard behind us, then going the longer way around the block and doing that. Then around the block. This was over the course of a month. Now, over 3 months later he will walk a mile with me. It is a slow pace, but we do it. If he acts tired I pick him up (rarely). We will be going hiking this summer and at this point, I think he might do better than me. I do have a carrier I can put him in if he gets tired hiking though. I just watch how he is doing and pick him up if I think he needs it. He went from not being walked (before I got him) to walking quite a bit and I love it. In the summer I take my dogs to a walking trail that is mostly shaded to walk on, but I let them walk through the grass and dirt next to the trail most of it so they aren't walking on the concrete path as much. Our big dog has a 30 foot lead so when we go down there I can switch to that one and let him swim in the river that the path follows. I say let them walk if they want to, it is good for them. Sometimes we just go out in the yard and wander around it for 30 minutes just to be outside. |
IN NC, it gets very hot in the summer. I think it is even hotter on the road, so I am aware of that. In my mind, it is too hot for him to walk more than 15 minutes at a time, so we carry him on and off. He always needs a drink in the summer too, and we keep his hair pretty short. In the cooler months, Dinky can walk the entire 50 minutes easily. |
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It does get very hot here at times and we actually will mostly walk at 9pm at night when it gets that warm here or early in the morning. That is if I get up before it gets too hot out, I like to sleep in during the summer months. Right now the weather is perfect though for being outside a lot. I also have a doggie stroller if I want to walk when it is hotter part of the day too so at least they can see the sights and smell the smells of a walk. Daily walks will became a night time ritual soon here, but we have another month and a half before we have to worry about that. |
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We are actually from Michigan, in NC right now and going back to MI on SundaY. We will come back this summer to put the NC place on market. Love the weather and the mountains, but NC just is not a good fit. |
I would move back to MI in a heartbeat if only to be around my friends. I absolutely adore the weather here though! I was just up in MI earlier this month. We saw The Phantom of the Opera at MSU. We also got to see our new puppies while we were up there and we will be going back up for a graduation near the end of May and picking up the puppies then. Good luck selling the house! |
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He is amazing and I am so glad he came into my life, he is the best! |
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