Shooting Times & Country Magazine
A wise watery workout
Dogs don’t much enjoy exercise when it is boiling hot but most love to swim, which will keep them cool too, says David Tomlinson
How to keep hot dogs cool
In recent years it has become accepted practice for owners to dress up their pet dogs in coats in winter. The logic is simple: we feel the cold, so presumably our Westie or cockerpoo does too. However, most dogs already have fur coats, so the last thing they need is an additional one on top — though rugging up a working dog after a day’s shooting is a different matter. Dogs are descended from wolves, a species that ranges as far north as any land mammal and that has adapted to survive in temperatures that can be lower than -40°C.
However, though most dogs can cope easily with cold and freezing temperatures, it is when the mercury hits the high 20s and 30s that they find it more difficult to cope. Don’t forget that they are still wearing the same fur coat that they have in the winter, even if their summer coat is thinner, though the latter really only applies to dogs that live outdoors in kennels all year round. Dogs are good at retaining heat on a winter day, but have much greater difficulty losing heat on a hot summer day. Of course, that coat that insulates them from the cold in the winter also offers insulation from the heat in the summer, but that is often not enough to keep them cool and comfortable.
We regulate our temperature by sweating but that’s not an option for a dog. Dogs do have some sweat glands, but these are mainly in their pads, so their primary means of heat loss is by panting. They also use vasodilation: this helps bring blood directly to the surface of the skin, allowing the blood to cool before returning back to the heart. Both systems work fine under normal circumstances, but neither are sufficient in extreme conditions.
Keeping a dog cool in the summer is far more of a challenge than the opposite in the winter. Trimming or even stripping a hairy dog is one way. I have no doubt that a clipped-out spaniel is far more comfortable on a hot day than one that hasn’t been trimmed. On hot summer days dogs will rather have exercise first thing in the morning, when it is still cool, or late in the evening.
The best way to cool a dog off is by taking it for a swim. Most dogs love swimming and when the temperature is high there is no better way of giving them exercise. Swimming uses plenty of energy, so a good swim is more than the equivalent of a good walk, while it is a great way to keep a gundog fit when it is not working. Some dogs will swim just for the pleasure
“Dogs do have sweat glands but these are mainly in their pads, so their primary way to lose heat is by panting”
of it, while others need the added inducement of a dummy to retrieve. With some dogs the problem isn’t so much getting them into the water as getting them out again.
Of course, a good swim doesn’t just cool the dog off, but the wet coat ensures that it is at a comfortable temperature long after it has come out of the water. If you don’t have access to water for swimming, tipping a bucket of cold water over a dog is effective, but it is not something that many dogs enjoy at the time. The most effective area to wet is the dog’s chest.
If you are going to the Game Fair next month, the best advice is not to take your dog. Being dragged around a hot fair on a lead all day is not most dogs’ idea of fun. Game Fair organisers have rarely provided a swimming area where visitors can take their dogs for a swim, despite the fact that the gundog competition areas invariably involve water.
Visiting dogs
I can, however, recall plenty of fairs where people have found somewhere to swim their dogs, even if they weren’t supposed to. Under the bridge at Blenheim was a classic site. Quite what Hatfield House has to offer remains to be seen, but I hope that the needs of the thousands of visiting dogs haven’t been forgotten.
There is a long list of things not to do with a dog on a hot day. The biggest crime of all is leaving a dog in a car in direct sunshine. Even with the windows open a vehicle will soon become unbearably hot. We all know this, of course, but it is still remarkable how often dogs are left in cars at events like game fairs. It is also worth remembering that game fair car parks rarely have any shade.
Arguably the best way to keep your dog cool is to provide it with a cooling vest. A number of companies provide these vests from around £15, though expect to pay more for a top-quality product. Cooling vests are typically made of an absorbent material like chamois leather: simply soak the vest and put it on the dog, rewetting when necessary. I’ve used such vests on my spaniels for years and even put them on the dogs on hot days at home.