Flora update: "Hot Dogs!"

A couple weeks ago I received an update for Flora, who is from Smudge's litter of Cavapoo pups born February 2014  Its six ! and an inquiry about exercising dogs when very hot.

​"Dear Jane,
I am prompted to write following your recent comment on your blog re how dogs cope with the heat.
Flora ( Smudge and Reggie 2014) is amazing. She is a great companion dog but also relishes open spaces and running ....and running......and running......!
And she absolutely loves chasing and taking off from all 4 legs to catch a ball.
My concern is does she know when she has had enough and so should rest  as she is out of breath and so hot - or should I influence that?
We exercise her at either end of the day generally  so not when its hot. But much as I want her to enjoy exercise and be a fit and active dog  she does at times see very out of breath and panting ,and takes sometime to recover.
She does tend to delay returning  her ball  as she gets tired, which of course we respond to , but should we limit her exercise even if she is keen to continue?
I feel these are rather naive questions ( sorry) but she is so lovely we really want to look after her in the best way.

Hope you are having a good half term break ( you deserve it!)
Love Lucy and Alan .... and the wonderful Flora!"  

This is my reply: 

"Hello Lucy and Alan,

good to here from you. Dogs want to please their owners and some will keep going until they drop to please them. Flora sounds like one of those types of dogs, she wants to please you, so as long as you throw the ball she will try to retrieve it. So when hot weather you should influence her exercise, so she does not over heat.

It is not a naive question. Many dogs die each year around the world, due to owners not realizing that dogs in hot weather are dawn and dusk animals and exercise their dogs in the full heat of the day. Dogs do have sweat glands in their pads of their feet and ear canals, but sweating unlike humans plays a minor role in regulating their body temperature.  The dogs main mechanism to rid the body of excess body heat is panting. The more they pant, the hotter they are.

Hope this helps you.

Kind regards

Jane "

​"Dear Jane,
Thanks for your response - this is helpful, weather has finally turned warm for a bit in kent , so we will exercise at dawn and dusk!
Flora had her 2nd year booster and check at vets today. She got a good report and they were happy with her weight ( just over 11kilos).
We start on APDT Companion Dog Award Progress Course next week, so this should be a good summer activity that will use more brain and be less exertion. Its an interesting programme with some useful bits like walking without lead , waiting until instructed to walk from a distance etc - but I am not sure about "performing a trick with a prop" ( I think I better hide the cat!)
Thanks again Jane.It's reassuring to know we can come back to you for advice on our lovely dog.
Best wishes
Lucy"

Thanks Lucy for the update on Flora. Great to hear from you and enjoy the summer training with Flora.