Summer, Goldens, and Overheating.

Do I need to get a "summer cut" for my Golden Retriever?

This is my second summer in the south and my first summer with my goldie having a full coat (he just had puppy fuzz last summer). Last summer, the average high was between 98 and 102 everyday, with high high high humidity. I'm afraid it looks like this year will be a repeat.

Jake, even with just his puppy coat, hated to go outside any time of the day. I am intelligent enough to avoid exercising the dogs between the hours of breakfast and dinner, to avoid pupper overheating and sunburn on my pale skin. However, the pups need exercise sometime during daylight. To make things more difficult I have no yard and live near the river, where there are few large trees. On warmer spring and fall days, I often find I have to put Jake in the shower when we get home from a walk, to cool him down. I do let Jake swim, but we also go on lots of walks.

The summer has barely started and I am worried. Saturday, I got up at 9 am. The pups and I ran to the park, where Jake swam and played. On the way back, walking this time, we stopped to get drink in a stream. Despite my efforts, Jake seemed so uncomfortable and kept dragging me to the shade (when we could find it). Besides, keeping the dogs well-hydrated and avoiding exposure to mid-day sun, what can I do other than moving to a cooler climate, to keep Jake less miserable this summer? Last year, in my town, a healthy young lab died of heat exhaustion when running with his owner. I am petrified of this happening to my sweet dog.

FYI - My other dog, doesn't seem to be nearly as effected by the heat. Just a small bit of panting.

Does Jack have a thick undercoat? Has he started to shed yet? Does he shed a lot?

Should he get a Summer haircut? I have seen Goldens who do and sometimes it helps and sometimes not. However, if they have sufficient undercoat, that should not be necessary. I have also seen a Golden that does not shed at all and is unable to keep themselves cool because of it. The owners of this dog have to take extra measures during heat to keep the dog cool.

Some things to try before the haircut. Cool the dog down before any outside activity. Never wet the dogs back but thoroughly wet down the stomach and feet. Water on the dogs back will attract the sun and will just evporate. Dogs sweat from their pads and tongue. Keep plenty of icey cold water in a bottle and occassionally squirt the dogs pads and let him drink for a second. They do not perspire from their skin like humans. Another option is they now sell Cool pads that you can use to wrap around the dog. I've never tried one but hear they work really well.

Thanks for the imput. I was starting to think that no one would ever reply to my question.

Jake has a thick undercoat and sheds a lot (not abnormally so, just in 90 lb golden proportions).

I did not know, that I should keep his back dry. The last time, he was struggling on our walk, he was wet all over (swimming). I thought I was doing him good, by letting him cool off in the river. Next time, we will stick to the shallow stream for drinks and wading.

I was thinking the streams and the river were enough water for the walk, but I guess it is always a good idea to bring some cold H2O. I need to go buy something that can hold water, but is made for hands free activities, like walking and running.

OH NO! Don't deprive him of swimming!!! He's a Golden and they thrive on that. What I was referring to is when you are just taking him for a walk and not letting him swim. Then you water down his underside and his feet. The sun will not reflect off him as much. As he starts to dry when you start walking after a swim continue to water down his belly and feet but not his back.

I use a regular bottle with a squirt end. The dogs like to catch the stream of water as it falls on their tongue. Plus I can squirt their paws without having the bottle touch their fur so I can take a sip when needed too! :p

Woah! :eek: I wasn't trying to give you a heart attack. I wasn't planning on completely cutting out the swimming. We live directly on a river, so we don't even need to go for a walk to go there. The dock, we go to, is a couple of miles away, but the river is everywhere. I would never deprive Jakey of his swimming. It is in his soul.

I thought you were saying that his back being wet was adding to his over heating. Are you saying that his back being wet, is not that important, but I need to make sure to keep his underside and pads wet when it's hot?

I don't know if this will help you at all but i was on another forum and they were posting about this brush and we had them for the horses so i cleaned one up and used it on Presley and it is wonderful!!! I don't know if it would work on a goldens long fur or not but it might be worth a shot...

zoom groom

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Originally posted by pupper-lover

I thought you were saying that his back being wet was adding to his over heating. Are you saying that his back being wet, is not that important, but I need to make sure to keep his underside and pads wet when it's hot?

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Almost exactly! A wet back causes the sun to reflect on the dog more intensely so if he is dry and you go walking just wet his belly and paws. If he goes swimming then don't worry about his back but make sure to keep the belly and pads wet down to keep him cooler when you resume your walk. If he gets extremely hot then you can look into getting one of those cooling pads made for dogs to wear in hot weather.

Thank you both for the tips. I will let know know how it goes this beastly summer.:)

I didn't realize that you don't wet the dogs back to cool it down. It has been very hot here (85-90 wiith 85% humidity) I put Buddy's baby pool out last night and he played in it by moving his feet all around! But during the day yesterday when we were out on the deck he kept going and laying in the sun! I would call him back over to the shade and off he would go in the sun again. He has very thick dense fur and sheds a bunch. I thought all that fur would make him hotter? (he has lab type fur on his face and legs with husky type fur everywhere else):D Today we are staying in till evening.