Heat exhaustion in labs

[bnoftsinger]

I have a black lab who is just over a year old and has been progressing very well in training. He heals to a retrieve, responds to whistle, etc.. I have been working on the back command with him and he was doing well. Once i started to make it a little more complicated he didnt do very well even after I scaled back. It has also gotten a lot hotter outside and after a couple retrieves he gets a little sluggish and you can tell his drive is not completely there and wont finish retrieves. He will drop the bumper at my feet instead of healing and sometimes will run to the bumper and not even pick it up when he usually goes crazy over bumpers. I am wondering if i need to go back to the beginning and force some of the basic commands or if he has some sort of heat related problem. He does pant a lot. Hes a a black lab thats a little over 80 pounds so im sure he does get hot, but im in VA where its not terribly hot. Thanks for the help.

[Pedro]

Individual dogs heat tolerance varies within breeds as well as across breeds. Although I've only had three labs, none were particularly heat tolerant in comparison to Brittany's and pointers I've owned, nor were they meant to be. Train around water would be my thought.

An hour horseback pointing dog stake in 80 to 90 degree OK heat sorts them out, and not only heat tolerance, but guts.

Need to be careful, don't let him overheat

[crackerd]

...I have been working on the back command with him and he was doing well. Once i started to make it a little more complicated he didnt do very well even after I scaled back...

"Working on the back command" is something you work up to with retrievers through a training program, and which 99.9% of the time follows the imparting of force fetch. Suggest you choose one (of a number out there) and follow it with your young Lab.

MG

[setterpoint]

i dont know much about labs i have pointing dogs but when training i f the dogs is haveing trouble with training i always go back to where the dog was doing good and start again from there and i try to end training with somthing i know the dog will do and start again with what i know the dog will do in my mind i think it helps the dog

[setterpoint]

i know i didnt anser the qus. but thought dog was just not responding to commands if the dogs getting to hot then try around water or cut down on training time

[MSU Aggie]

How often do you train? How long is each session? Do you change up the drills? What I typically ran into with labs like this was boredom. We would work one drill to much and they stopped preforming, they would half "bleep" it. Some will never have this happen, buthe it can happen. Try some different things that still accomplish your goal, and keep it fun for the dog. It's a job but they work so much better when they are having fun.

[mnaj_springer]

...I have been working on the back command with him and he was doing well. Once i started to make it a little more complicated he didnt do very well even after I scaled back...

"Working on the back command" is something you work up to with retrievers through a training program, and which 99.9% of the time follows the imparting of force fetch. Suggest you choose one (of a number out there) and follow it with your young Lab.

MG

Good advice here. But you know your dog. If he is too hot then mix in some water retrieves and/or start training when it's cooler, like early morning when there's dew in the grass.

[ggrimm]

Get the dog checked for Lyme's Disease.

[gonehuntin']

Is the dog from good breeding?

Is it over weight?

There is a reason many trainers start training at 5 a.m.

[polmaise]

Heat exhaustion or 'bored with exaltation' ?
A long tongue on a fit and well prepared dog will appear sooner or later and probably sooner on a confused one.