Hot weather training

[bamanicksbd]

Curious for ideas on what kind of pointing dog training other folks do in the summertime when its oppressivly hot and humid? Im in Alabama so dont try to tell me about "dry heat" somewhere. I dont really have many options to go north but if i could find birds on public land somewhere north i might make a weekend trip or two but mainly just looking for ideas on training at home. Drills, yard work etc. Puppy is 6 months. Were working on the whoa post, barrell etc. Going slow Almost ready to move from the whoa post to e collar on flank.

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[shags]

Do what you can when you can.

Take advantage of cooler early/late hours. Occasional cold fronts moving through help too. Barrel work in a cool basement or garage. Carry water when you run the dog for exercise, even if you have access to a pond or creek. My dogs have a plastic wading pool in their yard, and they like it after coming in from a session.

IME it never hurt my dogs to take some time off 'training' due to weather, even through long hot spells. But that didn't mean they could go around acting wild. It's never too hot to instill house manners, walking nicely on lead, and that sort of thing.

Don't put tons of pressure on yourself...everyone else is in the same boat.

[birddogger2]

I actually look forward to the warmer weather when I have a youngster. I do lots of different yardwork but lean heavily on heel/whoa drills. When I was young and limber I would put a dog in a roading harness, strap on a weightlifter's belt and attach the dog to me. I would walk the dog and watch it close. I could (obviously) tell the instant the dog stopped pulling and would water the dog and heel it back. My goal was to build heat tolerance and endurance...little by little.

I tend to like big running pointers and sometimes that kind of dog tends to "forget" to check back in. When I ran a big going dog in heat, I would go somewhere that was devoid of water. I was the one carrying the water(and I carried enough to thoroughly wet the dog down if necessary ~1or 2 gallons) and so if the dog did not want to die of thirst, it would come back in. I would let the dog run for about 5 minutes and then call it in. When it came in I gave it a squirt or two and sent it back out. Another couple of minutes, a call in and another couple of squirts. Fifteen to twenty minutes in the heat and that was usually plenty. You gotta watch the dog like a hawk when you do something like this because they can get overheated very quickly. You also have to have a GPS and an e-collar on the dog because if it gets away from you, it could be bad.

If you road your dog or run it on pavement (or on a sandy beach), make sure the pavement is not hot to the touch. Hot asphalt(and sand) can burn the dog's feet right through the pads.

RayG

RayG

[DonF]

Trainer's used to bring string's of dog to Boyce Corrals in late spring and more so late summer. They would stay there most the week and train for the following week. They started early and quit early to avoid the heat. Back then, I started late and trained in heat, shoot heat was gonna be there weather I liked it or not. What I did was run a bit smaller course and had a lot of water out to soak the dog's with. My dog's ran well in the trials. Of course I did have the dry heat,you don't. I've been down there a lot over the years and not a clue how you make it through the summer! But I suspect that after awhile you actually get used to it! Probably the dog's do to some degree also. I'd run them but again, lot's of water down to soak them. I had a guy tell me he liked the heat down there. He said it's just right when your sitting in a chair and taking a deep breath make's you sweat! I love the South but you can have that humidity!

[Featherfinder]

Ray, I liked BIG running dogs not-that long ago too but the ones that "forgot to check in" weren't often enough in the ribbons. They either win or you are calling for the tracker. The wins were too few and the dog-searches were often very stressful depending on the surrounding dangers, especially when it isn't your dog.
A HOF trainer/handler once shared with me that run is an often over-rated aspect of the horseback trial and is frequently displaced with smart, strong-front-running/handling dogs that find birds and need little-to-no intervention from the handler/scout.
I had a friend who built water-dependency into his setter. It drove me CRAZY!!! Dang dog ran 15 minutes in trials then scurried back to his owner bouncing about looking to be watered!?!?! The poor dog was never in the running, no matter how many birds it handled well (usually not many if any)! Even if you aren't competing, it's a disgrace IMO.
I run early morning (rest now at this age through the late morning/afternoon) then run again in the early evening, sometimes until low light begins to compromise safety/productivity. While the summer here gets reasonably hot, the humidity can make it downright nasty!!
When I run on the prairies on a dry sunny ~ 75-85 degrees, I bring 1 bottle of drinking water. It is strictly for the one dog I'm running - not for the handler. (The handler can wait until he gets back to the truck.) Water and the lead come out at the same time which the smart dog soon learns. Sometimes, it's a ways back to the truck but....
It is your responsibility to really know your dog(s) and what is safe for them to perform in. You have to recognize the indicators such as their tail, their gait, their eyes, etc.
Acclimation is HUGE. Having a dog that can run long-and-strong in Maine might last 15-20 minutes in Texas. The dog can acclimate but it takes time and patience.
To say they don't get tested in heat is ridiculous. To overdo it is irresponsible.
I witnessed a no-quit Brittany go down in a horseback trial. We poured what drinking water we had on it's head/genitals then got it to water (pond) but it had already suffered the blow. The dog had to be put down months later. The owner never forgave himself. We never saw him around again.