Othersharon wrote:
I’ve been trying to walk Buddy every day. Luckily the road is dirt and lots of shade from the trees but have still needed to shorten the walk since he starts panting pretty hard. Even with water now and again. I have to remember he’s still just a puppy. He’d probably go until he drops or at least I would!
Good morning, Sharon!
I have had Staffordshire Bull Terriers for around 40 +/- (yes, forty!) years. Staffords are a short-faced, brachycephalic breed (large skull, short snout) and as such can have difficulty cooling themselves by panting. The same difficulty experienced by most short-faced dog breeds.
Staffords can also be a relatively high-energy breed (particularly when young) so they do need their daily, intense, "ball-toss", and/or a long, fast, walk. This can be a definite problem when temps are inching up into the mid-90's (over about 95 they get to miss that day's exercise - or I schedule it for early morning).
Staffords can become dangerously over-heated. What I have done for many years now is to take a small spray bottle on our walks and give my dogs a good soaking when they begin to pant too hard. Of course, dogs don't sweat, they cool themselves mostly by panting.
LOL.
This can look a bit strange to the casual onlooker when I am on a walk, particularly if one's dog is a male - because one needs to spray the parts with the least amount of hair (so the water can actually get to bare skin), which on Staffords is on the belly, between the back legs, and the "nether regions".
Spraying them on the back doesn't work, because the oil in their coat just make the water roll off, and not soak in.When I am doing "ball-toss" in hot weather in the back yard, I just have my garden hose standing by and give them a good soak from head to tail when they get hot and begin to pant. At first I found that my dogs were a bit apprehensive and confused by this; once they figured out what was coming they begged for the hose.
A quick shake (by the dog!) and most of the water is off; a quick toweling by the back door before going inside takes care of most of the rest of it.
This daily hosing in hot weather keeps them pretty clean as well, and they love it.
You might have said what kind of breed your Buddy is, but I have forgotten. It really is important in hot weather to help cool one's dog in this way, and not just to leave them panting.
Anne
