Posted: 3/18/2012 11:32:12 AM EDT
BADDOG is a young male husky. my stepson took him from original owner who didn't have time for him, and he proved too smart for city living.so now he's mine. he spent most his days on a chain, until now. he is free to roam, where i live all dogs are for the most part. i have just started cycling everyday again and he loves to come along. i do worry about the heat once summer gets here though. i have read so many contradicting things online. he has been born and bred in these harsh summers, do you think he will stroke out in 110, chasing me on my bike?i do about 4-5 miles on gravel roads and tractor trails. the warmest it's been is 84 or so, and he gets pretty hot, but we cross 2 creeks and a few irragation ditches, that he gets in. i'm pretty sure you can't shave a husky 
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Not sure, but on our Husky hybrid we never shaved her. I was told that their coat can contribute to heat, but it was bad to shave them, plus they shed the winter coat (looks like a cotton gin along our fence line, she would rub her coat against it). Some say that the dense coat contributes to their defense against insects. We gave ours plenty of water and shady place to lay. If you have a concrete slab with some shade, we sprayed ours down with water to cool it off, and they liked to lay on it. We would also wet her down when she seemed hot, like constant panting when at rest, but this rarely occurred. On really hot days, like 100+ degrees we would bring them in during the hot part of the day. On our all white Samoyed hybrid, the groomer recommended not to shave him as he has very light skin and he could actually get sun burn and skin problems.
As for exercise, the husky breed seems to love to run, almost like its what they do naturally. I would be somewhat worried about the husky running in heat for extended periods of time, but this is based on my admittedly over cautious concern for the dog, not science. Lazy and lathargic in the summer and when it cools off in the fall and winter they get really frisky. Our husky hybrid lived to be 9 (respectable for an animal with part wolf gene) and our samoyed is 8 and in pretty good health. My 2 cents, no expert, YMMV. |
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thanks for the reply.
i have never been a good dog person. i was wanting an outside dog of my own, that would run with my bike. the husky just happened. i was looking at german wire hair or short hair pointers. i will never pay big bucks for a dog though, too many for free that need homes. |
| Sound like your hearts in the right place. Any dog will appreciate the time you spend with it and it can contribute to a happy loyal friend. Maybe consider altering your biking to include a walk with the animal at least a couple times a week. An exercised husky is a happy husky. See how he does on the walks and go from there. If you go to a vet, or other knowledgeable source, ask him about the effect of heat and the breeds ability handle heat issues in those warm summer months. |
| You're going to have to monitor him as it gets hotter and if he doesn't seem to be handling it very well, you'll be better off leaving him home while you ride. I've seen dogs with such a will to please that they keep running after that thrown ball long after when they should have been stopped, and end up at the vet with heatstroke. Just like kids and privates (in the military) they don't always know or do what's in their own best interest LOL |
i will keep an eye on him. the last two days have been either rain or washed out road so no rides 
the last ride we took he wandered off after a rabbit, strong prey drive!all the feral cats i used to see around are gone! he has brought up a dead fox, and multiple deer heads/parts, and has come home smelling like a skunk atleast once! the deer parts are from hunters, they actually spray painted on the bridge near our land "ded dear go here". he loves the country and pestering the neighbors horses. |
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being born and raised in a warm climate will not do much to undo the husky ability to retain heat.
Still, keeping him outside so he can acclimate will help some. I have seen where some mushers were running their dogs to the north pole during late spring, and they would run their dogs at night to avoid the overheating. I think if you watch him you can figure out how much he can take. Bring water and a bowl along for him to drink. Heck bike with a bag of ice, huskies will lay on the snow with their legs splayed out to cool down, he may like to just lie on the bag or eat some ice chips to help himself cool. |
he's too smart  that's where he got the name baddog!
at his original owners house he was an escape artist. when my stepson had him he would unlock the gate, and sometimes force his girlfriend to give him a car ride before she could leave. no joke he would jump in the passenger seat and wouldn't get out unless she rode him around the block. about 3 wks ago my inlaws, who live next door, went fishing. they left their catch outside just long enough for baddog to get up on the table and eat them. by the time i got there it was just heads and tails hanging out bad dogs mouth.all over but the cussing, i just told them he probably has never seen a fish before. i woke up this morning to an open front door and baddog asleep on my couch. he knows he is an outside dog now, he is just bad! i scolded him and he just hid his head under the coffee table. i had to pop him with a magazine. |
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Quoted:
he's too smart that's where he got the name baddog!
at his original owners house he was an escape artist. when my stepson had him he would unlock the gate, and sometimes force his girlfriend to give him a car ride before she could leave. no joke he would jump in the passenger seat and wouldn't get out unless she rode him around the block. about 3 wks ago my inlaws, who live next door, went fishing. they left their catch outside just long enough for baddog to get up on the table and eat them. by the time i got there it was just heads and tails hanging out bad dogs mouth.all over but the cussing, i just told them he probably has never seen a fish before. i woke up this morning to an open front door and baddog asleep on my couch. he knows he is an outside dog now, he is just bad! i scolded him and he just hid his head under the coffee table. i had to pop him with a magazine. I inherited a "baddog" of my own, a Sheltie someone named "Hope" instead (oh well, nice try I guess). Barks at everybody, scolds me on a regular basis, incorrigible beggar (my fault, no apologies), "skunks" all the time, wife says she "pines" for me when I'm gone, an hour, a day or a week. She's 14 as best we can figure, a bit long in the tooth and going blind according to our vet (ever see a dog look embarrassed? watch her snarl as though a demon as she pounces on a yellow plastic shopping bag, only to realize, well...) Thats OK, I'll be her eyes when its time, I suppose. I also wonder to cut her coat back, she love to walk me, but in the last year or year and a half, she will flop down after a few blocks and seems to need a rest for a few minutes, more so in the summer months then winter. I'm conflicted about the whole "insulation against the warmth" thing myself, perhaps i shall ask my vet, errr, I mean HER vet, of course! (who, by the way, according to her bio, entered college on a riflery scholarship, how hot is THAT?!) 
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Ohhh boyyyy, that Sheltie in the post above has lost her bladder twice in the house in the last week, I'm very, very worried about my ole gal, that is NOT like her. Oh course I did not scold her, I'm sure that this is not her fault, she would blow up before she'd pee in her house... Vet Wednesday, not looking forward to it. I've had old dogs before, we'll just clean up after her and try to get her out more often, and maybe I'll just pick her up and hold her a bit more often (she loves being picked up). Shit, this is the part that sucks, not that the rest isn't worth it, but we all know where this ends sooner or later...
OMC Post visit: Phew, just a UTI, two weeks of antibiodics, good to go 
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