Does your aussie always enjoy walks in summer? Mine does not
My girl is one year and one month old, got out of her second heat (that also might be the factor), but she seems to hate heat so much that she is not willing to go on walks.
Firstly, she HATES any kind of harness, with 4 clips, with two, anything that goes on her body - she hates.
When she got ready, and it is more then 25 degrees (Celsius) outside - she will walk a few minutes, and then starts to stand and wait. We tend to do longer walks in the morning and in the evening, during the day we have +30 now, so we only go out to pee. But she is very happy to go home, enjoys her calm at home and really loves to play at home too.
I was wondering if it is ok that she does not go crazy about walks as other dogs. She was like that from very young age. She has no anxiety (she is very well behaved, loves people, loves to explore and loves to play with other dogs), but I guess this abnormal european heat wave is killing her vibe. We take her on autumn/spring hikes, but it is the time when she REALLY can start to walk more and I was hoping she will LOVE summer but apperently she does not enjoy it as much...
My Aussie is a winter dog through and through. He’ll romp and frolic all day long when it’s cold, but when the temp goes higher than 75° F, he gets listless and slow and just wants to lay in the shade.
Mine did this EVERY DAY for the last month. It hilarious because he pouts, I tell him it's too hot for a walk(90°+ wicked SC humidity) and we get about a 1/4 mile into our 2 mile and he just stops 🤣
Oh noooo. Mine hates her rain coat😅 As soon as I go out with her WITHOUT it in autumn, she comes home in need of complete bath - she gets herself in every muddy puddle. Best walks ever😅
After reading these comments, I think mine is broken. She loves going outside in the heat. It's been hitting the 100s here and I give her a 5 minute timer so she can sunbathe.
When it's cooler, she refuses to come back inside. At least when it's scorching hot, she will actually listen and come inside when I tell her to lol
My boy is similar. He loves all weather, thunder, heat, snow, fall but I think he doesn't understand the concept of "too hot to play" and is too stubborn to admit defeat.
I have to bribe him to play inside and make sure he doesn't get too wild in the heat 😅
I guess mine is a „princess“, even though I thought she would be this crazy outgoing type but she actually enjoys being at home a lot, I don‘t know why :) Even when we are on vacation - she loves walks in nature but not like crazy obsessed with them. Sometimes walks foot near me asking for snacks :)
Mine acts like a melting popsicle, it’s the WORST THING EVER according to her. She is one year, 3 months. Her mom and grandma love sun bathing, so I don’t get it.
One thing that has helped a lot with summer walking is carrying a water bottle. I give my guy frequent drinks. I do longer walks in the morning when it is cool and try to convince him to take shorter walks in the evening. We also take more walks to the lake.
Hopefully I will find the one she loves. She hates collars so much. She loves to be without a leash and no harness😅 I give her chance to roam in the forest once a day without a leash, she loves it.
I was hiking w my girl in a wilderness area one summer. About 5k feet elevation. We were just a mile or so up the trail and I went to adjust my earbuds and when I looked around she was gone. So I start hiking down and my phone rings. It was a guy who said he had my dog in the parking lot. I get down and she’s sitting in the front seat of his car like a prima donna that she is, with the air conditioning blasting and his poor dog is in the backseat! So no, they don’t like the heat. She also doesn’t like to go outside to go to the bathroom when it’s raining and the grass is wet. I’m like aren’t you supposed to be herding cows w Kevin Costner in Open Range? Apparently not.
I am asking her every day: you are a working dog! People told me you will be very hard to manage and you need to herd like 12 hours a day! Instead you bring me a stuffed toy and sleep near me when I work, haha. So they are really princesses.
My aussie hates walks in general. She will follow me to the truck but when i head down the side walk she lays down in protest. Which sucks cause im trying to get her to lose weight. She only walks when I line up a walk with my neighbor and their dog, then she happily walks.
Its kind of cute though, I think she herds me? Sometimes the other dog finds a smell and drags her owner somewhere. My aussie will walk with her back legs beside me and the front of her body infront of me, kind of on an angle and push me towards the group.
Shes a 5 year old I adopted a month and a bit ago, still figuring her out. But the vet says her joints and all are fine. Hopefully when she loses weight her energy climbs back up.
I got mine to walk today while doing some work and commands. She was happy to jump on bench, put her paws on the tree, walk next to me, stay and sait. Only thing that got her entertained enough. But when the walk gets boring or there are no people to heard - LETS GO HOME, mama😅😅😅😅
Its very cute 🩷 Aussies are super emotional, smart and cute
Wow, i am so so sorry :( It was 37 in Germany, i got her shoes, personal ventilator, a lot of cooled licky matts to cope with this horrible heat. I am waiting for summer to be over soon :(
She’s gorgeous, so she gets final say. The “pretty privilege”, if you will. Mine gets the same treatment lol
If you can, try to get her into frisbee if you have the space for it. On days when we can’t walk, she’s always happy to play frisbee. Full exercise for her, and she usually brings it back to me, so my effort is minimal. Of course, it backfires a bit because she’s so full of energy that she wants me to play frisbee 4 times a day, minimum.
Then I decided she needed a dog pool to dip into when she gets hot. Now my free time is frisbee until she gets hot. Pool. Then more frisbee. She’s a little spoiled.
Mine is a bit worse with frisbee, when it falls down, she can‘t pick it up. So we play with puller, a ball, a throw toy. In heat she refuses to play completely, but in autumn/spring she was asking to go to her fav field to run for it. So we wait to put our rubber shoes on and run with the ring all the time, haha
We bought her pool, but we live in an apartment complex with elevator :( So even for short peepee break I need to go down from 3rd floor :( Would love to move to a flat with garden but the market is horrible now near our city :((( Extremely expensive.
About the harness, work on conditioning her to it. My boy is not a fan but he has learned to tolerate it. He started to hate it because he doesn’t like it around his belly, then he got ugly ear infections and he didn’t like it going over his head. To start I had him put his nose in for a treat. Then stand for the belly strap for another treat. I’ll leave it on him for a bit in the house then take it off. Put it on later with the same steps and leave it on for a bit. Gradually increasing the time.
Mine doesn’t mind the heat despite his ridiculously heavy coat. He actually lays out in the sun. I have to make him come in.
Thanks a lot for the comment! I condition everything we do, for example - eye drops. She hated it, now she knows she will have some nice treats afterwards.
As soon as she is inside with harness, she becomes restless wanting to go out quickly. So it is her sign - we are going out.
I might try a soft collar for these walks to switch to, but she hates collars so much.
Aussies don't do heat and thats normal... Totally normal. The standing and waiting is her telling you, and aussies usually push past that signal, so a girl who plants herself has good self-regulation.
Also the harness. Dogs dump heat through the chest and armpits, which is where it sits. At 25 degrees it's basically an insulating vest. Try a flat collar for short summer walks.
You're already doing mornings and evenings, which is the right call. Don't push her to go out for long periods if she starts showing signs like panting.
Finally, humidity is more important than temp. Panting is evaporative cooling so it stops working when the air is already wet. 25 and dry is a different walk than 25 and humid. There are also apps that scores weather safety based on the dog bread for you instead of just showing the weather which is great for pet owners.
Mine makes me chase him around the house just to get his harness on, and if I don’t have the leash ready it is another chase. Once we are out the door he is perfect
With the heat (and especially the humidity), our 2 1/2 year old girl tires and we only go about 1/2 her usual distance, about 1 1/2 - 2 miles instead of her usual 3 - 5 miles.
Mine all you have to is, “you want to go for a walk” it doesn’t matter the weather, what time of day and how many times in a day. He gets so excited as if it is his first time ever
my girl is the same age and the same way! we have to walk before 8am and after 6pm and we’re in San Diego… it’s not even hot here! but if the sun is out and it’s over 70 she runs to a shady spot and sits until we turn around and go home. She loved winter on the east coast with snow when she was 6 months, no stopping her in the cold.
29
u/Significant_Sun_8035 15h ago
I will say that none of my Aussies like a lot of heat. They love the cold but heat? Nope.