OK, so at our last HOT specialty, we were discussing if it was advantageous or not to hose the dogs down to cool them off.Here were some thoughts..cool the groin area that lowers the temp. Don't spray with water, that only gets the outer coat wet. Don't hose down, that only creates a greenhouse effect. Just wondering, because when we(humans) jump in a cool pool, it does lower our body temp, but we aren't wearing a coat! Hope this post can't generate any flames!!!LOL!!!

Wet is better! There may be some scientific reason why it really isn't, but I don't care, wet is better! Someone once posted here a scientific reason why it was not true that the black dogs suffer more in the heat than the yellows. They posted an article about it and everything. I tried to get my boiling hot black dog to read that article, but he was too hot. So, hose them down! They love it!

At the last hot specialty I was at , I did hose my dogs down, and dip them in the pools provided by the club. I hosed them twice a day, and made sure they were soaked from top to bottom. After soaking they laid flat out in their crates without crate pads and slept , not panting.
It was bloody hot that weekend and I had black dogs, they would be wet if they were at home .

Test for yourself I say...hose them down and monitor them...see for yourself.

Now I have a question as a novice to showing. When you do wet them down is this after you have shown them or do they sometimes enter the ring a little damp? I would not go in with them soaking wet but is a little damp okay? Thank you

I can remember a year at the Boston specialty when Nancy Martin judged. It was like 100 degrees at the show and she requested that the dogs be wet down before coming into the show ring to keep them cool in the heat. The dogs loved it.

At Pittsburgh again we will probably have a kiddie pool for the dogs plus there is a lake at the campground - dogs can swim but not people. The Golden retriver people were more than a little jealous that we could do that and walk right back into the ring!

REMEBER! Closing date is next Wednesday - June 6th!

At specialties, when it is hot, the clubs usually provide kiddie wading pools for the dogs and some of the dogs are shown wet. It does not bother breeder judges if the dogs are wet. Better wet than over-heated!!!!

My feeling is... got coat? Show wet!!

Sorry to reply to myself...

I remember at Jersey Skylands in 2004. It was hot as blazes and many of the dogs in breed were shown wet, having had a swim in the pond. I remember hearing many people talking about how lucky we were in Labradors to be at a specialty and that it was okay to show our dogs wet, while feeling horribly, incredibly sorry for our Sibe, Newf, Saint, Berner (etc.) friends elsewhere on the grounds.

I read somewhere that just putting a cool/damp towel is the worst thing you can do as it traps the heat onto the dog. Spritzing the coat won't do anything either.

So let the dog soak in the pool or thoroughly wet down the dog with the hose.

I am gonna post here Anne cause I am the one that suggested to you if you want to cool your dog and lower his body temperature wetting the dog down does more to make us feel better than our dogs. I know it is the popular thing that everybody does but that doesn't mean it is nec. the best thing.
Most people that come from horses or have competed in obedience realize that wetting a horse or dog down and working or sitting in the sun creates a sauna atmosphere for them and doesn't really help to bring their body temperature down. If you want to make them feel better take the hose and let it run on the inside of their back legs for several minutes, it will cool their blood faster and that helps their entire body cool down. I believe cooling their core body temp. is the key to keeping our dogs comfortable. Also if there is a kiddie pool at a show, let them stand in it to cool their feet. If there is not a hose availalbe, take a towel, drench it ice water, or fold ice into it and put if on the inside of their back legs.

I learned this tip from field folks:

You need to be careful about putting a wet dog back in a crate or a dog box - the sauna effect happens. That's why you see so many field folks with stake out chains - they let the dog dry off a bit before putting it up.

If I do have to put a wet dog back in the crate especially after its temperature is elevated from doing water work, I make sure I have a fan blowing on him and try to make sure I only use my Kennel-Aires in the summer. I get more mud and hair in the truck, but that's okay.

Just something I've learned. A former co-worker of mine lost a Greyhound they adopted when they let him run around their yard, hosed him off, and put him in a crate (a plastic one, not a wire one obviously).

I have my entire van opened , and have a rechargable power unit that operates a turbo fan inside the van. Putting an easy up over the xpens helps too . I also tent the van w/reflective materials.

Yesterday at the Wrentham, Ma all breed shows it was bloody hotttt!!!! Thank god for breeder judges who did not care if they were wet or not. The welfare of the dog is most important!!!!!

Jen

Asking this again---what about HOT SPOTS when putting a wet dog in a crate??

In order for any of the water to evaporate and actually effectively cool the dog it must A. evaporate on the exposed skin and B. (and most importantly) have air circulating around it. So wetting a dog on it's belly then having it situated where a fan or a breeze can reach it is the best. Wetting it's back won't do anything but make it hotter. Because it probably has dead undercoat because everybody is afraid to strip out the coat and be penalized for the dog being out of coat, so the dead coat just traps the water in the coat and the skin doesn't get wet and the water doesn't evaporate - it's like a sauna. Even letting it wet it's feet in a bucket or pan is better than spritzing it.