HEAT STROKE / HEAT EXHAUSTION!

[VARMIT HUNTER]

I know most of ya'll know this and probably keep water buckets and ice in your dog boxes. I talked with Mr. Clyde Lawson this morning and despite these precautions , he had 3 dogs go down on a cat race a couple of days ago and 1 is at the vet and may not make it. Really watch this heat and your dogs plus yourself even the best in shape dogs and all the precautions in the world and bad things can still happen. Sometimes it is just best just to put lay these hound up in this heat or just run them on short hunts between the hours of midnight and 6am. No daylight running. Stay safe!

[Redwood Coonhounds]

I had 2 dogs get severe heat stress last year running at late at night. They got in some tight brush with that humidity, and it just did them in. These dogs were in top notch shape and conditioned to running in the heat. The sad part is I was the one who stopped them, had I not I'm afraid I'd have lost a bunch that night. I decided this year (and last, after that night) to go ahead and lay my dogs up for the months of July and August. First time in many many years I've not hunted at least 5 days a week for 12 months a year. Just not worth it. Once dogs go thru that they never have the same heat tolerance again either. It does permanent damage internally. It was scary, and I'm not prepared to loose some of my best dogs over my ego. I'll let the weekenders have at it. I'll sit here an pout the next 2.5 months. I'll make up for it the other 9.5 months of the year.

[VARMIT HUNTER]

Same here, and if I do get a fairly cool night to hunt , I try to hunt small blocks no bigger than a Square mile with roads on all sides so I can get ahead of them , catch them or call them off. JMHO

[Redwood Coonhounds]

Once I lay mine up, I don't take them back out for the summer. Once they are out of shape they are done. Even if we did get the odd "cooler" night the dogs would run themselves into the ground. They aren't used to being out of shape. Mentally they would still think they are bulletproof. That is where the danger starts to come into play. So I just stop right around the first part of July and wait until deer season is over in the first part of Sept. Then just ease into roading them for about 2 weeks before I ever let them run. Right now they enjoy swimming at the lake about 3 or 4 times a week.

[Rshcwisdom]

Learned this lesson the hard way last July. Lost the best bear dog I've ever owned. She was 4 years old and in good running shape. Turned loose on a bear at 3am when it was good and cool, didn't tree it till 9:30am. Got to the tree and she was acting real wierd. She was dead two weeks later and the vet said there was nothing we could do. Dogs don't store much water in there body. The heat can get them quick.