Skip to content

Pooch to 5k

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Personal Training for Dogs?
  • Code Of Conduct for Running With Dogs
  • Training Programs
  • Media
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy

Pooch to 5k

Running with dogs

Measuring Temperature

by Audrey

I recently found some notes I’d taken earlier this year, about how hot Guinness became when I was running with him. How did you measure that, I hear you ask. Well, the only way to accurately take a dog’s temperature is rectally.

While we were running I stopped and took his rectal temperature every 5 minutes. He was less than impressed. I was a bit worried about people thinking I was weird, so I tried to do it behind a bush. I’m not sure this helped. What would you think if you saw someone behind a bush, having a close look at their dog’s bottom?

Anyway, it was a summer day, clear blue skies, no breeze and about 5pm in the afternoon. The scary thing was that within 15 minutes, Guinness’s body temperature was over 40 degrees C. For our American readers, that’s 104 degrees F. Definitely getting into the danger zone.

Admittedly, Guinness is black and soaks up solar radiation very easily. However, it’s worth noting how quickly his temperature began to rise. He was panting but would have cheerfully kept running with me. I stopped the run and let him have a paddle in the lake, and sat for a while in the shade of a tree. He was fine.

This needs to act as a reminder to us as we approach the Aussie summer. We are ultimately responsible for our dog’s health while we are running. They can’t sweat to cool down, and heat stroke is a very real possibility. I have personally known a dog to die of heat stroke after a run with her owner.

If you’re in doubt, err on the side of caution and leave your dog at home.

Post navigation

Previous Post:

Cani-Cross

Next Post:

Running Buddy of the Month – November 2011

4 Commments

  1. Judy Gillespie says:
    November 25, 2011 at 1:10 am

    Wow! I hadn’t thought about that Audrey. Nina (tan staffy) seems to feel the heat so much more than Isabel ever did (White with black spots staffy)I only take Nina running these days & I have noticed that sometimes she does seem to take ages to cool down. Would it help to wet her down a little after a run?

  2. Admin says:
    December 2, 2011 at 5:08 am

    Hi Judy

    Wetting them down does seem to help, probably because it allows another way for evaporative cooling to happen. It would be really interesting to test temperatures in white dogs vs dark dogs, I definitely think there’d be a difference, just by virtue of absorbing radiant heat. Thanks for commenting 🙂

  3. Susan says:
    December 23, 2011 at 5:46 pm

    PS Dont forget to mark the thermometer with Fighto’s name in Sharpie lest an unsuspecting member of your family uses it for Little Jack! LOL!

  4. Admin says:
    January 3, 2012 at 12:58 am

    Oh, definitely! LOL

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Dog Health and Fitness Newsletter

Subscribe to our dog health and fitness newsletter for training advice, nutrition information and more, to help you care for your canine athlete.

Download Our Free Training Programs

Click here to download our training programs so you can start your dog on his journey to fitness and health.

First Aid Courses For Your Pet!

First Aid and CPR for Pets

Our Favourite Sites

  • Parkrun
  • Tailrunner

Categories

  • Dog Breeds (3)
  • Dog Friendly Runs (14)
  • Dog Health (30)
  • General (33)
  • Nutrition (4)
  • Product Reviews (8)
  • Runner Health (5)
  • Running Buddy of the Month (11)
  • Running Training for Dogs (10)
© 2021 Pooch to 5k | WordPress Theme by Superbthemes