Hot Weather Running

[Randy Phipps]

Shady Grove,
That was some good info. from your vet friends. I've been having my son turn mine loose early in the morning and have him try to start getting them back up around 10:30am for me if races permit. We are blessed to have 3 ponds and a creek close to where my dogs run and they seem to know how to hit them in between runs. I don't know if it is a combination of genetics,conditioning, or the lighter color but my Patches seem to do alright running year round. I still worry about the coyotes and snakes but I just hate to see the dogs setting around getting out of shape.

[BLACKBART]

SHADEY GROVE BEAGLES,
THIS IS WHAT I CALL A POST.
VERY INFORMATIVE AND NO BASHING THE MAN WHO DECIDES TO HUNT ANYWAY. WILL REALLY CONSIDER ALL THAT YOU HAD TO SAY. HOPE I HAVE THE WISDOM TO
TAKE YOUR ADVICE. LOST SEVERAL DOGS A FEW YEARS AGO TO KIDNEY FAILURE, INCLUDING A GRAND CHAMPION, VERY CAPIABLE OF WINNING THE WORLD HUNT. AT
TIME THOUGHT IT WAS IVOMEC USE. AFTER READING YOUR POST, PROBABLY NOT, AS I RAN THIS DOG 5 OR 6 DAYS OR NITES A WEEK ALL YEAR ROUND. THIS DOG WAS ONE OF THOSE I BELIEVE WOULD HAVE DIED ON THE TRACK RATHER THAN QUITE. HAVE HAD HIM COME TO ME STAGGERING OR JUST BARELY ABLE TO WALK AND DIDN'T EVEN SEEM ABLE TO RECOGNISE ME.
THANKS FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION AND TIME TO INFORM ALL OF US OF THE DANGERS THAT WE MAY HAVE NOT KNOWN. I'M SPEAKING OF THE LONG TURM DANGERS,
AS MOST OF US OR AT LEAST MYSELF, BELIEVED LET THEM REST A DAY AND THEY WERE ALL RIGHT. WOULD APPRECCIATE ANY OTHER INFORMATION CONCERNING CARE
AND CONSIDERATION OF MAN'S BEST FRIEND.

[Joseph J Murphy]

When it's this hot I bring ours into the house and just watch the videos that are posted on here and on YouTube .We do this for training purposes not for entertainment.Seems To save time and is a lot easier on both me and
the dogs.The only negative I have encountered is once ,after leaving the room, when I came back the dogs were watching some bear hounds tree a bear.I will probably have to shock them on a bear now.

[Crow]

Wow. Go a few hours & all of a sudden I'm 3 pages behind. Buck, this is a great discussion & I'm enjoying reading all the points of view on this subject. The only things I'd like to add to your reply are 1. Secondary heat related illness has nothing to do with "toughness" it is anatomy & physiology. I'm not saying you or anyone else is wrong for letting a dog back in the race if they wanna go but it does have its risks just like everything else. Make it a calculated risk & one should do what they determine is the right thing for them & theirs. 2. If you had to leave one dog up for 3 days would it really be a major burden? Again I'm not trying to be an @$$ about this. I'm just talking opinions & points of view.

[Owl Creek]

When it's this hot I bring ours into the house and just watch the videos that are posted on here and on YouTube .We do this for training purposes not for entertainment.Seems To save time and is a lot easier on both me and
the dogs.The only negative I have encountered is once ,after leaving the room, when I came back the dogs were watching some bear hounds tree a bear.I will probably have to shock them on a bear now.

ROFL ... i need a good laugh,
thanks joey.

[Joseph J Murphy]

actually Joey is my brother but thanks !

J Murphy

[sbeagler]

my vet told me that running hounds in weather 80 and above can cause kidney damage. use to run in heat until i accidentally killed a dog burnt its kidneys out running in heat.so i run at night up til the nights no longer are cool usually end of may or in june. seems the rattlers are not as active if temps get below 60-65F. there's been 4 dogs killed by rattlers on or near my running area.

[TC]

Nope!!! Dont Do it myself if its over 90 the Dogs stay put in the shade with the fans on em!! got over 15 years of my life invested in the hounds and just plain dont care to run em in the heat!! I dont trial in the Summer either. Aint no big deal to me, if someone else thinks their Soft or not LOL. Aint breeding for nobody but me anyways. My First year in KY i was working on the pen clearin fence line and such I knew it was hot but thought oh heck just one more trip up the hill!! Woke up on the ground tryng to figure out what the hey?? Walked back down to the house and jumped into a cool shower woke up on the bottom of the tub thinkin what the hey i dont feel so good!!! trip to the Drs and was confirmed Overheated and about stroked out!! I Cannot take the heat anymore if i get out in over 90 degrees working and start feelin sick to my stomach time to head in to the AC now WHY would i wanna run Dogs in that stuff??? To Each their own you like it and the dogs can handle it More power to ya, but i dont!! I have let a couple out in the pen when its cooler for a couple hours and they seem to do ok but come 9 or 10 o clock when it starts heating up i call em in..

[bucks better beagles]

Crow, it is a good post and fun to watch the poll numbers as people give their input.

You said, ". If you had to leave one dog up for 3 days would it really be a major burden? Again I'm not trying to be an @$$ about this".

This may be hard to understand. It may even be a little anal but, the answer for me is a giant "YES". It is a burden. When they are left up, they cry like babies. I once was a runner. I ran all the time in the cold, heat, rain, etc. If I missed a run, I felt guilt and a certain feeling of loss. Weakness on my part, quite possibly. Definitely a mental thing. I am addicted to it as are my dogs. If they die, so be it. If I die, so be it. Life is tenuous and, I believe, an illusion anyway.

Covered a lot of ground in that paragraph.

[bucks better beagles]

Crow, it is a good post and fun to watch the poll numbers as people give their input.

You said, ". If you had to leave one dog up for 3 days would it really be a major burden? Again I'm not trying to be an @$$ about this".

This may be hard to understand. It may even be a little anal but, the answer for me is a giant "YES". It is a burden. When they are left up, they cry like babies. I once was a runner. I ran all the time in the cold, heat, rain, etc. If I missed a run, I felt guilt and a certain feeling of loss. Weakness on my part, quite possibly. Definitely a mental thing. I am addicted to it as are my dogs. If they die, so be it. If I die, so be it. Life is tenuous and, I believe, an illusion anyway.

Covered a lot of ground in that paragraph.

[dog]

I dont run in the heat , i dont need to run a rabbit that bad . i hear people say all the time , take alot of water , run close to water , and keep a really close eye on them , well i have run when it is warm and i make sure they drink between every run but what happens in excessive heat when a rabbit desides he is going to run a little . i run faster dogs , combine that with a big running rabbit in very hilly , open terain in high heat and not much shade , you are asking for trouble , sure i can keep an eye on them when there hunting but i cant always watch them when they are running and that is when its going to happen , if i have to call them off every rabbit to cool off and drink then i might as well stay home ! and i will also add that i dont like excessive heat , that is mine and my dogs vacaction from running , thats why i have a pool !

[Alabama John]

Too many things that will eat or bite a Beagle or any dog to contend with. Coyotes and many others raising young and needing MEAT and they are not particular.
Nothing like hearing a dog loudly moan when a Gator takes it under.

Also many of these will hurt a grandchild if it gets too close.

Don't like dogs eating a half dozen half grown rabbits that I want to eat this winter when they grow up.

[briarhopper]

I need to run as much as the dogs do. I worked outside all day yesterday, well til 3. went through 4 t shirts. I climbed 2 big hackberry trees and this heat was awful. When i got home i rested for a couple hours and took off. Luckily a storm rolled thru and cooled it down a bit. But i would have went anyways. I like to run when its hot but scenting isnt so good. My dogs are used to running all year and my pups are learning as well. I had to pull em off a good one at 2 am and make the 45 min trip home. When its real hot i try to run early morning or i go late eve.

[Joseph J Murphy]

Funny the stuff you can learn from these posts without even trying. Just from the past several I already several Iknow that I don't want to do anything to makes Bucks Better mad enough to chase me and I am not gonna run with Alabama John again till its the dead of winter down there( I was scared enough of the rattlers,didn't know I should have been worried about gators too) and that if BriarHoppers ever asks me to help him do a little work that I need to say " oh hell naw"

[bucks better beagles]

Joseph: That is funny. I am learning so much about southern beagling. The last think I would have thought of would have been a gator. Snakes, heat, bugs, and now gators. It is risky down there. Give me snow and cold any day.