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Walking a Dog when it's Cold


MickinMD

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Any advice on walking a 100 lb Golden Doodle (Lab - Poodle mix) in cold weather for 40-80 min.  that spends almost all his time in a warm house?

I want to make sure I walking or cycling at least 3 days week, 40 min or more each time, to trigger my body to burn more fats and that's going to mean bundling up in the Winter.

But 100 lb, Golden Doodle Jake doesn't get bundled up.

I looked at general guidelines for minimum temperatures for walking dogs.  I found the very general table below here.

Jake has hair as thick as a Golden Retriever and is as big, but his hair is curly like a poodle's and he doesn't shed but it grows out a lot.

Almost all online info on walking dogs is limited to 30 minute walks.  So I looked on Golden Retriever pages and blogs and many say to be it's ok for an hour at 20°F even in the snow, but I think that's for dogs who are used to it.

The chart below says big dogs with heavy coats are fine down to 35°F and it's a low-risk down to 30°F.  I don't see myself walking when it's any colder than that or when it's windy or wet or in the snow.  One trail we walk is two miles total in about 40 min.  I think I'll stick to that if it's 30°F to 39°F and keep longer walks for when it's 40°F or more.

Thoughts?

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How cold are you talking?... Our family dogs were pretty much indoor dogs..I dont think an hour walking in 15 degrees will be a problem...you may want to watch for chemicals or salt on the feet after your walk..but you should be fine. Don't  need no sissy coat..

Boots..are tough to get used too..and again...shouldn't be a problem  down to 15 degrees....And YOU Probably dont want to exercise out doors in temps colder than that.

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6 hours ago, Further said:

I think Jake will let you know if it's too cold

So what do I do when we've walked 1 mile to the bottom end of a big hill and Jake seems bothered.  I guess we'll jog uphill because I can't run far while carrying 100 lbs up a hill.

Fortunately, we get above 30° enough that I won't be walking on really cold days and the walk will be mostly on bare, dark asphalt paths.

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7 hours ago, Wilbur said:

Don't worry about the body, worry about the pads of his feet, especially if it is an indoor, seldom walked dog.  The pads have to form callouses to be tolerant of cold and rough surfaces.  

I was going to post the same.  Some dogs will walk for miles on ice & snow and not realize they are damaging their paws.

The same applies to really hot asphalt.  Jack hates the heat but my Aussie wasn’t affected by it and I always made sure to feel the asphalt myself before talking her on it. 

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I think you are way overthinking this.  A golden doodle with that kind of mass should easily be able to handle the temperatures while moving even a little bit.  You can build a dog up quickly to walk on cold ground, too.   He hasn't had to go from 90 degree sidewalks to 0 degree sidewalks, presumably, so he should be somewhat there already.

Go walk that dog is what I say, and just monitor his progress.

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4 hours ago, Randomguy said:

I think you are way overthinking this.  A golden doodle with that kind of mass should easily be able to handle the temperatures while moving even a little bit.  You can build a dog up quickly to walk on cold ground, too.   He hasn't had to go from 90 degree sidewalks to 0 degree sidewalks, presumably, so he should be somewhat there already.

Go walk that dog is what I say, and just monitor his progress.

I've got a lot of choices to get three days in next week.  After some rain Sunday, Monday's a decent day, then the dry days from Wed-Sun will be warm enough.

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