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So we come back from Florida and our dog has been kenneled at the same place we did our training. She comes back and is incredibly calm (being a boxer-spaniel mix, she's rather high-energy). Now that first day, it was about 90 here, so heat could have been a factor, as she's been more active since then (but not quite to her old level of activity), but it's been beautiful weather - in the mid-70s.

Could the heat be affecting her? If it was the boarding, was it because she ran around more, or might it be that she was afraid we had abandoned her? We got her from a local shelter where she had been abandoned (and probably abused). When we first went to get her at the kennel last week, she was in "They're mad at me" mode for about 60 seconds, then warmed right up.

Opinions? How much does the heat affect your dogs? Have you experienced a similar "calming" when bringing a dog back from boarding them for a week? 

Must have misread this ... I though your dog was "in heat" when you got back from Florida.

I'm sure dog's can slow down a bit when its hot ... I know ours overheats herself when she is playing too hard. Eventually she just plops down and pants.
 

Nate,

She is sulking. You went away and stuck her in a run with lots and lots of strange dogs and strange people coming and going. She is a little uncertain about what happened.

We get the same thing whenever we put our menagerie into kennels. They get over it soon enough.  

Slippery:

Nate,

She is sulking. You went away and stuck her in a run with lots and lots of strange dogs and strange people coming and going. She is a little uncertain about what happened.

We get the same thing whenever we put our menagerie into kennels. They get over it soon enough.  

I agree that's the most likely case.

I will say though that heat DOES significantly affect dogs, and people need to be much more careful about their dogs in hot weather. Of course, the one that *should* be obvious to most people is not leaving your dog in a car in the summer. Even with the windows rolled partway down, it only takes a few minutes for the heat to get unbearable inside a car on a sunny summer day. There was a case here last summer where some young guy went to stop by his technical school to pick up some papers on a sunny day (temps in the mid 80s I think), and decided to take his dog with him. He figured he'd only be a couple minutes, and left the windows rolled partway down. He couldn't get his papers right away, but went back outside after about 10 minutes - but by then his dog was already going into heat stroke. Even though he let the dog out and tried cooling him down with water (paramedics arrived in minutes), the dog still died.

Point being - be very very careful with your dogs in the summer. Most dogs aren't designed to handle heat. They can't sweat like us, so only cool themselves by panting or by releasing some heat through their pads. Panting in a hot car doesn't do squat for cooling them.

On hot days, we leave our dogs inside in the AC (with the windows well covered up to keep it cool), and only let them out in the yard briefly.

Mike Briggs:

On hot days, we leave our dogs inside in the AC (with the windows well covered up to keep it cool), and only let them out in the yard briefly.

When I die I want to come back as one of Mikes dogs.

I agree with cars and heat though. If you have to stop with the dog, take it out of the car and tie it to a bumper where it can get some shade and leave it with some water.

Some dogs feel the heat far worse than others and fat unfit dogs are the worst. Healthy working dogs like border collies will work for hours in blazing sun but need access to lots of water and you will often see them lie down in a puddle or get into a water trough to assist in cooling.

I've actually seen a border get into a water trough and have the sheep drinking right next to him.

Slippery:

When I die I want to come back as one of Mikes dogs.

They do live the high life.