Dobermans and the heat

[Gelcoater]

Just my own anecdotal observations
We are on Dobers #2 and 3 for those just stumbling upon this.


We started with a red female, broughtbin an 20 month old black male.
The red girl passed of DCM before her 8th birthday.
Rocky the male black and dust boy is still here, mid way through his 12th year

We brought in another female dilute, a blue girl a few months before Covid hit and spoiled her last CGC class.

It’s my opinion?
Black Dobers tolerate heat better than dilutes.
Daisy the Red was better at coping with it than Millie the blue.
She (Millie) ducks out into the house to cool off on the floor while Rocky the old (twice her age) is outside with me.


Share your own experience here, please.
That’s what this place is for after all.

The heat can be a real danger without some observation and forethought.

 

[BG1]

Our black and tan needs breaks on long walks in the shade when temps go over 80 in full sun. Which suits me as I do too.

 

[JanS]

Olive (black girl) loves to bask in the sun when it's hot and Elroy (red boy) stays in the shade. Phoebe (red girl) liked the sun but didn't seek it out. Della (red girl) loved basking in the sun and Albert (black boy) and Boris (black boy) preferred the shade so maybe it's a boy vs girl thing in our case?

 

[Gelcoater]

Olive (black girl) loves to bask in the sun when it's hot and Elroy (red boy) stays in the shade. Phoebe (red girl) liked the sun but didn't seek it out. Della (red girl) loved basking in the sun and Albert (black boy) and Boris (black boy) preferred the shade so maybe it's a boy vs girl thing in our case?

this is great.
Much wider perspective.

 

[Ddski5]

I think it may have to do with temperature, heat index and humidity. As we all know, 100dgs in New Mexico is different than 100dgs in South Louisiana. Dry heat versus mopping wet heat.

But to add:
Black/rust Ragnar absolutely hated the sun. If you could not find him outside, just look for the shady spot and he was there. Lol…he would walk the edges of the tree shade trying to figure out how to get the ball without going in the sun. He was such an asshat like that.

Red/rust Freyja will bask, sleep, run in the sun all day long and show no indifference to it.

If Rag was acting up inside and you wanted to tire him out quickly, just take him outside in the heat/sun for 15mins and he would be done for a good hour.

But then again, if you touched Ragnar’s black coat and then Freyja’s red coat, there was a significant difference.

We don’t have that cool ocean breeze coming off the coast of Cali like @Gel does….

 

[remy]

Like @Ddski5 said, the humidity plays a big part too. We’re in South Carolina so our summer is quite humid. Remy (black & tan) is not a fan of exercising in high heat or humidity (either am I haha) and he’ll start to seek shade within 10-15 minutes. On the other hand, he does like to lay out in the sun and do nothing lol. Often I will take him out to go pee and he just wants to lay in the grass. My old dog (not a Doberman, but black) was the same way. He could lay out in the sun all day long!

 

[MyBuddy]

If Rag was acting up inside and you wanted to tire him out quickly, just take him outside in the heat/sun for 15mins and he would be done for a good hour.

That would be Annie! She's always seeking out the shade. Especially when we were in that 90 ° temperature with a, 80° dew point last week! That was awful and she doesn't last long in it. When we take our walk to the back, we're walking the fence line with no trees. She can't wait to get to the back under the shade of the trees back there. And we will linger for a while. And on the way back she might be hugging the fence line looking for a little shade.

There's been a few times where we go out on the back deck and she doesn't even want to come back inside. Then she'll end up laying in the Sun. I attribute that to the air conditioning. I can do the same thing. For a Time! When you're inside and cool, it almost feels good going outside for a while. For a while. But as a general rule I'd say she is not a sun worshipper... if it's hot.

 

[Oh Little Oji]

I've no direct experience with dilutes, but what I will share actually happens to oppose what you shared, Gel.

My first was a Red. He tolerated heat like nobody's business. He also had a full undercoat, which may have a lot to do with it. He was bred in MN, and moved with me to a handful of states. We spent significant time in AZ and I'd take him on long walks in direct sunlight in the summer. I did at one point make what I called the Cooler Cape which consisted of a t-shirt cut open, and 4 tube socks sewn inside. I'd fill the socks with ice before setting out on long walks in the summer. Anyway, he may have been acclimated to heat. Acclimation surely plays a role. One evening in AZ we were playing fetch with a frisbee almost completely in the shade. He fetched that thing as many times as I'd throw it. He wound up collapsing I raced to him, carried him to the water fountain and began pouring water from the frisbee on him. He had gotten right back up instantly after collapsing.

My next two were Blacks. No undercoat except possibly a very slight amount on the neck. It is with them that I finally experienced that intolerance of heat that I'd heard about in the breed. Their coats were nice, but face it, there's not much fur there between them and the sun. I theorize that the black color absorbs more heat than the brown fur of a Red.

 

[Two Dobes]

Interesting! We had 2 reds in the past, and neither was a fan of sun on a hot day....our last red girl Electra, would lay on the driveway and bake! She had a deformed leg, which affected her hips, so I think it felt good. Our black boys would always be in the shade, and follow the shade to get back in the house....Glory, who is black, also will lay out on the concrete, but not for long. She will lay in the house in the sunny spot, then slither across the floor to the shade after a bit.

 

[Ukesox]

Luna is a Red Dobe & though she loves lying in the sun for short periods of time,
when training outside in class any sunny day above 22C (72F) & after 5-10 minutes she’d go from being
keen to please & obedient to a complete refusenik while all the other breeds kept going. (Definitely cemented my opinion that Dobes are smarter than most other dogs).

 

[Oh Little Oji]

Luna is a Red Dobe & though she loves lying in the sun for short periods of time,
when training outside in class any sunny day above 22C (72F) & after 5-10 minutes she’d go from being
keen to please & obedient to a complete refusenik while all the other breeds kept going. (Definitely cemented my opinion that Dobes are smarter than most other dogs).

Yes, Oji's obedience would fairly well tank when he went into that "I'm too hot" mode. That was about his temperature threshold too – 70° and sunny.

 

[MyBuddy]

Annie does not care for the heat.

We are 'only'


...but heading up to near 100° today.

We were just outside while I watered the vegetable garden and picked some vegetables. She was staying in the shade as much as possible. At one point I turn around and couldn't see her and when I called her she came out from underneath the deck! Trying to stay cool! I said, come on, let's go in the house. OMG she made a beeline for the stairs up to the door! She knows those words, "go in the house".

And landed here, waiting for cool air to come out of that vent!


My husband keeps saying this winter will be her first winter. I wonder how she'll like the snow. I said, you know what? I think she's going to love it!

 

[JanS]

I wonder how she'll like the snow. I said, you know what? I think she's going to love it!

She will probably have fun in it. Our dogs don't mind it but they don't care to go out while it's snowing.