How cold is cold for a dog to swim?

Question

Outside temperature in Celcious. The dog is 18 months female German Shepard, loves to swim.

Answer 1

Hello

Dogs are not susceptible to wind chill the sme as we are when they are dry...However get the wet and its a whole different story.

You should not only be lookin at the water temps but alos the wind and air temps as well....

Some breeds of dog , like the Labs are better insulated against cold water as they have a deeper chest and are better designed for it than a Sheppard.

You should also know that some dogs can actually sprain thier tails or get whats called " cold tail" after a bath or swim in cold water. This is painful for the dog and is more liekly to occur in sporting dogs like labs, beagles etc...

It is hard to give an exact answer to a exact temp that is too cold for your dog to swim in... of course you can say if its too cold for you then its too cold for him...

But Most humans would not want to swim in water cooler t h an 80F and yet its still ok for a dog .

If it were me Id take the cue from the dog... keepin in mind that in his excitement to swim he may not judge the water temps well enough..

I would not let him swim in water that was extremely cold or if its windy or air temps are very cool as well.. and be certain you dry him off completely once he is out to prevent hypothermia.

If y ou do not live where the water is,,like a lake in your bckyard etc... then I would suggest having your car rather than walking him home so you can get him out of the cold after a cool swim.

I would also watch how long he is in there as he may NOT be a good judge of when he is cold.

I took my lab with me when he was 3 to a Polar Plunge in Wisconsin,, and he swam with me around the ice in freezing temps... I however did have my car running heat on and we both ran for it once we were out... He however did not seem terribly cold.. but agai it was a lab better made for that and we were not in more than 5 minutes or so...

Good Luck

Wismom

Answer 2

Unless you are going to take the water temp you're going to have to let your dog decide. If it's too cold the dog won't stay in the water long. I have two dogs that love water and they have literally come home with frosted eyelashes and ice on their coats. We use microfiber cloths to take out as much moisture as possible and kennel them to dry. I also mix warm water or sodium free broth with their dry food to help warm them up from the inside.

Answer 3

It's just as cold to them as it is to us, use your best judgement. Also, if you have a German Shepherd (I have one as well) they should only be bathed/get wet once or twice a year because their skin runs out of oils and gets very flakey, dry, and painful for them when they reach about 9 or so. To prevent this put one tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil on their food daily. This will help your doggy in the future. Good luck.

Answer 4

Outside temp should be above 50 and water temp should be 50+.

Dogs love to swim no matter how cold the water is , but you have to make sure they don't get hypothermia.

Answer 5

I just wouldn't let them swim in anything that is too cold for you to swim in.

Answer 6

It should be above 70 celcuious, and they shouldn't swim when it's raning out.

Answer 7

it might be as cold to her as cold as it is to us in the morning

Answer 8

Oh c'mon!!!
Dogs BREAK THROUGH *ICE* to swim!!! DO try to get real,eh?

Answer 9

if its too cold for you then its too cold for your dog.

Answer 10

It always depends on wat dog it is PST....never try 2 put a dog in cold water