Cold weather breeds in hot climates?

 northern breeds do fine in all types of climates. Like any other dog they need shade and plenty of water. The northern breed coat acts as an insulator from cold and heat.

My Swissy melts in the heat.  He love the sunshine but hates the hummidity.  He is short coated but I have heard that the coat does act as an insulator.  I know many people who live in southern climates with their Swissies.  I think they are find providing they have shade, water and have a nice airconditioned house to get away from it.

I don't know abut that... But I can tell you that my aunt's Pharaoh hound does great through the whole year. She doesn't like the rain that much, but the snow... It's amazing!

I have a Chow and live in AZ (we moved here from IL), he does fine. Granted, he is an indoor dog and doesn't spend a ton of time outdoors (I don't believe in leaving dogs out unsupervised, even though we have a fenced yard). He does perfectly fine here, though he does love the air conditioning..but then he'd have happily sat in front of a fan even in the middle of an IL snowstorm

 I raised this question a while ago when I was considering a northern breed (I live in Australia). I've also spoken to a lot of breeders of various cold climate dogs about it as well, and it seems that it depends on the type of dog. From what I learnt, spitz breeds with a double coat generally do fine as long as they have shade and water, but the heavier the dog's build, the more they tend to suffer in the heat. So dogs like Newfoundlands can really struggle, especially if it's humid. Also I think dogs with a lot of hair can get skin problems in humid climates.

I would also put it out there a) that black dogs don't cope as well as lighter coloured dogs, and b) that double-coated dogs actually do better than short-coated dogs. But maybe the latter is mostly if the dog is black. Penny and Pyry are both about the same size and shape, but Penny has a double coat and Pyry doesn't. Pyry comes in out of the sun sooner and feels hotter to the touch than Penny, and if Penny goes under the house in the heat, she comes out feeling a lot cooler than I'm feeling! I think the double coat can work in their favour.

Jill has a short, brown coat and doesn't seem to suffer from heat or cold very much.  

River is a Greater Swiss Mountian Dog, hench the name "Swiss" they were originated in Switerland.  He is double coated, short haird and black and although he dosen't hate the heat he is not all that tolerant.  Like I said, I know plenty of owners of Swissies in southern climates and they seem to manage alright.

I had a Malamute in Cancun, Mexico.Talking about hot an humidity, my sister found him on the street and we adopted him, he was doing fine, just like any other dog 

corvus

I would also put it out there a) that black dogs don't cope as well as lighter coloured dogs

I will say I 100% agree with this. Apollo melts in the heat. In the summer you can find Apollo :

a) flat on the tile kitchen floor b) sprawled out on the cement basement floor c) in our bedroom with a/c on d) shade or swimming

My dog is a mix of Siberian Husky and Lab, both northern breeds. I can hear one of you say what? A Lab is a northern breed? The Labrador Retriever was started in Newfoundland and neighboring Island of Labrador, both well up in the northern seas. The Lab with his waterproof skin and otter tail was originally bred to jump in the frigid water and retrieve anything from a fish to a net leader on a buoy or floater. Both breeds were bred in climates that have drastic changes of weather. Ranging from an extreme of - 96 F to 40 or 50 F and sometimes warmer.

The trick to exercising a northern breed in summer is to do it during the coolest part of the day and make the walks shorter. And don't be disturbed by the drop in appetite.

Also, our host, Dog.com, is the only source I have found for cooler mats. These are mats that you can get wet and freeze. Later, outside, they have a cool, damp place to lay on. Plus, as a rule, I always keep two bowls of water outside, and inside there are 3. And during the summer, I keep Shadow in the a/c as much as possible. Also, in summer, I won't take him on errands that involve several stops. I can still take him with me to walk, go to pet supply stores, etc, because I can run the a/c in the car en route. But parked in the sunshine in Texas in August? No. Unless I left the car running with the a/c going. It's better to leave him at home in the a/c there. So, winter is our time to get out a lot. 30 something F with a window or two down just a bit, clouds, 10 to 20 mph winds? Balmy. Just right.

Any dog with a long coat, and any double coated dogs, such as GSD's are going to have some lethargy due to heat but the coats do act somewhat as insulators. Dogs cool through panting and circular breathing and release heat through their paws. Sometimes, it's hard for a dog to cool off he's walking on hot pavement.

 Well, owning northern breeds, and living in the north I can't really say for certain.  But what I can say is that people tend to think they need to shave their double coated dogs for hot weather.  This is NOT the way to go.  The coat will keep them cooler than not having it at all.  There are ball diamonds near here where I take my dogs to run around.  Another lady was there with her husky.  It was clearly a husky from the markings, and build, but she had had the poor thing shaved.  It lolled around in the shade the entire time it was there while my two fully coated dogs ran around on the sunny field.  The poor thing drank so much water while it was there I was slightly worried about it.  The lady was just absolutely stunned that my dogs were not shaved and could still function in the heat.  She said she shaved her dog in the spring when he started to blow his coat and kept him that way for the entire summer.  I tried to explain it to her, but she seemed to think my dogs were strange.  I wonder if she'll shave her poor dog again this year.

I agree about the shaving! Like I said, Penny doesn't suffer in the heat as much as Pyry (or Rikki before him, who was also black and with not much of a double coat to speak of). My mother has said she doesn't want to get another black dog if she can help it because they definitely seem to suffer more, but she agrees that the dogs with a full double-coat seem to do better.

Also during the summer, it's good if your dog can get under the house. Penny adores it under there in the summer. The sun never touches it, and it's always cool there. She comes out pretty dusty/muddy, though. Also, you can put ice in the water dishes. It keeps them nice and refreshingly cool and also serves to top up the water a little as it melts. If we're going to have a scorcher, I give Penny an extra water bowl. She likes to lick frozen meat when it's hot, too.

I have more trouble with the rabbit, who seems pretty dismal at keeping her body temperature down despite the big ears. I give her frozen drink bottles wrapped in a towel, which she gets angry about and tries to kick out of her cage. Go figure. She does seem to appreciate a wet towel over her cage, though. It offers shade and an evaporative cooling system. Rabbits can die of heat exhaustion very easily, and I know someone who keeps them outside and keeps them alive in the summer by constantly moving them out of the sun on hot days. The hare is the least bothered by heat and cold of any of my animals.  

we had a huge dog with a husky-type coat and she was totally miserable in the heat- she'd lie in her baby pool with just her nose sticking out and refuse to move. She was much happier when we shaved her down- her body heat could escape into the baby pool easier instead of being trapped in soaking wet fur. I also know a golden retriever who spent all of his time lying in the shade until we decided to shave him- then he was up and about much more often and much happier. If your dog is 102 degrees inside the fur, and it's 95 degrees outside the fur, how on earth can the fur "insulate" the dog from the heat? the dog's body heat needs some way to escape.

 Dogs don't expel heat from their bodies the same way we do.  They pant, and some do sweat, but its through the paw pads not the regular skin.  A double coat helps to trap cool air closer to the skin.  A shaved dog can quickly overheat and/or sunburn.  A husky with a proper coat, acclimated to the weather will maintain a good body temperature.  Keeping the dog soaking wet will make it miserable as the dog will never acclimate to the ambient temperature of its surroundings, so its not suprising that your dog had a rough time mudpuppy.  Husky fur takes an incredibly long time to dry properly and if it doesn't get that the dog can develop some other skin issues besides just being too hot.  Hot spots are common. 

ron2

My dog is a mix of Siberian Husky and Lab, both northern breeds. I can hear one of you say what? A Lab is a northern breed? The Labrador Retriever was started in Newfoundland and neighboring Island of Labrador, both well up in the northern seas. The Lab with his waterproof skin and otter tail was originally bred to jump in the frigid water and retrieve anything from a fish to a net leader on a buoy or floater. Both breeds were bred in climates that have drastic changes of weather. Ranging from an extreme of - 96 F to 40 or 50 F and sometimes warmer.

Was this a question and/or information directed at me....? I'm kind of confused....