A City Iggy’s Guide to Summer
ADELAIDE’S TOP 5 TIPS FROM HER FIRST REAL SUMMER
Summertime is fast approaching here for us in Toronto and while that is super exciting for many of us humans, what does it mean for Italian greyhounds? Iggies by nature run a little cold, as you may know from their minimal body fat and their need to wear coats in the winter. But what does summertime mean for an iggy? Adelaide was a brand new pup last summer, so while she got to enjoy some of the summertime fun, she didn’t get to experience the city fully while we waited for her final round of vaccinations. With summer coming soon, we’ve already developed some new routines and we’d love to share them with you.
Let’s begin with something you may not be thinking of when it comes to caring for your dog… sunscreen! If your dog is exposed to the sun for long periods of time, it’s important to look into options for protection.
Sunscreen
We heard about the need for sunscreen from other iggy owners but didn’t know exactly how to go about using it. Iggies have thin, tiny hairs but do you just bathe your iggy in a bath of sunscreen? What kind of sunscreen do you use?
First off, don’t bathe your iggy in a bath of sunscreen. They really need the sunscreen just for their sensitive areas that are exposed to the sun — it’s not for the entire body. Other breeds that might use sunscreen would be hairless breeds like Chinese Crested or Xoloitzcuintli. The areas that are at risk are the spots that have light pigmentation or are not heavily covered by fur. For Adelaide, we place a tiny amount of sunscreen on the top of her snout (far enough from her tongue so she doesn’t lick it off). We also put the sunscreen on her chest because her hair is thinner there and you can see the light pink skin underneath.
Secondly, we researched what to use for sunscreen and there are some big things to avoid. Find a sunscreen that is either made for dogs OR is PABA (Para-Aminobenzoic Acid)-free and free of zinc oxide. If you use a sunscreen with PABA or zinc it can be toxic to dogs. We found a baby sunscreen that was free of both. It’s been working really well so far and we plan to continue using it.
The one thing we’ve noticed is that with the creamy sunscreen, sometimes dirt gets smudged into it after play sessions. We’re finding that we need to bathe her more. It’s not the worst thing in the world, but we want to be careful not to over-bathe her as iggies have sensitive skin and it can cause irritation. The other option for sun protection we’ve heard about is wearing a sun shirt — a shirt made of material specifically made for UV ray protection. We haven’t tried this yet but would be interested in finding one.
Next up, we’ve got one of our new favorite pass times — the dog park!
The Dog Park
Now that Adelaide is full-grown and well-socialized with all dogs, we’ve been finding the dog park to be a great source of exercise. Dog parks were closed for the first few months during the Covid-19 lockdown (March-May) so when they re-opened we decided to make it a new habit. We’ve learned that Adelaide needs to work on her recall skills (coming back when you call her). She can sometimes focus when we have treats and not too much distance but many times she’ll get so distracted by her dog friends that she doesn’t hear us at all.
We scoped out a few dog parks in our area to determine where we should go for our Adelaide. We looked for parks that were big enough to allow for social distancing (in days of Covid-19) but also small enough to keep an eye on our iggy. Our favorite in our downtown area of Toronto is Stanley Park because it is spacious but fenced off for safety. Talking to other iggy owners we find that many are extremely cautious when going to dog parks because sometimes there are too many big dogs that can get over excited with our little iggies. We’ve found a nice balance between letting Adelaide play with the big dogs and finding her own small puppy parties. The small dogs tend to gravitate towards each other which takes the parental fear out of it.
Other dog parks we’ve enjoyed going to in Toronto are St. Andrew’s, Coronation Park and Cedarvale Park. We had our very first experience in Trinity Bellwood’s off leash dog park area today and really enjoyed it. Our one fear of this park is that it’s not a fenced-in area. The dog park at Trinity Bellwoods is really just an area in a bowl-like space at the centre of the park. So while it’s not fenced, your dog would have to run very far and very quick up a steep hill to escape the area. With Adelaide being one year old, we’ve only just become brave enough to practice letting her off-leash and recalling her back to us. So far we’ve been successful but we know we have a lot to learn when it comes to grabbing Adelaide’s attention outside.
When you live in the city, it’s so exciting to find places that help you feel a bit more in nature. We’ve been so lucky to find such a place… High Park with an off-leash trail.
OFF-LEASH TRAILS
This is our newest and most exciting summer discovery! High Park in Toronto has an off-leash trail where you can walk through a shady path and let your dog walk free. We started going to this trail because of our iggy friends who are quite experienced walking on this path. We’ve noticed some things about Adelaide that we will continue to work on.
Firstly, Adelaide loves to run ahead. Adelaide is courageous and fast. When she sees a new dog to meet, she will run at top speed to get there. Luckily we can usually catch up to her pretty quickly because she’ll spend a lot of time sniffing her brand new friend. As long as we have dogs nearby, we know that Adelaide will continue to walk with us.
The trails are mostly fenced off except for the fences that have holes just big enough for a small iggy to squeeze through. This means that we have to watch Adelaide like a hawk for now until we can trust that she won’t go exploring.
A big discovery for us and dog trails is that Adelaide loves toddlers. We think because human toddlers are often very excitable, she feeds into that energy and starts to jump. The only problem is that Adelaide’s jump could probably pin a toddler to the ground. The second we see a family with a stroller or a child in hand, we scoop her up.
Just like humans, dogs get thirsty in the hot summer sun. Don’t forget to pack water for every outdoor adventure.
HYDRATION
We’ve learned quickly that it is important to always have some source of water when spending time with your iggy outside during summer. So many times we’ve had water and Adelaide doesn’t seem to want it, but you never know when the thirst will hit and she’ll drink almost all of her little water bottle at once.
We have a Kong bottle that uses the lid as a bowl. We find that sometimes she gets so thirsty when she runs in the dog park, that she tries to go for a drink that was meant for another dog. We try our best to catch her attention and show her that we have her water waiting for her with us.
Adelaide also gets thirsty because she loves sunbathing. This is something we’ve seen most iggies enjoy doing — chasing those sweet sunshine rays. Adelaide will even chase the sun spots we have in the house in the morning and just sleep for as long as they’re there. We’ll notice when she comes in from the balcony, that she feels noticeably hotter. We make sure to have clean fresh water always available to her just in case.
As summer approaches, we’re noticing that Adelaide is panting for the first time. While we have water available for her, we’ve heard about another concern that comes with the heat and sun — hot pavement.
PAVEMENT IN THE CITY
We’ve heard that if the pavement is too hot, it can hurt your pup’s feet. We’ve also learned of a test you can do to see if the pavement is too hot for your pup. If you’re ever nervous that it’s too hot, place the back of your hand on the ground. If you can’t hold it there for more than 5 seconds, it is too hot for your doggo. We haven’t experienced this yet but we will pay close attention and do our best to avoid it.
It’s only just the start of June but we’ve learned so much about how to take care of our girl now that the summer weather is here. While our list is not extensive, we wanted to share what we’ve discovered and continue to learn more about caring for an iggy in the hot summer months to come. We look forward to many sunny days, lots of dog socializing and spending time in nature with our girl, Adelaide.
Originally published at https://adelaidetheiggy.com on June 8, 2020.
