Cold weather dogs in hot climates

[Gixxermike]

I wanted to know if I was to get a cold weather dog such as a Siberian Husky or akita or other kinds of those types.Do they fair well in hot climates?

Does anybody have any of these dogs in the South?

 

[oakash]

Its almost certainly not a good idea. If your house is air conditioned all year round at like 72 degrees, maybe. But they will still not be able to go outside without being miserable.

My dog has a single coat, and she almost doesn't move in the summer, which is really long where I live.

 

[Renee750il]

It's really always a better idea to have a dog that is more acclimated to your climate. You CAN keep one comfortable, but it's going to be a great deal of effort, and the dog is never going to be completely comfortable, especially if it's a more active breed, as a lot of northern types are.

 

[~Dixie's_Mom~]

Honestly, I've never had an issue with it. I had my first husky, Misty, when I lived in Houston, Texas. It's HOT there. She was a 70% outside dog, 30% inside dog, and she really never had any problems. Their coats really aclimate to what weather they're in. Misty never really developed much of an undercoat so she didn't have much to shed off. Her coat stayed really short and cool most of the year because it never got very cold. In the cooler winter months, she had a bit of an undercoat, just enough to keep her warm, and then it shed off pretty quickly when it started to get hot again. She had lots of shade and lots of water, and access to the air conditioned house. We never had a problem with the heat.

We now live in Tennessee, and we've had two huskies here. It gets in the 80's-upper 90's here in the summer, and again, we haven't had a problem. Both Holly and Violet have been 99.9% indoor dogs (only outside for exercising, play, going potty) and we keep our house nicely air-conditioned. When we take the dogs out in the summer, we just prepare accordingly. We are sure to bring water, go to a decently shaded place if not indoors, etc.

I don't see an issue with having northern breeds in hotter climates. You just adapt to keep them happy, just as they adapt to keep themselves happy. It's not uncommon to see huskies in places like Florida where it can get very hot and humid.

 

[darkchild16]

Its not a good idea. My mom has a Saint in Florida and most of the year its too hot for her to do anything. When she was young the summers were hell for her because she couldnt play outside with the other dogs or anything for long we had to even pull up our carpet for her. Shes been in Florida since she was 1 and shes now 7 and never acclimated. Even my shepherd mix with a undercoat who was born in Florida has a hard time in the summer for long periods of time.

I will add that the Saint was not a dog we sought out. She ended up with us because of stupid owners. The people that I have known with Northern breeds here moved here with them or got one and swore off another just because its not fair to the dogs if they dont like water or anything because they never really get to go out in the summer.