In the morning before we load up all the dogs get a bowl of half water/half gatorade or pedialyte.
We've been kicking the dogs out way before daylight and leaving the field around 9am or sooner.
After a long chase or after we catch a hog we put them all on leads, take them to water, and we all take 5 (in the shade if the sun is up).
I carry pedialyte and a 500ml lactated ringer with me in the field. I also have a 1000ml ringer in the truck.
It takes some self discipline but hunting in this heat can be done safely. Its hard to put the dogs on leads when you know there are hogs near by and the dogs want to go but its not the dogs call....its mine and I'm not burying any dogs because I got greedy.
I have caught the dogs with hogs around on the last two hunts. One more hog is not worth a dog getting too hot. Also If I have a choice I hunt places with water readily available for the dogs, irrigation water, creeks, the River, ect, in adition to carrying water with me. And first and foremost the most important thing to do in my opinion is to keep the dogs in shape and LEAN, a good rule of thumb is if you cannot see the last one or two ribs in the summer time then the dog is too fat for summer hunting. Some people might not agree with this, but fat dogs overheat.
I like em to look like this just a few ribs slightly showing
Waylon
