A not-as-hot Southern California summer

Since we live in Southern California and run dogs, weather is always a concern. While most residents enjoy basking in the typical bright and sunny California weather, we live for the cold and overcast mornings (and yes, even wet) as it allows us to hit the trails with dogs that are even more pumped up about running.

And even though our furballs are more acclimated to warmer weather (than say those who live in the northern regions), we still end up taking most of the summer off as it gets too hot to have them safely run and pull. But we’re usually able to continue running them during the early part of summer, especially along the coast where the morning marine layer and cooler temperatures prevail.

This year, we’ve also had bouts of warmer-than-normal temperatures in the spring and early summer. The Pet Expo comes to mind --- this was held in mid-April and it was an unusually hot weekend. I think it got up to the high 90s and we had to set up misters in the Urban Mushing booth to keep the dogs cool in between working dog demos.

By early May, forecasters were predicting above-average temperatures for this summer. Not something I was looking forward to specially with the summer heat wave and humidity that I experienced these past two years. But apparently, the weather gurus have changed their prediction and are now saying that we are in for cooler-than-expected temperatures for the rest of the summer. I’m keeping my fingers crossed and hope that stays on track.

With that being said though, last weekend’s scooter run at Fairview Park was the last hosted group run for the summer. Time for the dawgies to take the summer off until we pick it back up again in September, maybe even late August, depending on the temperatures. But we will continue to stay active and host some hikes, concentrate on groundwork training, and maybe even set up a camping trip so stayed tuned!