is texas a suitable climate for gsds? - Page 1

i have been invited to move to texas from minnesota with some close friends. i am worried about poisonous snakes, poisonous spiders, increased risk of fleas and ticks, and the dogs getting too hot. if anybody can give me pros and cons and/or their personal experience with living in texas i would greatly appreciate any input. thanx.

I'm sure it is as there are GSD breeders as well as owners in the state.  It's just like people who have dogs and live in AZ; hot as hell, but dogs live there.  I live in IL and made trips out to TX as I too was interested in moving there.  Unfortunately I couldn't find any nice homes with acreage near Fort Worth so I've since switched and am looking closer to home (the 17+ hour trips one way were just murder).

From my research,of the DFW area, I learned that fire ants are common so you'd need to spray for them and watch out during that season.  They also have lots of burrs so you'd have to spray for those as well.  On the first trip we went on, I took our 6 month old female along and at homes 2 and 3 that we looked at, when I put her down, her feet instantly got filled with burrs and she started to limp so I had to carry her around the properties.  As we're looking for property to exercise and train our GSDS, that didn't bode well.  The realtor saw her and thought I was crazy to carry her and said, "oh, they get used to that."  This is also the realtor that offered to throw her in the back of her pickup in 90+ degree weather when she was driving 80 mph to drive to the properties--I don't think so!  Fleas and ticks would be more prevalent as the weather is milder.  A pool or some water source would pretty much be a necessity.

If you live in the city, I don't think you'd have any real issues.  Weather is hot from about March through October so while it's nice during the winter, the other three seasons are pretty hot.  We took a trip in July and while it was hot, it wasn't oppressive as there was a breeze.  The heat is basically the hardest part for those who are used to the Midwest weather.  If you had a good job opportunity, I'd say go for it. 

Thats the same state as Lackland Air Force Base, which is home to the MWD ( military working dog facility ). So I would say its a pretty safe place to live with GSD, Mals, Dutchies.

just watch out for fleas and ticks.  they are bad out here.  and seem to be resistant to frontline and other products now.

heat, not too much of an issue.  I keep kiddy pools filled all summer long for my guys to cool off in.

Jennifer- I live near the DFW metroplex

What part of Texas, it's a pretty big state :-)

I live in South Texas with my dogs.  Ours are inside/outside dogs.  When it is really hot we keep them in the house or keep a kiddy pool full of water when they are outside.

There are flees and ticks.  We haven't had a problem since we started frontline plus many years ago.  Can't be late with it though.

Hope that helps.

Windy

We brought our long coat GSD down from Northern Illinois in 2006.  The summers were pretty tuff on him but we kept him in the a/c.  I would not leave them out in the summer heat.  We live near San Antonio.

Texas has just as many pros and cons as any other part of the world..

Longcoats do have a hard time , expecially the heavy undercoated ones..

Shepherds adapt and you just use your brains and dont ride them on a 120 degree day all over in the back of your truck in a kennel  or take a trip in the heat of the day if they dont ride inside your vehicle.

Travel at night..or on cool days. same as you would anywhere else the heat index rises.

Jan

thank you everybody. if i moved we would be in the san antonio area.