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Simple Summary: The high radiant heat load of tropical regions imposes challenges on the welfare of imported temperate dog breeds, especially when owners' awareness does not result in willingness to change their attitudes towards the care of their dogs, e.g., by choosing more thermally comfortable times to walk with them. Based on an online questionnaire answered by Siberian Husky dogs' owners, we found that respondents mentioned several heat defense behaviors expressed by their dogs, perceived them as low-heat-tolerant animals and were more likely to walk with dogs during times of less solar input. However, the availability of time was reported by owners as the main reason for taking their dogs for a walk during times of high solar input. In conclusion, the owners' perception that Siberian Huskies living in Brazil are heat-sensitive dogs was likely to reflect positive attitudes via avoidance of exposing them to extreme hot conditions during daily walks. The management of the thermal environment to which dogs are exposed should be included in strategies to improve their welfare. An online questionnaire was administered to 624 owners of Siberian Husky dogs residing in Brazil, with the objective of assessing their perceptions regarding their dogs' capacity to adapt to heat, and its association with the owners' routine care. Owners who believed that dogs are low-heat-tolerant animals were more likely to report heat response behaviors from their dogs. Overall, owners reported walk with their dogs during early morning, late afternoon and nighttime. They also reported solar radiation as the primary criteria for determining the time to walk with their dogs. However, owners who reported walking with their dogs at noon mentioned time availability as their primary criteria. In conclusion, owners perceive Siberian Husky dogs living in Brazil as being poorly adapted to heat, and this perception appeared to influence their positive attitudes towards protecting their dogs from heat stress by choosing to walk them during times with less solar exposure. However, the lack of time for owners to walk with their dogs during cooler periods can still be a risk factor in exposing the animals to extreme hot conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Regular exercise is a stressful stimulus that elicits physiological responses in systolic and diastolic functions in human athletes, the so-called "athlete's heart". The present study reports findings obtained from echocardiography to measure the ventricular dimensions at rest in beagle dogs undergoing an endurance training program carried out on a treadmill with the intensity set at 70–80% of the velocity corresponding to the lactate threshold. Echocardiography was performed with routine measurements of the left ventricular systolic and diastolic function by the two-dimensional and Doppler techniques. After the training, the principal component analysis of echocardiographic variables was conducted to evaluate dimensional changes in left ventricular function. Principal components analysis was able to capture the qualitative echocardiographic changes produced by the endurance training. Eight weeks of the lactate-guided endurance training program could lead to concomitant left ventricular dilation without hypertrophy of the ventricular walls, emphasizing the left ventricular systolic and diastolic functions. These results suggest that submaximal aerobic training may induce physiological cardiac remodeling, improve the left ventricular functions, promote health, and minimize any injuries produced during heart disease, although its effectiveness for the latter effect must be confirmed in future studies. This research focuses on the adjustments in systolic and diastolic functions that are not fully understood in dogs submitted to athletic training. Beagle dogs carried out an endurance training program (ETP) prescribed from the external training load, corresponding to 70–80% of the lactate threshold (VLT) velocity. Eighteen dogs were randomly assigned to two groups: control (C, n = 8), active dogs that did not perform any forced exercise, and trained (T, n = 10), submitted to the ETP during eight weeks. All dogs were evaluated before and after the ETP period using two-dimensional echocardiography, M-mode, Doppler, and two-dimensional speckle tracking. A principal component analysis (PCA) of the echocardiographic variables was performed. The ETP improved the left ventricular internal dimension at the end of diastole (LVDd), the left ventricular internal dimension at the end of diastole to aorta ratio (LVDd: Ao), and the strain rate indices. PCA was able to capture the dimensionality and qualitative echocardiography changes produced by the ETP. These findings indicated that the training prescribed based on the lactate threshold improved the diastolic and systolic functions. This response may be applied to improve myocardial function, promote health, and mitigate any injuries produced during heart failure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]