Puppy Training for a Clumber Spaniel That Overheats

The first few months really do set the patterns for life — the right tools from the start make training easier and less stressful for both puppy and owner, and the wrong ones create habits that are surprisingly hard to undo. I want to make sure you're set up well from the beginning. How old is your puppy, what breed are they, and what are you mainly trying to work on right now?

That's a really sensible thing to flag early. Clumber Spaniels are a brachycephalic-adjacent breed — they're not flat-faced, but they're heavy, low to the ground, and have dense coats, which means heat regulation is genuinely harder for them than for most dogs. At 13 weeks, her training sessions should be short anyway — five to ten minutes at most — but heat stress can cut even that down if you're not careful. Can I ask: are you mainly doing outdoor sessions, indoor, or a mix? And is the overheating happening even in mild temperatures, or mostly when it's warm?

That tells me she's going to need active cooling support for outdoor sessions, not just shade and water breaks. At 16–17 degrees she shouldn't be struggling, but the fact that she is means you need to take this seriously rather than just hoping she'll toughen up — she won't, it's just her physiology. The one product I'd point you toward is the Ruffwear Swamp Cooler dog vest. It works through evaporative cooling — you soak it in cold water, wring it out, and put it on the dog. As the water evaporates, it draws heat away from the body. It's been used by working dogs in genuinely hot conditions, but it's equally useful for a breed like yours that overheats at lower temperatures. There's a puppy-friendly sizing and it's adjustable enough to grow with her for a while. It means you can do your five-minute training sessions in the garden without the session ending because she's overheated before you've got through three repetitions.

Yes, perfectly safe at 13 weeks — it's just a wet vest, no chemicals, no compression. You do want to watch that you're not overcooling her in very cold weather, but at the temperatures you're describing it's ideal. For a short training session, put it on about five minutes before you go out so she's already starting to cool before you begin. Keep it on throughout. If it dries out mid-session, either re-wet it or call the session done — a dry vest stops working. One other thing: always have fresh water available even with the vest on, and keep sessions to ten minutes maximum at this age regardless of temperature. Her joints and her attention span both need the breaks.

You're already thinking about this the right way, which puts you ahead of most. Short, cool, positive sessions at this age build exactly the foundation you want. She'll be a lovely dog to train once she's settled — Clumbers are smart and very food motivated, which helps enormously. Good luck with her.