A while back, I complained about an article on winter care for dogs because it wasn’t published until winter was nearly over. Fortunately, the folks over at DogChannel.com have put out their warnings early enough for us to make some use of them, especially since we’ve been having an early heat wave here in the Midwest. You probably — I hope!– know enough not to leave your dog in a closed car, but you may not know how to recognize when your dog is in trouble.Â
According to the article:
‘Heatstroke’s early signs include rapid breathing, rapid heart rate, thick drooling saliva and a dry nose and mouth. “The dog often has a panicked or wild expression,†Chodrow says. “If you lift up a lip, the gums above the teeth will be a muddy grayish-pink or a brick-red instead of their normal clear pink color. As heatstroke progresses, the dog may stagger or have seizures. In advanced stages, she may show bloody diarrhea, coma and death. Heatstroke is a medical emergency: If untreated, it can be fatal.‒
Keeping an eye on your dog in this kind of weather is all the more important if he or she has other health issues, such as diabetes, which affect hydration (if his or her blood sugar is not under good control, you really need to limit outdoor play in the summertime). It’s a good idea to limit outdoor play time for any dog on a hot day, and you need to make sure that shade is available no matter how short a time you will be outdoors.Â
I’ve talked about my brother-in-law’s group at the dog park before, and there can be some other problems with that kind of setting in the heat. For one thing, people go there not just so their dogs can have fun, but also to socialize with other dog owners. The group that Steve hangs out with are Great Pyrenees owners, and he’s lost track of time more than once while chatting with them. They all wait until early evening to take the dogs to the park to help prevent heat-related problems, which is good, but as the DogChannel article points out, humidity is a problem all by itself. If the humidity is high, evaporation is slowed, and since the dogs cool themselves by panting, heat stress can build up even after the sun goes down.
There are a couple of other factors that the article mentions that I want to talk about, but the first is most important for diabetic dogs, many of whom have excess weight. As the article points out, that can have an effect on breathing as well as retaining heat, since the weight acts as extra insulation. The other problem they cite is dogs with double coats (like Pomeranians, for example). Although their coats can insulate against the heat, once they do get hot, the coat holds it in. And, of course, the kind of exercise matters, too. Here again, I’m thinking of dog parks, where many dogs get a far more intense workout than they do at home, and where they may forgo drinking at times because they are so involved with their play.
The article has a lot of good advice, and I can’t recommend it highly enough. Read it, protect your best friend, and remember – warnings for heat danger for humans also apply to pets.
I would also recommend the article below about outdoor dogs. It’s kind of surprising, to me at least, how people rationalize their worst decisions.
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