Too Hot For Dogs
When I was a little girl our neighbors had a sheepdog who was chained outside year round. We live in the Pacific Northwest, so the temperatures around here are relatively moderate; however we do have days in the winter when dogs can freeze to death if left out overnight, and we have days in the summer when dogs die of heat exhaustion.
I have to wonder what people are thinking when they leave a dog outside. When they got their cute cuddly little puppy, did they intend to tie it out, deprive it of it’s pack, drive it crazy with boredom, and expose it to deadly weather conditions?
For those of us big paw fureaks who adore our fur babies and suffer through the heat with them, side by side sweating and panting for lack of air conditioning, there are some things we can do to make our dogs more comfortable in extreme heat.
First I would like to mention that there are some things that make high temperatures more deadly for our K9 companions.
We should never ever leave our doggers in our cars when it is warm out. Rolling the windows down does little to help; they can die within minutes even with the windows rolled down. Parking in the shade really doesn’t help much either, since cars still get WAY too hot for dogs when parked in the shade.
Never walk your dog on pavement in summer. If you think this is comfortable for your dog, take off your shoes and walk with your dog, on your bare feet
Keep your dog cooler in areas with high humidity. Dogs don’t handle high humidity well at all.
In addition to protecting your fur baby from extreme heat, the following can go a long way to making your baby more comfortable in the heat:
provide popsicles for your dog, made out of chicken/beef broth
drape wet, refridgerated towels over the dog, rotating them frequently (a friend recommended this to me and it is very effective)
get air circulation fans and aim them at the dog’s bed/crate. Even if it’s hotter outside than it is inside, the air circulating inside the house feels good for any of us!
Cut back on food intake. Digestion raises body temperature.
Keep windows covered during the sunny part of the day; open up your house at night.
Signs of heatstroke include:
anxiety/failure to respond to commands/staring into space
panting
high body temperature
fast heartbeat
dry skin/nose
dehydration
collapse
Puppies/geriatric dogs, and dogs who aren’t used to high heat are more suseptable to heat exhaustion.
Here’s to hoping everyone has a safe comfortable summer. It’s time for me to go torture my poor dogs by dunking them in the kiddie pool!
