Heat Stroke

[tango61]

My dog today was very hot! It was 31 degrees!
Luckily she didnt get heat stroke and just stuck to panting. But i dont want to have her getting heat stroke and espessialy when its just the beggining of july! It most certainly will get hotter. So I was just wondering what i can do to reduce the chances of Tango getting heat stroke and what to do if she does get it...
Thanks
Taylor&Tango

 

[yoyopoodle]

If she actually does get heat stroke, that is life threatening and you should be in contact with your vet.

If she is just getting hot, there are a lot of things you can do... here are some of them:

- Let her chew ice cubes
- Let her play in a kiddie pool/lake
- Drape a wet towel on her back (only really works for short-haired dogs)
- Place a cold wet towel or ice pack on the insides of her thighs (this will cool the blood that is circulating)

And to avoid situations where she may over heat:

- Always have water available
- Don't bring her in the car when you run errands
- Provide shade when she is outside... a dog house doesn't count if the sun touches it - it will turn into an oven
- Keep her hair relatively clean, and free of mats or loose dead hair

 

[liowkc]

Because dogs have no sweat glands distributed throughout their bodies, they are more susceptible to heat exhaustion or heat stroke. They can only rely on panting or sweating via footpads. So help them battling hot or humid weather is the least we can do to make our dogs more comfortable.