06/22/2025
I love that y’all wanna do right by your dogs. I LOVE that you want to bring them with you everywhere!!
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But here on the East Coast of the USA, it is *hot*hot*hot* making the risk of heat damage super high --
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My experience is that in an emergency situation, we humans often panic, and only remember bits and pieces of relevant info. This is the TL;DR: dog too hot = cool quickly!!!
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I am no different from you. When one of The Terriers is injured, or acutely sick, I can hear my brain flushing like a toilet. That’s when I Phone A Friend….
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Here I am - your Friend on a Phone!! Ain’t social media neat?
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First, please remember that most people UNDERESTIMATE the negative effects of heat on their dogs. Walking around on a hot summer day, I see many dogs showing clear signs of heat stress:
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Panting, tongue out, flaccid/flabby = overheating
Panting, tongue out, flattening at the end = heat stress; danger zone
Panting, tongue out, flat end, edges curling; watery, squinty eyes; Can drink, but not much = HEAT STROKE IMMINENT!
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Dogs DO NOT SWEAT, so while giving them water is of course necessary, it is just not going to cool them the same way it cools a human. The few sweat glands on their feet are not relevant at this point.
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Drinking ice cold water isn’t great for their system - it ain’t great for yours either, boss. Offer cool or room temperature water only.
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Dogs get rid of excess heat by panting - that is their ONLY INTRINSIC METHOD OF COOLING!
This means that brachycephalic breeds - smoosh-faced dogs like Pugs, Frenchies -- have their air conditioners permanently disabled.
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A Chihuahua is going to be much more heat tolerant, generally, than a Siberian Husky. The thick undercoat of Arctic and mountain breeds of dog insulates them for extreme low temperatures, and makes them much less tolerant of high temperatures.
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Heat Stress progresses to Heat Exhaustion then Heat Stroke when the dog is:
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Panting uncontrollably, cannot stop to drink much, if at all
Staggering, wobbly
Trembling which can progress to seizures
Limp, trouble standing, prefers to lay down
Vomiting
Passing loose, watery stools
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This is when Emergency Measures should be taken!!
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Immerse your dog in an ice bath, if that’s available to you quickly - like a cooler full of drinks at a party. Dump the beverages and immerse your dog.
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This will not cause organ failure. When a dog goes into multi-system organ failure after being cooled from Heat Stroke, the damage was done by the HEAT, not the cooling.
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Be aware, when I say immerse your dog in an ice bath, I don’t mean for you to leave them there for half an hour!! Dunk them, soak their fur to the skin, wait for them to stabilize, then take them out of the water and into A/C or a fan.
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This could be when you put your dog in an air conditioned vehicle, and transport to an emergency veterinary facility for medical care.
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Another thing I do not mean: do not spend precious time meticulously setting up an ice bath for your overheating dog. Use what is available to you: cold hose, pool, stream, lake, bottles of cold drinks (even if they aren’t water, just get the darn dog wet!).
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While you are soaking your dog to the skin, someone else is starting up the transport vehicle, and cranking the A/C. A third person could be calling area animal ER’s to find out who can provide emergent medical attention the quickest.
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CONDUCTION of heat, from the dog, to a body of cold water, is what cools a body the fastest. EVAPORATION of that water from their skin - not from their fur, from their SKIN! - is the most efficient way to reduce body heat.
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Do not waste time cooling veins on the neck or groin - cooling by evaporation works because it cools the SMALL VESSELS in the SKIN: the more skin is soaked, the more efficient the evaporative cooling.
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The best way to prevent permanent damage from heat stroke is to avoid heat stressing your dog in the first place. Pay attention to the weather, remembering that ANY dog is LESS heat tolerant than most humans.
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Humans drink water to support sweating, which evaporates from your skin, and cools you down. Your dog does not sweat! Manually wet them down with cool water to promote evaporative cooling. Do this prior to, and in the midst of, warm weather activity. Soak them to the skin, or it won’t help much.
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Stopping activity to give them water is helpful, but will NOT be sufficient in hotter temperatures. As a rough guide, let’s say anything over 80 degrees Fahrenheit (25 Celsius) is definite cause for concern. I know many dogs who struggle when temperatures rise over 60F (15C).
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I hope this clears things up. Link to the blog page on my website to read more, get on my mailing list, debate the finer points of my complete idiocy.....whatevvuh.
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