How to Prevent Heat Stroke in Dogs

Is it getting hot outside or what? Imagine if you had to wear a fur coat during the hot, grueling, summer months. Well, your pet does. If you are a pet owner like myself and your dog is normally an outside dog, you should be paying close attention to their health. Dogs can easily become overheated in the summer and you need to know what to do in case your pet has a heatstroke.

Did you know that dogs are built to reserve heat rather than release heat? Yep, according to WebMd dogs do not acclimate to hot temperatures like humans do. The last thing you want is for your dog to have a heat stoke, so make sure you never:  leave your pet in the car, overexercise in hot weather, keep confined on concrete/asphalt surfaces, keep confined without shade and fresh water, and ignore previous health complications.

If your pet does end up having a heat stroke you need to know what to do in a quick, timely fashion. You will first see your dog panting and breathing heavily. Your dog's tongue will appear bright red and it's gums will look almost white. As the stroke progresses vomiting, diarrhea, seizures, and/or coma can occur. Before this happens, don't let it happen! Bring your dog inside immediately and pour cold water over the dog's head or immerse into a cool (but not ice cold) tub of water. Also, wiping the dog's paws with cool water will help decrease the body temperature. If this fails, take your dog to it's veterinarian ASAP.

Let's hope your dog never goes through a heat stroke, but don't think it could never happen. It's out out there, y'all. Keep your pups cool.