Heatstroke in the dog

HEATSTROKE CAN BE FATAL
With the temperatures rising as we get deeper and deeper into the summer months, it is extremely important to prevent your dog from overheating. Dogs cannot tell you when their temperature rises and it is our responsibility to ensure that our pets have sufficient shelter from the sun, adequate water to drink, and a way of cooling off when the summer sun rises.

Watch Your Dog's Temperature
Monitoring your dog closely in high heat is not enough however. It seems that pet owners tend to drop their guard when the temperatures level off, either in the Spring and Fall, and owners think the dangers are passed. Failure to realize that exercise and subsequent confinement, whether in a hot car, crate or doghouse is enough to send your dog's body temperature skyrocketing.

A dog's body temperature is normally between 101°F and 102°F.
Dogs regulate their body temperature by panting, expelling heat out, causing an evaporatory reaction. If he can not expel the heat fast enough, his body temperature rises. A rise of 3 degrees to a temperature of 105°F is all it takes to send your dog into a dangerous situation. At this temperature, the dog can no longer cope with reducing his body heat and the oxygen demand goes up to where the dog can not keep up, and his temperature continues to rise.

When the temperature hits 108°F, the heart, brain, liver, kidneys, and intestinal tracts start to begin breaking down at a cellular level, and the damage can progress at an alarming rate. Even immediate treatment and effective cooling to bring his temperature down can leave the dog with internal damage that may affect his health in long term ways.

leaving your dog in ANY VEHICLE whether or not it has the windows open in temperatures above 75 degrees farhenheit .

Make sure your dog has SHADE (preferably from a tree, as this also creates a BREEZE) if your dog is in an outside pen.

DO NOT CHAIN your dog at any time of the year ... if that dog gets tangled in something and can not get to shelter or water or food, this can be extremely dangerous and even lead to death in extreme temperatues

DO NOT ALLOW your dog to become excited in the summer time heat if it is in an outdoor pen. some dogs simply will not quit if there is another dog running outside their area, or children are playing,, or there are other distractions which set the dog off ....running and leaping against the fence in extreme heat can suddenly lead to heat stroke in the dog.

ACCESS TO WATER: do not use super cold water in the summer, nor should you allow it to become warm sitting in the sun. a DEEP bucket that is refreshed at least three times per day is best, and that means completely emptied out and refilled. If not three times daoily, at least morning and late afternoon...