During summer heat all pets need cool water and a shady spot, preferably indoors on days over 80 degrees, with heat stroke signs being heavy panting, drooling and staggering.

All animals but especially our dogs should not be left outside in the heat for extended periods of time.  Florida is warm all year round and studies show that your pets should have cool water readily available at all times while outdoors as well as a shady spot available. Studies show that dogs should stay indoors on days when the temperature is over 86 degrees.

If your taking your pets with you in the car please don’t leave them in the car without the air conditioning running. Some estimates show that the temperature inside a vehicle can be 60 or even 80 degrees higher than the outside temperature, which can prove to be deadly.

With the temperatures we experience in Florida,  heat stroke is always a possibility and signs of heatstroke in your pets is heavy panting, drooling and staggering.

The AKC recommends the following steps to cool your dog down if your dog begins to exhibit any signs of heatstroke:

Apply rubbing alcohol to the dog’s paw pads.

Apply ice packs to the groin area

Hose down with water

Allow your dog to lick ice chips or drink small amounts of water

Offer pedialyte to restore electrolytes

Check your dogs temperature regularly during this process. Once the temperature has stabilized between 100-102 degrees you can stop the process

If you cannot get your dogs temperature down and you begin to see advanced signs of heatstroke, take the dog to the veterinarian immediately!

To read more on this topic click here.

Some estimate that the temperature inside of a vehicle can be 60 or even 80 degrees higher than the outside temperature. Just a few minutes in a vehicle can cause serious personal injury to children, the elderly, and, yes, even pets. It can also lead to an arrest and criminal prosecution in some cases for abuse and neglect. There are two typical reasons for leaving someone in the vehicle unattended: convenience and / or forgetfulness. The dangers presented by a hot car or hot vehicle are too great and should not be ignored or underestimated. An easy reminder system is to put a stuffed animal in the back seat. When the vehicle is parked, move the stuffed animal to the front seat and remove the child and other passengers from the vehicle. See First Coast Experts: Don't Leave People or Pets in Hot Cars

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The AKC recomends the following steps to cool your dog down if your dog begins to exhibit any of the above signs of heatstroke:

o Apply rubbing alcohol to the dog's paw pads.

o Apply ice packs to the groin area.

o Hose down with water.

o Allow the dog to lick ice chips or drink a small amount of water.

o Offer Pedialyte to restore electrolytes.

o Check your dog's temperature regularly during this process. Once the dog's temperature has stabilized at between 100 to 102 degrees, you can stop the cool-down process.

If you cannot get the dog cooled down and you begin to see signs of advanced heatstroke, take the dog to the veterinarian immediately.

Dog Summer Safety: Keep your Panting Dog Cool in the Summer Heat!

 During the dog days of summer, it’s important to keep your dog cool as the summer heat poses real danger to your dog’s health. Dog Heat stroke, dog heat exhaustion, and dog dehydration are serious dangers that can lead to brain damage, organ failure, and death. Heat stroke, exhaustion, and dehydration are a threat in soaring temperatures but can even happen on a cool 70 degree overcast day where pet owners are taken by surprise.

Anytime your dog is excessively panting you should be armed with the knowledge and tools for keeping your dog cool in the summer months. By following a few simple steps to keep your dog cool in the summer, you can keep your dog healthy, prevent future vet bills, and even save its life.

What You Should Know!

A dog’s normal body temperature averages around 101.5 Fahrenheit and the danger zone for heat stroke starts at 104 degrees; only a two and half degree difference. In addition to this small margin, your dog's cooling system is ineffective in relation to their overall body mass cooling only through panting and sweating from the paws and ears. It has also been documented that exposure to heat above 85 degrees for a long period of time puts stress on a dogs body causing problems later in life with high vet bills. It is crucial to keep your dogs body temperature cool throughout its daily activities.

Please join us by taking action to prevent dog heat stroke, heat exhaustion, dehydration, and other heat related dangers in your dog and create awareness with other dog owners. As dog owners in Miami dealing with the dangers of high temperatures every day, we wanted to share our 10 step guide of helpful tips and products to keep your dog cool. We encourage dog owners to arm themselves with the knowledge of what can be done to minimize the possibility of heat stroke and share the knowledge with others. Here are 10 useful tips:Facebook

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1. Keep Your Dog Cool From the Moment You Leave the House

Since dogs are not efficient at cooling themselves down, the best thing to do is keep your dog’s body temperature cool from the start of an activity. Take advantage of the cooler early mornings and late evening summer weather to plan outside activities and daily walks with your dog. In addition, we have found the Swamp Cooling Vest by Ruff Wear to be an invaluable piece of our daily activities as it keeps our dog cool while walking or playing outside. The vest works using a natural evaporation process by which the dog’s heat is exchanged with the coolness of the water stored in the layered coat. The cooling vest covers the dog’s chest for maximum cooling effect and protects the dogs back against the harmful sun (great for those dogs who get sunburn!). It is simple to use and easy to clean. All you have to do is run the vest under cold water, wring out the excess, put it on the dog, and you’re ready to go. It retails for about $50 and is well worth the price as it is quality made by a brand (RuffWear) that specializes in dog active wear. We highly recommend this product as it has been a real lifesaver for our dog and helped with keeping our dog cool in the summer heat.

2. Summer Pavement Can Burn

Pavement can quickly become 20 degrees hotter than the actual temperature outside which means while it may only feel like a cool 70 degree summer day to you, the pavement could feel more like 90 degrees to your dog. Since asphalt and concrete can heat up from the sun and burn your dog’s paws, it’s best to walk your dog on cool grass and keep their paws off the pavement. The additional heat that radiates from the pavement can easily raise your dog’s temperature so it’s best to walk your dog in shady areas where the air and ground are cool.

3. Bring Water with You to Prevent Dog Dehydration

Prevent dog dehydration during walks and outdoor activities by bringing water with you. For those dogs who do not know how to drink out of a conventional water bottle, you can carry a zip lock container of water with you or a portable dog water bowl and water bottle. One product we have found to be extremely efficient and hands free on dog walks is the H204K9 water bottle. It is a stainless steel water bottle and dog bowl all in one. The cap of the water bottle doubles as the dog bowl and with its form fitting design is easy for any dog to use. It even fits into a soft arm sling so that you can stay hands free (especially since one arm is usually holding onto the lease). This has been great for minimizing the things we bring with us on a walk since it is compact all in one. You may even use it to stash some treats if your dog is being extra good! As a side note, the extra water on hand can be used to wet your dogs underbelly, armpits, paws, and other exposed skin areas if it starts to exhibit signs of heat stroke or heat exhaustion (just remember cool not cold water).

4. Carry Emergency Vet Number and Location Info With You

It is always best to be prepared in the event of an emergency so we recommend putting the location and phone number for the closest pet hospital in your cell phone and on a piece of paper wrapped somewhere on your dogs leash. You could even stick it in your dog waste bag holder or in your water bottle sling since you will typically have these things with you while dog walking.

5. Cool and Clean Your Dog’s Paws

Applying cool, not cold, water on your dog’s paws is an effective way to cool your dog down since this is where your dog sweats and where he has exposed skin that you can reach easily. We wash our dog’s feet off before he comes into the home after a walk to the dog park as this cools him off and also cleans off the dirt and bacteria his feet may have picked up on the walk. We used to use dampened baby wipes until we found a product that was less wasteful and worked more effectively since it submerged the paw in water instead of just applying a damp rag. A Tupperware container and a rag would also do the trick but we use the Paw Plunger since it has little brushes inside that scrub the paw clean and it is less messy that an open container. We fill up the Paw Plunger with water before we leave on a dog walk and keep it by the front door for when we return. It allows you to dunk each paw into the water and has little brushes that clean off the feet. Depending on where you live, this could be a real necessity just based on germs in your environment alone (for us in the city this is a must!).

bacteria dirt whipworm flea larva feces giardia herbicides pollen hookworm insects tapeworm mold mud pesticides roundworm urine

Cool Air Circulation for Your Panting Dog

Since dogs use the air around them to cool their bodies down through panting, using a fan to circulate cool air from the air conditioner to where they are laying is a must. Any traditional fan will do to keep your panting dog cool!

7. A Cool Place to Rest and Recover from the Summer Heat

You may already notice your dog resting their belly on the cool floor once you get home from a dog walk. It is important to provide somewhere where your dog can rest in a cool spot (I have even heard of dogs that crawl into the bathtub to cool off). During our search for ways to cool our dog down in the summer weather we found great reviews for cooling beds. Dog Cooling beds are effective for keeping your dog cool and cooling them down since the surface is cooler and stays cooler longer than a traditional wood or tile floor. In addition they provide a softer surface to rest your dog’s joints after a long walk. I have read that these beds have “cured” dogs from pacing and panting during the night, alleviating arthritic symptoms, and even helped dogs make it through the night without bathroom breaks. The K&H Cool Bed III is highly recommended and moderately priced. Just make sure you fill it with water where you plan to keep it, as moving it around once it’s filled is not easy (even more so for the larger sizes). It is also recommended to put it on a tray if you do plan on moving it around after filling it since that allows you to slide it.

8. Identify Your Dogs Safety Limits

It is best to know your dog’s limits and what they can physically handle on hot summer days. Know the signs and symptoms of dog heat stroke, dehydration, exhaustion and what your dog can handle. Certain dog types and breeds like short nose dogs (e.g. bulldogs), dogs with black fur (e.g. Scotties), dogs with double coats (e.g. huskies), performance breeds (e.g. greyhounds), and elderly dogs, etc. have a higher tendency to overheat. One way to learn your dog’s limits is to take your dogs temperature periodically during exercise. It is also good to be aware of the temperature of the surfaces around your dog as surfaces can heat up to extreme temperatures in the sunlight.

9. Keep Your Dog Cool While in the Yard

For those of you with outdoor space, a dog pool can be a great option for allowing your dog activity in the summer months while protecting against overheating and heat stroke by keeping it cool. You can buy a cheap kiddy pool or liven things up and get a dog pool in the shape of a dog bone or paw print. We’ve used both a pool and a regular garden hose and found that the pool works better at keeping our dog cool and guarding against the summer heat since he tends to stand in the water vs. just jump through the hose.

10. Know the Symptoms of Dog Heat Stroke

The AKC (American Kennel Club) lists the following as signs for heat stroke and breaks them out into early and advanced stages.

Heat Stroke Early Stages:

o Heavy panting.

o Rapid breathing.

o Excessive drooling.

o Bright red gums and tongue.

o Standing 4-square.

Heat Stroke Advanced Stages:

o White or blue gums.

o Lethargy, unwillingness to move.

o Uncontrollable urination or defecation.

o Labored, noisy breathing.

o Shock.

The AKC recomends the following steps to cool your dog down if your dog begins to exhibit any of the above signs of heatstroke:

o Apply rubbing alcohol to the dog's paw pads.

o Apply ice packs to the groin area.

o Hose down with water.

o Allow the dog to lick ice chips or drink a small amount of water.

o Offer Pedialyte to restore electrolytes.

o Check your dog's temperature regularly during this process. Once the dog's temperature has stabilized at between 100 to 102 degrees, you can stop the cool-down process.

If you cannot get the dog cooled down and you begin to see signs of advanced heatstroke, take the dog to the veterinarian immediately.