Avoiding Heat Related Injuries in Dogs
Permission to Cross Post Avoiding Heat Related Injuries in Dogs Nate Baxter DVM The first thing that needs to be understood is that dogs and people are different enough that most of the info cannot cross lines. I do not profess to know what the appropriate procedures for people other than what I learned in first aid. Dogs do not lose enough electrolytes thru exercise to make a difference, but if the dog gets truly into heat stroke the physiology changes will make them necessary. BUT oral replacement at that point is futile, they need intravenous fluids and electrolytes and lots of it. Cooling: Evaporative cooling is the most efficient mean of cooling. However, in a muggy environment, the moisture will not evaporate so cooling does not happen well. I cool with the coldest water I can find and will use ice depending on the situation. The best way is to run water over the dog, so there is always fresh water in contact with the skin. When you immerse a dog in a tub, the water trapped in the hair coat will get warm next to the dog, and act as an insulator against the cool water and cooling stops. If you can run water over the dog and place it in front of a fan that is the best. Misting the dog with water will only help if you are in a dry environment or in front of a fan. Just getting the dog wet is not the point, you want the water to be cool itself, or to evaporate. For MOST situations all you will need to do is get the dog in a cooler environment, ie shade, or in the cab of the truck with the air conditioning on (driving around so the truck does not overheat and the AC is more efficient). Up to a couple of years ago, I was very concerned about my dogs getting too hot in the back of my black pickup with a black cap. New white truck fixed a lot of that problem. When I had one dog I just pulled the wire crate out of the car and put it in some shade and hopefully a breeze. But having 2 dogs and running from one stake to another, that was not feasible. So I built a platform to put the wire crates on, this raises the dog up in the truck box where the air flow is better. Then I placed a 3 speed box fan in front blowing on the dogs with a foot of space to allow better airflow. I purchased a power inverter that connects to the battery and allows the 3 speed fan to run from the truck power. It has an automatic feature that prevents it from draining the battery. When I turned that fan on medium I would find that the dogs where asleep, breathing slowly and appeared very relaxed and comfortable in a matter of 20 minutes or less, even on very hot muggy days. Alcohol: I do carry it for emergencies. It is very effective at cooling due to the rapid evaporation. It should be used when other methods are not working. You should be on your way to the veterinarian before you get to this point. We recommend using rubbing alcohol, which is propylene alcohol, not ethyl, for those of you not aware. So do not try to drink it. Alcohol should be used on the pads and lower feet area where there is little more than skin and blood vessels over the bones. Use a little bit and let it evaporate, you can use too much as some is absorbed through the skin. There are concerns about toxicity, but you have to get the temperature down. I purchased those cooling pads that you soak in cold water, but found that the dogs would not lay on them. I would hold them on the back of a dog that just worked to get a quick cool, but have not used them for years. I also bought a pair of battery operated fans but found them pretty useless. Spend your money on the power inverter and get a real fan. Watching temperature: If you feel your dog is in danger of heat injury, check its temp and write it down. Keep checking the temp every 3 minutes. I recommend to get a "rectal glass thermometer. The digital ones for the drug store I have found to be very unreliable, Don't forget to shake it down completely each time, sounds silly, but when are worried about your companion, things tend to get mixed up. This is VERY IMPORTANT**once the temp STARTS to drop, STOP ALL COOLING EFFORTS. The cooling process will continue even though you have stopped. If the temp starts at 106.5, and then next time it drops to 105.5, stop cooling the dog, dry it off, and continue monitoring. You will be amazed how it continues to go down. If you do not stop until the temp is 102, the temp will drop way too low. I cannot emphasis this point enough. When the dog is so heated that it is panting severely, only let it have a few laps of water. Water in the stomach does not cool the dog, you just need to keep the mouth wet so the panting is more effective. Do not worry about hydration until the temp has started down. A dog panting heavily taking in large amounts of water is a risk of bloat. Due to the heavy panting they will swallow air, mixed with a large amount of water they can bloat. Once the temp is going down and panting has slowed to more normal panting then allow water. The dog will rehydrate it self after temp is normal. If the dog has a serious problem and even though you have gotten the temp normal, get the dog to a vet, as it can still need IV fluids and some medication. Also, a case of heat stroke can induce a case of hemorrhagic gastroenteritis (not parvo), with a ton of very bloody diarrhea and a lot of fluid and electrolyte loss. These cases need aggressive treatment. The best method of treatment is prevention. Learn to watch your dog, and see the changes in the size of the tongue, and how quickly it goes down. Learn your dogs response to the different environments, and be careful when you head south for an early season hunt test or trial. I have been to Nashville at the end of May, only 5 hours away, but the difference in temp and humidity did effect the dogs as they were used to more spring weather in Ohio. Try different things in training to help the dog cool and learn what works better. Another very important point=> Do not swim your hot dog to cool it then put in put in a box/ tight crate. Remember, evaporation can not take place in a tight space, and the box will turn into a sauna and you will cook your dog. Carry a stake out chain, and let the dog cool and dry before putting it up. I demonstrated this lesson this spring with my 10 month old pup. After doing a 15 minute session in yard drill on a warm 70+ degree day, she was panting pretty hard and was pretty hot. She was OK but it was time to stop. Just for the heck of it I took her temp. She was 103.6, above normal but too bad for a dog that had just finished working. In my back yard I have a 300 gallon Rubbermaid tub filled with water. I took her to it and she jumped in and out 3-4 times. She appeared totally improved, tongue was much smaller, and eyes brighter and her full spring was back into her step. So I re-took her temp and it was 104.2, so even though she looked better she was hotter. This is a perfect lesson to show not get a hot dog wet and then put them in a box. The water on her skin caused the blood vessels to constrict, decreasing blood flow to the skin. Therefore the hot blood was shunted back to the dog's core and retained the heat. You may have felt the same thing, after exercising but still being very warm, take a shower and get cooled off but as soon as you turn the shower off you start sweating again. I know this is a bit long, but hopefully this is easy to understand and helps provide some useful information. Remember: Prevention, learn your dog. It is worth the time and effort. __________________ Nate Baxter, DVM Lebanon, OH |
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| Excellent article. Worth printing out & carrying with me. I've never had the problem but you never know when it can happen. I try to avoid those kind of situations. I carry a 3 speed oscillating fan that runs off my electrical system in the van,365 days a year. Bought it at a camping store. I use this in the van if the temps aren't too high. I carry regular fans & battery operated fans to the shows. Also, I always buy a light colored van with privacy glass. Love the darker colors but until I no longer have dogs I'll stick with the lighter colors. I also carry the old fashioned "ice bags" with me. Putting some ice in them & holding them on the groin area for short intervals helps bring down the body temps too. |
| Those are great tips, Marilyn!!! I wish I knew about how important a fan is for cooling the water as the dog is recovering...I would have offered my fan to the people who were working on the Greyhound. After the dog cooled off, they took him to their vet for further examination...just hope he recouped!!! The temp on Sunday, was about 90 and VERY humid!!! I couldn't believe how many owners were running 3 miles with their dogs!!!! (I was under a tarp,with ice water for Heart to drink AND the fan running on her and I still very worried about her!!!!  )The other thing I was wondering, which was not covered in the article, is that IF your dog overheats, does that make them more likely, more prone to, overheating in the future???? |
As much as Bailee loves  his winter walks, the colder the better for him, he is the complete opposite on our summer walks.  The heat starts to affect him by the middle of May and he gets his first "trim" for the summer. It gets very hot and extremely humid here in South Jersey so we get our morning walk in early. The earlier the better, befor it gets too oppressive. We take along a bowl and a bottle of water and usually make out fine. If it is really hot early we shorten our 2 to 3 mile walk to a half hour at the most. I wait to walk him again until the sun is setting in the evening and take along another water bottle. In the winter this guy will walk forever, even in the single digit temps. He puts his head up into the wind and almost trots. The article was excellent indeed. |
| Great article! Around here we have the lawn, shade trees, shrubs and covered porch, but come mid-day (if they aren't alread in) they ask to come in and then check the floor vents to see if cold air (evaporative cooler) is turned on. If so, each finds and claims a vent. The smart ones combine the floor vent with tile floor. If we are away during midday we come home to find each in their cave.....a hole dug under the shrubs in the cool dirt. |
Great information! This is always a huge worry for us, as, even though we are not in an area with a "hot" climate (even in summer), we do travel with our dogs a lot, and take them with us almost everywhere, which means: dogs in vehicles  I'm definitely looking into that inverter fan! They do make some relatively good battery powered ones now too, but I hate to leave the dogs unattended with those, as I'm never quite sure if the batteries will last. |
ravenmoonart wrote: Great information! This is always a huge worry for us, as, even though we are not in an area with a "hot" climate (even in summer), we do travel with our dogs a lot, and take them with us almost everywhere, which means: dogs in vehicles I'm definitely looking into that inverter fan! They do make some relatively good battery powered ones now too, but I hate to leave the dogs unattended with those, as I'm never quite sure if the batteries will last.Laurel: The fan I got for the car plugs into the power outlets (what we old folks used to call cigarette lighters.) Before I ever used it on the dogs we plugged it in to see how long it would run in the van. At the 18 hour mark it was still running & my van battery was fine. |
| Great article and thanks for posting it. I just want to send out one word of caution...If you have never taken a dogs temp using a rectal therometer, be very careful. Especially with a glass one. The possibility of them sitting or "tightening the muscle" when inserting can cause the glass to break and THAT is a HUGE problem. I have the opposite experience. I use a digital, plastic flexible tip therm and have found it to be very reliable. But again, if you never did it and/or your dogs fights you when attempting, its better just not to do it. If you sense a real problem with the heat, go to a Vet. |
| Great article--thanks for posting. In Nashville we are having unusual HOT HOT and HUMID weather for June--typical August weather now and can't imagine what August will be. Even early in the morning I am reluctant to allow Baley and Baxter out for more than 5 minutes or so. By mid-day if they ask to go out--they stick their noses out just a bit and turn around and run back inside--even they know it is not a good idea to be out there! |
| Just a warning - any dog in more than an inch or so of coat should not be gotten wet on the body, as the wet coat will make a barrier and trap heat in and not allow it to escape. Unless the dog was fully submerged and the hair is allowed to "float" out and not trap heat. Best is to cool the underside and groin area, as the major arteries are in the abdomen, throat and groin and will cool the dog more effectively. AC and fans work well too - as removal of heat AND humidity will help a lot. |
| so for our sheepdogs submerge then pull out of tub and resubmerge??? I am having a senior moment and I am headed to SC with two dheepdogs. Guinness has about 4 in of hair..... |
4dognight wrote: so for our sheepdogs submerge then pull out of tub and resubmerge??? I am having a senior moment and I am headed to SC with two dheepdogs. Guinness has about 4 in of hair..... I would submerge as a last resort. If you're going to get him wet, he would need to stay in the water until the temp was coming down, then still need to watch he wouldn't re-overheat when out until dry. Being in a breeze or in front of a fan would help - what you don't want is the outer coat to make a solid layer that doesn't breathe. Otherwise, things like fans, AC, cooling pads and even shaving his belly would be better choices. Chewie is getting his belly shaved today~! |
| OK....Not that any of my dogs are out long in the heat but wanted to be sure I had it right I need to shave "Gs" belly and want to give him a summer clip but don't have time. This is great info Thanks |
| So shaving the belly helps to keep them cool? |
Mady wrote: So shaving the belly helps to keep them cool? Most definitely. |
| Another heat related question. We don't have central air conditioning (yet, but I am working on persuading David that it is a necessity!). We do have a portable air conditioner and I also have a fan in the room where Mady's crate is. Is it bad to have a fan blowing directly on a dog for a few hours? I hadn't been pointing it right at Mady in her crate, and she hasn't seemed hot when I come home, but then we haven't had many hot humid days yet. |
| When Heart, 8weeks, came to me from Colorado *(to St. Louis) in AUGUST, she was miserable~~~ August here is very humid...and very hot!!!! At times she would not even go outside. She would put her little paw over the threashold and walk backwards into the house. I would have to pick her up and take her pee then she would run back into the house!!!! She would lay on the AC vent when she was not in her crate. When she was in her crate, I had 2 fans, pointed on either side of her crate and she had no ill effects from it. |
I put fans directed at my dogs outside their crates at shows. Also do the same when drying them after a bath. Most of the time if the fan is a bit much for them they will put their back to it. Still get the cooling effect but not right in their face. When it is warm outside & the dogs are in the kennels in the garage I put 3 fans directed at them. Once again, if they feel it is a bit much (even on low) they will get out of the direct path of the air. Most of the time you will find them laying directly in front of the fan with the air blowing over their face & head  . During the day while we are away, the kennl has it's own room air conditioner & ceiling fan. If it's supposed to hit 80 degrees or more that day I turn on the air & fan both for them even tho' the kennel in located in the lower level of a walk out basement. So far, knock on wood, no ill effects. |
| Most OES really love fans and a breeze. If you're at a show you will see all the dogs in full coat with at least one fan aimed right on them. You could practice with her out of the crate with a fan and see if she gravitates to it. In the crate, even a fan on low will keep the air moving and fluff through the hair to cool her a bit. Chewie's a hot boy and always liked the breeze. The 1st year we went to St Louis, he gave good entertainment. There was a large livestock fan (4 foot tall metal fan used in barns) out at Purina Farms. Chewie parked his rear end in front of it and stood there getting a turbo breeze for the longest time!  |
Thank you very much for putting my mind at ease. She does gravitate to the fan on hot days. She will put her face right up to the portable air conditioner, mouth open, tongue hanging out, looking blissful. Still, I hope that one day we get central air....  |
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