Preventing Heatstroke In Dogs

Prevent Heatstroke in Dog

What is a Heatstroke and how does it happen?
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Heatstroke is a rapid rise in your body temperature which affects your nervous system and brain. This is caused when a body is overly exposed to high temperature while being heavily exerted. Heatstroke will occur when your body temperature rises above 104 degrees farenhight or even higher.

​First thing you need to understand is that your dog is not a machine. It is made of flesh, blood and bones just like any other living and breathing mammal. Dogs get hot just like us humans, but the big difference with dogs and humans is that humans are better able to keep themselves cool than a dog. Humans with perspire and excrete sweat from all areas of their body to cool down. Dogs don’t perspire and try to keep cool by simply panting and sweating through their paws. Now take a good look at that, the entire dog’s body trying to keep cool by sweating through the four small paws which are most times on the ground. A dog is more likely to suffer from a heat stroke than a human being. And that is something that no dog owner is prepared for. It is always best to be safe than sorry. With that said, here are a few common sense ways to prevent you dog from getting a heatstroke.

Prevent Dog Heatstroke

1. ​Don’t hunt with your dog during extremely hot days. Your dog is running and running fast. The temperature is building up and building fast. Your dog will not recognize that his body temperature is getting seriously high and neither will you until a heatstroke happens. Just walking with two bottles of water on scorching days will not do. The body needs to remain cool and rest for a long period to keep the temperature at a healthy level.
   
   
2. Don’t let your dog run for more than 5 minutes at a time without stopping to cool down and re-hydrate. This cool down will ensure that the body temperature remains stable and that the dog doesn’t get dehydrated quickly.
   
   
3. Give your dog a doggy umbrella to strap around the animal in hot days to prevent heatstroke. The doggy umbrella will help to shield some of the heat from your pet.
   
   
4. Keep your dog indoors under the air-condition at cool temperatures and only let the animal go out at nights when outside is much cooler. 
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5. Give your dog plenty of cool water to prevent heatstroke. Water keeps the dog cool and lessen the chances of dehydration. ​
   
   
6. Don't lock your dog in a car on a hot sunny day with hell loving temperatures and go shopping for anything.  This is one of the most evil and dumbest thing any dog owner can do. You are basically taking the life from your dog by allowing the animal to be cooked alive.  Many dog owners believe that a cracked open window or two is enough to keep the animal cool. This is devastatingly wrong. Your dog will simply not get enough cool air inside from those cracked windows.

How To Tell If Your Dog is Having a Heatstroke.

• Dog begin to get off balance and stumbles around because of light-headedness and muscle weakness
• Nausea
• Dog Vomits
• Rapid panting
• High Body Temperature (over 104 degrees farenhight)
• Seizure
• Unconsciousness
• Confusion

Dogs and Heatstroke

What to Do if You Suspect Your Dog Has Heatstroke

• Call the Vet Immediately. The vet may have some special advice to give you which can control the animal’s temperature while transporting the dog to the vet.
  
  
• Move the animal into a much cooler area immediately.
  
  
• Remove the collar and proceed to cool down the dog in an Air-conditioned environment or room. If no AC is present. Keep a large fan blowing on the dog.
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• Get the animal into a cool pan of water or use the hose to water down the dog. Ensure that the water coming from the hose is cool first.