Dog Hospital

We are now entering the hotter months of summer and your dog’s health can be compromised greatly by the heat. Thus looking out for the safety of your pet should still also include keeping them cool and out of the sun.

For a dog’s health to be compromised by the heat, they do not have to be out in it for very long at all. Depending on where you live, will usually depend on how much heat your dog has the opportunity of being exposed too. That said, just because you live in a hot climate province or country, does not mean that your dog can fend off the heat better than a dog from a cooler climated location.

Heat stroke is more commonly found in dogs than one might think. To often, families will be so wrapped up with making sure that they themselves are protected from the sun that they simply forget about their dog. How many times have you been at the beach and seen families having a great time, with the family dog racing after the ball or jumping into and over waves in the water? I’ll bet you anything that if you check that dog out for sun protection, you would find not an ounce of sun screen on that dog’s nose. Yes,  nose, as it is this part of a dog’s body that lacks any sort of protection due to it being clear of any hair that might offer protection if it was there, leaving it vulnerable to severe sunburn.

Heat stroke can creep up on a dog without the dog owner even knowing it. This statement is even more pronounced when you take into account that the average dog owner does not even know; A that dogs can contract heat stroke, and B even if they did know, they surely do not know what symptoms to look for.

Symptoms that might be exhibited by a dog entering into heat stroke include but or not limited to; weakness, difficulty breathing, red tongue, thurst, vomiting, shivering, loss of appetite, etc. In most cases, removing the dog to a cool environment, wrapping them in a cool towel, and giving them measured drinking opportunities as to not cool him down to quickly is recommended.