Toby, 3 year old Golden Retriever child
We took Toby for a run this morning. We live in Louisiana so it’s hot, but we took him early. Well, evidently we pushed it a bit far for him. He was hotter than normal and had a hard time cooling down. My sweet hubby was worried about him and put him in the bathtub, put a fan on him and then we put a cool towel on his back. By the time I took this picture his “near death experience” where “his life flashed before his eyes” according to my hubby (LOL…I’m chuckling again as I write this) was over and he was feeling fine….hence the doggie smile! Can you tell we don’t have any kids?
I thought I’d share some tips to be careful with your pup since I know my readers are active and have doggies (some who need a little more exercise than others – you know who you are 
)who need to run. My pup put on a few lbs while I was competing since I was too busy to get his exercise in every day along with my own busy schedule. Anyway….
Look for the following signs of heat stroke in your dog….
- Excessive panting;
- Pale gums, bright red tongue;
- Disorientation and your dog doesn’t respond to his name;
- Increased heart rate;
- Thick saliva;
- Vomiting;
- Breathing difficulties;
- Collapse;
- Coma;
- Death
If you are truly concerned take your dog for medical care ASAP. If you think your dog is just a bit overheated, work to cool the dog by
- drinking cool water but not too much
- cool water on the dog’s chest will help
- a cool towel laid over them (see photo above)
- a cool fan and obviously a cool room
We chose not to torture ourselves or Toby with a rectal thermometer, but you can check to see if the dog’s temperature is over 106.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m so glad he’s okay! We were on a hike with our dogs a few years ago and our Great Pyrenees got WAY too hot. The water we expected to find on the trail was dry, so I ended up running back down and up the mountain (4 miles…) with more water for our hot dog. It is a scary feeling, especially with such a big dog!
I can only imagine! Charlie was really worried. I thought he’d be ok. It’s amazing how the heat affects them differently when they can’t sweat!
here i thought you were going to go in to how gross hot dogs are. based on the title in my rss feed. heehee!
Mission accomplished