Written by Joey C Senior Dog Health Writer

Dog Health – Affects of Hot Weather

No doubt you like nothing better than just spending long, sun-drenched days of summertime out-of-doors with your fuzzy friend, however getting too much of a good thing especially in warm weather may mean real danger, for our canine friends.
The healthiest of dogs can easily suffer the stress of dehydration, heat stroke and even sunburn when they experience to much too much fun in the sun. Extreme weather issues are common and can lead to dangerous dog health issues and can be lethal if not dealt with immediately.

Consider these basic safeguards to help you avoid having your dog from get over heated in warm weather. If you think your dog is actually experiencing symptoms of over exposure, seek medical attention from your veterinarian right away.

SCHEDULED MAINTENANCE
A trip to the vet for their early spring or summer season check up is really a priority. In addition to a dog health checkup, be sure your dog gets examined for heartworms, particularly if they are not on a year-round prescription. Maybe your pup is sensitive to fleas or ticks. You can ask your vet to help prescribe a good flea & tick management program to carry you through the warm weather season where we are all outside much more often.

KEEP COOL
Dogs will get dehydrated fairly quickly, hence provide them with lots of clean and cool drinking water even more so if it’s warm outside. Ensure that your dog has a shady spot to escape from the sun. Take care never to over-exercise your puppy, and have them stay inside if it’s really hot out.

Dog health threatening symptoms include:

•    Signs of overheating in dogs can be:
•    Increased panting or problems breathing
•    Elevated heart rate and/or respiratory rate,
•    Excessive drooling,
•    Moderate fatigue,
•    Listlessness or even complete collapse

Other symptoms that a dog may have been exposed to too much sun or heat are:
•    Seizures,
•    Bloody diarrhea
•    Vomiting as well as an
•    Increased body temperature of over 104+ degrees

Dogs with flat faces, like Pugs or Bull Dogs, can be more prone to heat stroke given that they can’t breathe as easily. It’s these types of dogs, and also the older, and the chubbier pups, as well as others having heart or lung conditions, that must be kept cool within air-conditioned spaces whenever possible.

NO WAITING IN THE CAR
By no means never ever leave your dog on its own inside a parked motor vehicle. Though to most this is common sense but so many folks think “It’s OK, I’ll just be a second” DUH! On a warm day, any parked vehicle could become an oven in a very short time, despite having the windows open. Not only can extreme heat exposure cause a number of dog health issues it could just plain kill your dog. Besides, leaving any animal alone, dog, cat or other inside a locked vehicle in extreme weather conditions is against the law in many states.

POOCHES POOLS AND MORE
Never leave your dog unsupervised near a pool… contrary to what we see on TV, not every dog is a are good swimmer. Expose your dog to the water little by little and also make certain that they have on flotation equipment whenever on boats. Be sure to thoroughly rinse off your dog off completely after he has been swimming. A proper rinsing will remove chlorine or salt from his fur. Also if at all possible make an effort to keep your dog from lapping up the pool water, which usually contains chlorine along with other nasty chemicals that may bring about tummy trouble and other dog health problems.

WATCH THE WINDOWS
All through the hotter season, there is always a dramatic increase in the number of seriously injured dogs caused by what is known as; High-Rise Syndrome. This occurrence usually comes about whenever pets fallout of windows or even doors and as a result they are severely or even fatally injured. Not only can a fall from an upper level window have negative – lasting effects on overall dog health; this type of accident is entirely avoidable as long as people take very simple steps to maintain a safe environment for their dogs. Bottom line is to be sure if you have dogs that roam the home keep all of your un-screened windows & doors in your house or apartment closed. Make certain all adjustable screens are firmly secured as well.

LITTLE OFF THE TOP
Not entirely related to dog health, but a little hair-cut can do more than just make your pup look fabulous. Taking your pup to get a cool, lightweight summer time hair-do helps in avoiding overheating. Clip only right down to as far one-inch of fur, never to the skin. Keeping a bit of fur is a good idea so your puppy still has some defense against the hot summer sun. You can even use sunscreen as long as you are certain that the products you choose to use are labeled especially for use on dogs.

KEEP YOUR PAWS OFF
When it is really hot don’t allow your puppy hang out on any kind of paved surface too long. Sensitive paw pads can easily heat up quickly, and can burn. Try to keep the walks to a minimum and do as much of the strolling as you can on grassy surface when the temperatures are high and the sun is hot.

Well there you have it… A little bit of fore thought and prevention can make all the difference in keep your fuzzy friend healthy and happy throughout the summer months and beyond..

I hope you found this article informative and useful no matter what type of weather you are experiencing in your part of the world!

Please search our site for more articles related to “dog health” and read up on how you can keep your puppy in tip top shape to keep them around for many happy healthy years!

This entry was posted on August 21, 2011 at 8:34 am. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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