The hot weather warning is issued almost everyday here in Hong Kong, while the average humidity is over 80% during summer. Imagine you wear a fur coat walking under the sun in this weather, i bet you can't wait to take it off and run into a room with air conditioner. Unfortunately for our furry friends, they can't take off their fur and most of them won't stop going until you tell them to do so.
Dogs don't sweat like human, their sweat glands are only located around their paw pads and noses but don't help much. They mostly rely on panting to cool themselves down by evaporating the saliva and moisture on the tongue and circulating this cooler temperature throughout the body. It is very important for us to protect them in hot weather, otherwise they might easily get heat stroke, which can lead to multiple organ dysfunction.
The below types of dogs are more prone to get heat stroke:
- Short/ flat nosed breeds like Shih Tzu, Pug or Bulldog.
- Large double coated breeds like Chow Chow, Siberian Husky or Saint Bernard.
- Puppies and senior dogs.
- Overweight dogs.
- Dogs that are injured or on medication.
A couple of things to keep in mind during summer:
DON'TS
- Leave your dog outside all day.
- Leave your dog in a parked car (not only in summer but always!).
- Muzzle your dog in a warm environment (as they can't pant to cool down).
- Shave your dog, it makes them vulnerable to sunburn.
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| Coffee drinking water at the dog park |
- Give your dog plenty of fresh and clean water, add some ice cubes to keep the water cool longer.
- Walk your dog either early in the morning or late in the evening.
- Walk in the shades.
- Keep the walk/ exercise short.
- Bring a spray bottle and spray cool water onto the dog's groin area and belly but not on their fur. The water on their fur can get trapped, increase the skin's humidity and make the dog feel hotter.
- Give your dog a summer cut and keep it well groomed, with frequent brushing to remove dead hair.
- Lightly coloured coats and white coloured dogs are easily getting sunburn or even skin cancer. You can protect them by applying dog sunscreen on their ear flaps, nose tips and bald belly.
Watch out for signs of heat stroke, here are the common ones:
- Heavy panting
- Drooling excessively
- Glazed eyes
- Dark red tongue
- Difficulty breathing
- failing to respond to commands
- Vomiting
- Diarrhoea
- Signs of mental confusion, delirium
- Collapsing and lying down
If your dog experiences any of the above symptoms, move the dog to a shaded or air conditioned area, wet or immerse the dog in cool (not ice cold) water. Encourage the dog to drink small amount of water or lick an ice cube. Seek help from the veterinarian as soon as possible.
If you have to bring your dog out to the park or beach on a sunny day, there are a lot of cooling equipment you can get to help keep your dog cool like cooling mat, dog tent or cooler coat. I bought a cooling mat and a tent for my dogs and they love it so much! Check out your local pet store and i hope you can find something that are suitable and useful to your dog.
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| Bobo & Coffee out at the park cooling down on a cooling mat |
Treat your dogs the same way as you treat yourself, take good care of them and enjoy summer!
Title picture by Moyan Brenn, check his work on Flickr (Moyan_Brenn), all other images used as per their original license.
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