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Since there is a wealth of pet advice around…
This is our first summer with our dog Sam, who is Black (looks like a black lab but is a mutt), and since we’re in the midst of a heat wave (for here) with temps of 30 degrees during the day, I was just wondering what things to beware of/signs of heat distress in him.
What we do normally…
– Water dish the size of his head, always full. Sometimes we put a couple of ice cubes in the water to keep it cool.
– Daily brushings to keep the shedding fur down and so he has less fur.
– We try to get him to go down to the basement to sleep during the afternoon when it’s really hot, but he likes to be where people are and if we are upstairs, so is he. He is ALWAYS allowed downstairs whenever he feels like it he can go (he has claimed the couch down there as his)
– There is lots of shade in our yard if he HAS to go outside and he’s got another big water dish out there.
– We bought him one of those formed plastic kiddie swimming pools to play in and cool off.
– We have a Doggy water bottle that we take on walks for him.Thanks!
Shade & water are the most important, so you’re doing great! Just remember they pant to cool down, so if you’re sweating & he’s panting, things are normal. The real issue isn’t black hair unless they are in the sun and working/playing hard. If he does overheat: we had a newfoundland cross & during a hot summer we lost air for a while and had to let her lay down in ice baths, but that was an extreme situation. 🙂
Sounds like you have all the bases covered. You can always hose him off, too, if it gets really bad.
Dogs are also usually reasonable. My hairy dog (half pomeranian, half poodle – the one that’s plugged in in my collection pictures) will sit beside us in the sun, because, of course, she has to be within 5 inches of people. When she’s had it, she goes in the shade. Same for the hairless one (chinese hairless crested): she loves the sun, but she goes in the shade just in time to avoid getting a sunburn. And of course, they always know when to get a drink; we have one of those thingies that empties a bit at the time.
So your doggy (the assistant eating the mallet, right?) should know when to drink and cool off.
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http://www.sarahjestin.com/feedbacklists.htmIt sounds like you’ve got a good game plan. I would add not letting him get excited when it’s hot: this means he shouldn’t go for a walk or play ball, but also be aware if he seems upset or alarmed about something (i.e., if you have a repairman over, or if there’s a stray dog teasing him through the fence). Anything that gets him riled up should be avoided.
When it’s both hot and humid, things get more risky. Panting cools mostly by evaporation, so when the humidity is up there isn’t much evaporation that can take place. Be extra careful on humid days. In areas like this one, where the entire summer will be hot and humid, some families have their dogs clipped to a shorter coat. You don’t want to shave him down too close, or he’ll just get sunburned. But a dog with a dense coat can benefit from having it shortened. (Just remember that dogs that have a coat like a Chow can have trouble regrowing their fur! 😯 Labs should be fine, though.)
yup your doing everything correct..when it gets 120 degrees here in the desert i normally take my dog into th eback an dhose her down, shes a german shepherd..and they have three layers to their coat and beings she is mostly black she can get rather hot
Okay, more questions…
We’ve noticed that the hallux(?), the one where his dew claw would have been, pad on the dog’s front legs looks like it’s peeling 😯 It looks like bits of rubber tire hanging off his pads. It doesn’t appear to be bothering him, he’s not licking them excessivly, just his normal cleaning of his paws.
Is this normal, or should Sammy be making a trip to the vet?
If you are worried about your dogs pads then there is this stuff you can put on it. It looks like Vasaline (sp?). But it sounds like you are doing a lot for your dog already.
Oh he’s spoiled rotten! 😀 He was neglected and abused for the first half of his life, so my parents say they are making up for it by spoiling him. Dad id so attached to him that if we got out he brings home bits of his dinner in a napkin for the dog 🙄
We never intended to have a dog, but Sammy needed a place and well, never left. My dad’s retired and sam’s great for him. Keeps him moving 😀
That is great. My bf’s grandmother brings home table scraps back when they go out to eat. Her dog won’t eat anything but cooked chicken.
I have a chow chow (heavy coat) and live in SE FL. I keep him inside most of the time in the air-conditioning but still make sure he has plenty of water. During the day I let him out for a few minutes for potty runs but mkae him come back inside quickly then take him for a walk later in the evening. But like everybody else said I think plenty of water and shade, if he is outside, are the most important things.
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