During these hot summer months, it is crucial to keep an eye on your dog's level of heat tolerance. I found this out last weekend at the end of a very hot, humid doxie event we attended. My Katie, a beautifully coiffed longhair, went into heat stress. We just packed up the van and were headed out of there when Katie exhibited signs of stress.
Fortunately, we still had ice packs and cold water in our cooler. We immediately pulled over and got Katie cooled down with a bandana soaked in cold water. A dog in heat stress needs to be cooled down gently -- not abruptly (such as submerging them in cold water).
Unfortunately, our van's air conditioner has long since quit working. So we called our traveling companions and asked for them to pull over and wait for us so we could transfer Katie to their air-conditioned car.
Katie is fine, but had we not acted quickly, the results could have been quite different.
Please read this article from The Whole Dog Journal about how to recognize and treat heat stress and heat stroke in a dog.
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