OK.. so today was quite hot here 24 degrees. I took Bob out on a river walk first thing, it was quite warm, but not too hot. It wasn't a mad walk, but he had a good run around. I stopped and sat for about 15 mins too about half way through and he just pottered about. The whole walk lasted about 45 mins. This afternoon, I collected my little boy from school and we went with a friend and her little girl to the woods. It was much hotter by then. We were there about 1 1/2 hours. We did a little walk with the kids but to be honest it was mostly hanging around while the kids climbed trees etc.. But Bob obviously was running about even when we weren't as he was catching smells and other dogs etc. When I got back to the car he was really panting... I mean REALLY panting. It freaked me out. I usually have water in the car, but it was a bit warm so I got some cold fresh water from the cafe for him. I got the water and mopped his head and cupped some water up to his mouth to encourage him to drink, but he didn't. He was like a lead weight when I lifted him into the car. We went and got some charcoal for our BBQ on the way back and got home about 1/2hr later I think... I had the air con on and the roof open to create a breeze to cool him down. When we got home eventually, he was still REALLY panting.. and we had to cup water to his mouth again to get some water into him. We also mopped his head too to try and cool him down. He literally flopped onto the floor and has been really lethargic all evening too. He did eat normally and did eventually have a good drink. My worry is the length of time it took him to recover. I know it was very warm today, and I guess we overdid things a bit. I just hope that I've not done any damage to his heart or anything because it was going ten to the dozen for ages after we got home. We've been giving him loads of cuddles tonight and he's just gone to bed. Should I be worried? Lou x
Re: Worried about Bob Poor boy. He did get overheated by the sound of it. If he is more or less back to normal now then I think he will be fine. A high heart rate won't have hurt him at all, so don't worry about that The risk with overheating is damage to other internal organs, not the heart - but don't panic about that either as I'm sure it didn't get to that point! He'd be collapsed by now if you had a problem. He sounds fine. You did the right thing to try to cool him down by putting water on him. But if it happens again, put water on the barer parts (under tummy and armpits) and try to run water over his paws/legs. You want water to evaporate from his skin to have a cooling effect, and to be actively running over his paws/legs to transport heat away. You didn't do the following but, for future ref, don't put a wet towel or any covering over the dog as this will simply heat up to body temp, prevent hot air escaping from the skin and create a humid environment under the cover. It's better just to wet the dog directly as you did. A hot dog will sometimes drink cold milk even if they won't drink water, so that's an option if you're faced with the same situation again and you have a shop nearby.
Re: Worried about Bob How is Bob this morning ? Sounds like classic heat exhaustion , so easy for them to suffer when its hot but you did the right things , keep him in the shade today and short walks x
Re: Worried about Bob Thanks guys. He seems totally fine today. He's going to have a quiet day with a couple of lead walks I think. That's a good idea re pouring water on paws, underarm and belly. Will remember that for the future seeing as we are heading towards summer. God he did scare us tho! Lou x
Re: Worried about Bob Poor Bob, glad he's OK now. If I go on an extra long walk or if it's hotter than normal I carry a fold up bowl and bottle of water so that we can stop for regular drinks x
Re: Worried about Bob We had a similar experience with Max a few days ago and I was also completely freaked out by it. We'd only done a 15 minute lead walk followed by a 10 minute play run around with other dogs on the green near our house. When we got home he lay on the floor heavily panting in the same way as Bob. I just put him in a cooling breeze and put cold water on his armpits and neck (thank you google!). He recovered after about 15 minutes but I found it really scary! No more running around with other dogs when it's hot!
Re: Worried about Bob Hello there ,Rachael has given you everything I would have in the circumstances,I'm so glad Bob is ok. We live in the desert so we deal with biiiiiiiiiiiiiig heat .Precaution wise we currently leave the house at 5.45 am for Dex's big walk and today it was 23 degrees then......At the moment I'm carrying 3 liters of water with me....we stop regularly for small amounts of water ( I'm wary of bloat) so that keeps him cool and hydrated....this week if he hasn't drunk the amount I've poured out ,I save it,tip it over his head or get him to roll over and pour it over his tummy.Dexter alway gets his big walk in the morning whatever the month,it just gets earlier and earlier so June-Sept we leave the house 4.30-4.45.....we are home by 6.30 am....in the evening we go out around 6pm,it is still really hot,but he is fractious to get out.I will have a plan in my head about our walk but if I see he is getting too warm we turn back and that really can mean that some nights he only gets 10 mins .......but other nights we can do the full walk ...you just have to watch and judge.Youve seen overheating now so you will recognize the signs another time.i bet you got a right fright xxx
Re: Worried about Bob [quote author=Dexter link=topic=10584.msg157003#msg157003 date=1429208985] we currently leave the house at 5.45 [/quote] You are nuts. [quote author=Dexter link=topic=10584.msg157003#msg157003 date=1429208985] June-Sept we leave the house 4.30-4.45 [/quote] Absolutely nuts. If I lived in Dubai, I would have a goldfish.
Re: Worried about Bob Seriously, though, I'm glad the little Bobadog is ok now, it must have been scary for you. We get pretty hot temperatures here in the summer, but there is always a very cold stream or lake to cool off in - there will even be snow around at the tops in August!
Re: Worried about Bob [quote author=snowbunny link=topic=10584.msg157005#msg157005 date=1429209277] If I lived in Dubai, I would have a goldfish. [/quote] I know! I love my yellow fellow and wouldn't have anything different .....but if I had my time again....that 10 years It took for Chris to break me down onto agreeing to a dog would probably be more like 20! On the plus side....come the Summer,lose weight,no hangovers ,have great sleeps due to NO social life whatsoever so I can get up to excercise the pooch! ;D
Re: Worried about Bob We've noticed that Poppy is feeling a bit slow due to heat too.. I think partly it is because our dogs still have their winter coats, and aren't used to the warmer weather yet. Caution, everyone!
