Heat Stroke - another heads up

Last Thursday was a hot day here in middle Tennessee but I didn't realize HOW hot it felt to the dogs. My 3 yr old nephew was over and he snuck out of the house to sit on the front porch. This would be okay but he left the front door wide open and my 2 naughty dogs took that as an invitation to go for a run. We live on 6 acres and are surrounded by a lot of open property on all sides, so my dogs look for every opportunity to sneak away for a run. And when I say they go for a run - they go for a RUN!

I immediately went out to call for the dogs and they came back fairly quickly. While I was getting the dogs settled, my daughter noticed that Webster was "walking crazy". He was staggering around like he was recuperating from anesthesia or was drunk - obviously something was wrong. I ran into the house, googled "dog heat stroke" and found that staggering is a sign. I took his temperature and it reached 106 before I removed the thermometer and headed for the terrace. The next several minutes were spent hosing him down with cool water and he slowly bounced back. I stopped hosing once his temperature was 103, and continued to observe and record his temps until they were steady at 102.

Now, it didn't feel THAT hot to me outside. They were only gone for 15-20 minutes. Honestly, I was not worried about the dogs suffering from heat, I was annoyed that they had gone for a run (they had just been bathed and brushed!). I don't know why I even thought "heat stroke" (especially since I was late for a playdate and trying to leave asap) but I did.

Please make yourself aware of the symptoms of heat stroke. Have a thermometer you can use to take your dog's temp - just in case. Summer is just starting and it is our job to make sure our dogs stay safe and cool!

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