I just got a call from my wife saying that our dog is ‘acting strangely’…basically the dog seems to have zero energy and is shaking a bit and listless. My guess, based on what she is telling me the weather is like in New Mexico atm is that it’s heat related. I know the dog has shelter and plenty of water, but it’s over a hundred degrees there.
My question is, short of taking the dog to the vet (something that isn’t an option until later tonight), what treatment could we give the dog? What I told my wife so far is to put some cold water on her paws and muzzle, and pour some over her head, then put her in a cool quiet spot and keep an eye on her. Any other advice in the short term?
Sounds potentially serious. I hope things work out for you and your dog. My dog Blackjack had surgery yesterday and is still medicated. I understand how you must be concerned right now. I am not a vet, but my experience with dogs has shown heat stroke is usually accompanied by non-stop panting, and what I can only describe as a really sickly look. Sometimes dogs catch illnesses that make them listless for a day or two, and then they recover quickly, so it may be something that simple. You could probably just call the vet for instructions. I hope they do more than just say ‘bring her in’. I hope everything works out for you.
I told my wife to hose her down with cool (not cold) water and have her lay down (inside) and see what happens. My wife is without a vehicle right now, so taking the dog to the vet isn’t an option. Hopefully she’ll be ok. Thanks for the advice guys!
Just wanted to again express my appreciation. My wife ended up taking the pup to the doggie emergency room. The doctor wants to keep the pup overnight, but told my wife that cooling her down might have saved her life.
I had an experience with this. Fairly young dog (six months?); hot, humid day; and it suddenly started convulsing. I feared snake bite, but the old pro there said it was heat. We cooled it off with water, let it rest in the shade a while, and soon it was right as rain.
I’m glad your dog is better. If he stays outside much of the time, fill one of those hard plastic kid’s wading pools for him to lay down in. My former dog (a lab) loved it when we lived in exceedingly hot climes.
I just lost a dog to this (I wasn’t home to help him; came home to a dead dog).
My advice (for future reference, because I see that the dog has been taken to the vet already):
•Bring the dog inside to air conditioning.
•Fill the bathtub with cool water and soak the dog.
•Feed the dog ice cubes – this helps cool down the core body temperature.
• Ears and paws – keep 'em cool.
• Plant the dog in front of the A/C vent, preferably on tile. (The A/C blows on the tile, cools it off, gives the dog a nice cool spot to lie down. I call that the “belly cool” method.)
•Now-useless advice: Never, ever, ever leave a brachycephalic dog outside in 80+ degree heat for longer than about ten minutes.
I have 2 beagles. The older one,10 yrs old, has no problem with heat. The 1 1/2 yr old beagle mix ,seems to dislike hot weather. In Michigan we have had a very hot year so far with several 90 plus days. I take them for walks in the park every day, but have cut down the speed and distance because of Winston’s discomfort. He jumps in every rain puddle and cools off. He would hate to be left home but I worry about his sensitivity to heat.
Labs love being wet, period. Our long-gone German Shepherd mutt mix was almost entirely German Shepherd, but she must have had some water dog in her, probably Lab. She even loved to stand in a puddle with just her toes wet and grin a big goofy grin.