The warm weather and our dogs

[lurcherman]

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its quiet round ere recently dont you think... anyway with the warmer weather hitting us id like to say to everyone to watch your dogs and carry sum water the older dogs struggle. now i know most are clued up but its just a heads up ok. and lets not leave our dogs in cars. udd be surprised how many people still do.. anyway enjoy the summer when it arrives..

 

[eingana]

For anybody who hasn't picked up the message yet,

DON'T COOK YOUR DOG!!

 

[eingana]

Molly's very prone to heat stroke so we do all sorts of things to look after her in hot weather, from only going for walks in the cool of the evening or the early morning, to making sure that she has water full time in the back of the car (Road Refresher bowls are fabulous!) and trying to make sure that she gets a dunk in a river any day when she starts to look really warm or when she's had to be out and about in the heat of the day.

I have left her in the car during the summer but only in late evening, in the shade, after a swim and with all of the windows down fully in the car. The longest I'd leave her for other than that is popping to the cashpoint or similar, and even then I make sure that the air conditioning has got the car decently cool before leaving her.

When we weren't aware quite how prone to heat stroke she is she ended up having heat stroke so badly she had fits, and I'm not prepared to let that happen to her again.

 

[Oreo]

I've noticed a big difference in Oreo already compared to last summer. However, that could be down to the sterriods she is on also.

She has no self control and loves to lie in the sun, so I limit her time she can 'sun bathe' to early mornings/late evenings and only then she gets five minutes.

She probably hates me for it but I know it's for the best.

 

[KateandSam]

Being black , my young Lab Sam seems to soak up the sun and heat , I try to do his morning walk before 9.30 and when its warm, his afternoon walk is in a shady wood with a dip in the river on the way home .

We live near Looe in Cornwall, and despite signs all over the car park, people still leave dogs in cars , the harbour car park now has a sign saying that they will call Police to break into cars if dogs are left , and they have done too , good for them I think !

 

[hanneroon]

this is a problem for me and dude in the summer. He comes to work with me; in the winter he spends time sheltering in the car. This time of year he can't so i have to make other arrangements depending on where we are. One garden i work in has neither shade nor fences, so i have to rig up an elaborate system of tethers and sun shades, and cones, dude being a contrary mary will often sneak himself into the only bit of sun and cook himself. Popping into shops as eingana says, is either only do-able in the evening, or is done at a run, with all the windows down and a sign stuck to door saying where i am. I don't have air conditioning, but i do use a water mister, Dude just looks furious, how dare i cool his environment!! Failing all these things i drop him home, which is weird. I'm far more worried about him getting too hot, than i am about him getting cold in the winter, whereas he is the opposite.

He also gets a tan in summer, his grey ticking and the insides of his ears go much darker...

When i was kid on holiday in france, an english lady came into the cafe we were in and asked if anyone owned the car outside, as she was just about to smash the windows and rescue a dog, no-one replied, so she took a brick to the front window. To much applause. She then took the little dog to the police station.

 

[caretaker]

Sorry but i may be guilty, we pop in to McDonalds to choose a meal once a week but only for 5 min's, promise not to do it again.

Plus McDonalds is rubbish, but we are hooked on there milk shakes.

 

[lurcherman]

aye be careful its dosnt take long to boil them. maccies is shitefood but i cant blame you on the milk shakes, whimpy a few yrs back did lovely shakes ooooooo i cant taste them now lol

 

[Rocky Rescue]

I take Rocky out earlier in the mornings now when it's a bit cooler, I always carry water with me in the backpack with one of those fabric water bowls from Go Outdoors, see link below

http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/pet-travel-water-bowl-p164954

 

[Oreo]

I have many different 'portable' dog bowls, but the one Oreo will use is a simple one from the pound shop. It's a bottle with a screw top and attached to the screw top is a folding bowl which when not in use is a holder for the bottle.

I've tried all others and the pound one is the one she will use without a fuss.

 

[hanneroon]

handily a whippets head fits right inside a plastic pint glass, easy peasy for walks, and not as messy as he is with a regular bowl

 

[Biker John]

I agree a Whippet fits nicely into a glass, usefull for me when we are out and usefull for her all the time.

 

[Molly Doodle]

Please can I advise never to give your dogs ice or icy water when they are hot. We humans find it refreshing and cooling but a dog that is over-heated or just been exercising in hot weather could develop Bloat from drinking such cold water or eating ice and this can kill within a very short time. I saw on Facebook the other day that a Vets in the USA (I think) posted a picture of a bucket of ice where they had frozen toys and treats in it to entertain dogs on hot days and hadn't put a warning up. A friend's dog died of this last Summer and I wouldn't want anyone else to go through the horrors of this.