Warm Weather Tips to Keep Critters Cool

Summer . . . That word conjures images of sandcastles at the beach, campfires, and juicy slices of watermelon, and makes many of us eager for long sunny days and balmy nights. While folks like me welcome warm weather fun, rising temperatures can be rotten news for pets, especially dogs.

Doggy bodies don’t have efficient cooling mechanisms.  When dogs’ body temperatures rise, it’s hard for them to cool down. That’s because unlike humans, the only ways that dogs can cool off is by panting and sweating through their paw pads. As a result, dogs can endure high temperatures only for a short time before succumbing to heatstroke, brain damage and even death.  

One of the most common but preventable warm weather calamities is the deaths of dogs and other pets that were left in hot parked cars. Well-meaning owners park their cars in the shade, leave the pet inside with the windows open a couple of inches, and return later to find their critter in serious distress or already dead.  This can occur in as little as thirty minutes.

Studies have shown that the temperature inside a parked car zooms into the danger zone far more quickly than one might imagine. When it’s 85 degrees outdoors, the car’s interior climbs to 102 degrees in ten minutes, and 120 degrees in thirty minutes. Even on milder days when outdoor temperatures are 72 degrees, inside the car reaches 116 degrees within a mere sixty minutes!

What’s more, taking measures like parking the car in the shade or cracking the windows does little to slow the skyrocketing temperatures. The car traps and holds the sun’s heat greenhouse style and in short order, becomes a deadly oven.

To make sure summer’s a safe and enjoyable time for your dogs and other pets, follow these tips:
•    Never leave your dog or any other pet in a parked car, not even for a few minutes. Of course this goes for babies and kids too.
•    Make sure your pets always have plenty of fresh water.
•    Don’t exercise your dog in the heat of the day. Instead, limit jogging, hikes, and other outdoor romps to the early mornings and evenings when weather is coolest.
•    On walks, hikes and other outings, bring plenty of water for your pooch and don’t push the pace. Make sure she has ample time to rest and lots of shady spots along the route.
•    Keep your dog indoors, especially during the hottest part of the day. If she must be outside, she should have access to a shady rest spot and an abundant supply of water. A small portable child’s pool full of fresh water will help her stay cool as well.
•    Avoid long walks on heated surfaces like hot sand and pavement that can easily burn doggy paw pads.
•    Trim long-haired and heavy-coated breeds to help them stay cool.
•    Black animals have a harder time staying cool in warm weather and direct sunlight. If you have a black pet, keep that in mind when you plan outings.
•    If you see a baby or an animal in a parked car, get help immediately. Call 911 and keep an eye on the baby or critter inside the vehicle as you wait for emergency assistance. If possible, record the license number, make and model of the car, and get it to nearby stores where the owner can be paged.
•    Animals shouldn’t ride in the back of pickup trucks. Tethered or not, the risk of injury is high, and hot metal can burn paw pads.

Flickr Photo Credits: Buzzhayes, GCQuinn

Lisa-Anne Manolius is the multi- talented owner/trainer of Oh Behave! in San Francisco. A graduate of the S.F. SPCA's Academy for Dog Trainers and U.C. Berkeley's Boalt School of Law, she's available for dog behavior consultations, private training sessions, and to teach a variety of group classes. She can be reached at lisaohbehave@gmail.com. 

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