General Question about Dogs Overheating
He told her to be careful when her boy gets wet. He said that if a wet dog spends too much time in the sun, rather than cooling as he dries off, his fur actually traps the water as steam and will make him overheat much more quickly. I see the logic, but it's definitely news to me.  Anyone know about this particular cautionary tale? |
|
|
| Huh? I would think a good romp/walk, wet skin and evaporation would cool the dog......unless the humidity is hear 100 % Of course not in direct sun.......I have to watch Harry as he is a black dog.......solar collector. |
| I have heard that you shouldn't submerge a dog with heat stroke and that you shouldn't cover them with a wet towel as the water can't evaporate from their coats. Also it is important to keep them moving. I know if the coat gets wet and it's very humid and it doesn't evaporate the coat is just warm and wet and obviously that won't help. I thought it caused more issues with hot spots than overheating though. I found this info on keeping a dog cool. It seems to make sense but isn't from a vet. http://flyingpawsdogtraining.weebly.com/heatstroke.html |
Jonsey wrote: I was chatting with my landlord, who has a lab/pointer mix (very short hair), and we were both puzzled over something her vet said. He told her to be careful when her boy gets wet. He said that if a wet dog spends too much time in the sun, rather than cooling as he dries off, his fur actually traps the water as steam and will make him overheat much more quickly. I see the logic, but it's definitely news to me. Anyone know about this particular cautionary tale?Yep! That's one of the things we always taught our 4-H kids, and one of my favorite health questions as a judge.  It really isn't that huge of a concern w/ a short haired dog, especially if they can still shake. (That separates the hairs and allows heat to escape.) However, if you have a longer coated dog, or one too far gone to from heat that it can't shake, you absolutely do not want to saturate the whole body. This is like wrapping them in cellophane! The water makes a solid (well liquid, but you get what I mean!) barrier and the body heat is trapped. Some better options are to get them in AC or a cool place, put a fan on them, drink a little water if able (don't overdo it), have them lay in shallow cool water (kiddie pool, etc) , pour cool water over the major artery areas - armpits and groin, or use wrapped ice packs in those areas. Then get the dog to a vet to be monitored. You need to make sure the body temp is dropping to a safe level and no damage has been done. |
Didn't find exactly what you're looking for? Search again here:
Custom Search
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|