Mother came across this article on a forum and told me to put it up because she thinks you lot should know about this. It’s getting really hot outside and we all love playing outdoors, but we must be careful of getting heatstroke!
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The first thing that needs to be understood is that dogs and people are different enough that most of the info cannot cross lines. I do not profess to know what the appropriate procedures for people other than what I learned in first aid.

Dogs do not lose enough electrolytes thru exercise to make a difference, but if the dog gets truly into heat stroke the physiology changes will make them necessary. BUT oral replacement at that point is futile, they need intravenous fluids and electrolytes and lots of it.

Cooling: Evaporative cooling is the most efficient mean of cooling.

However, in a muggy environment, the moisture will not evaporate so cooling does not happen well. I cool with the coldest water I can find and will use ice depending on the situation. The best way is to run water over the dog, so there is always fresh water in contact with the skin. When you immerse a dog in a tub, the water trapped in the hair coat will get warm next to the dog, and act as an insulator against the cool water and cooling stops. If you can run water over the dog and place it in front of a fan that is the best. Misting the dog with water will only help if you are in a dry environment or in front of a fan. Just getting the dog wet is not the point, you want the water to be cool itself, or to evaporate.

For MOST situations all you will need to do is get the dog in a cooler environment, ie shade, or in the cab of the truck with the air conditioning on (driving around so the truck does not overheat and the AC is more efficient). Up to a couple of years ago, I was very concerned about my dogs getting too hot in the back of my black pickup with a black cap. New white truck fixed a lot of that problem. When I had one dog I just pulled the wire crate out of the car and put it in some shade and hopefully a breeze. But having 2 dogs and running from one stake to another, that was not feasible. So I built a platform to put the wire crates on, this raises the dog up in the truck box where the air flow is better. Then I placed a 3 speed box fan in front blowing on the dogs with a foot of space to allow better airflow. I purchased a power inverter that connects to the battery and allows the 3 speed fan to run from the truck power. It has an automatic feature that prevents it from draining the battery. When I turned that fan on medium I would find that the dogs where asleep, breathing slowly and appeared very relaxed and comfortable in a matter of 20 minutes or less, even on very hot muggy days.

Alcohol: I do carry it for emergiencies. It is very effective at cooling due to the rapid evaporation. It should be used when other methods are not working. You should be on your way to the veterinarian before you get to this point. We recommend using rubbing alcohol, which is propylene alcohol, not ethyl, for those of you not aware. So do not try to drink it. Alcohol should be used on the pads and lower feet area where there is little more than skin and blood vessels over the bones. Use a little bit and let it evaporate, you can use too much as some is absorbed through the skin. There are concerns about toxicity, but you have to get the temperature down.

I purchased those cooling pads that you soak in cold water, but found that the dogs would not lay on them. I would hold them on the back of a dog that just worked to get a quick cool, but have not used them for years. I also bought a pair of battery operated fans but found them pretty useless. Spend your money on the power inverter and get a real fan.

Watching temperature: If you feel your dog is in danger of heat injury, check its temp and write it down. Keep checking the temp every 3 minutes. I recommend to get a “rectal glass thermometer. The digital ones for the drug store I have found to be very unreliable, Don’t forget to shake it down completely each time, sounds silly, but when are worried about your companion, things tend to get mixed up. This is VERY IMPORTANT**once the temp STARTS to drop, STOP ALL COOLING EFFORTS. The cooling process will continue even though you have stopped. If the temp starts at 106.5, and then next time it drops to 105.5, stop cooling the dog, dry it off, and continue monitoring. You will be amazed how it continues to go down. If you do not stop until the temp is 102, the temp will drop way too low. I cannot emphasis this point enough.

When the dog is so heated that it is panting severely, only let it have a few laps of water. Water in the stomach does not cool the dog, you just need to keep the mouth wet so the panting is more effective.

Do not worry about hydration until the temp has started down. A dog panting heavily taking in large amounts of water is a risk of bloat.

Due to the heavy panting they will swallow air, mixed with a large amount of water they can bloat. Once the temp is going down and panting has slowed to more normal panting then allow water. The dog will rehydrate it self after temp is normal. If the dog has a serious problem and even though you have gotten the temp normal, get the dog to a vet, as it can sti ll need IV fluids and some medication. Also, a case of heat stroke can induce a case of hemorrhagic gastroenteritis (not parvo), with a ton of very bloody diarrhea and a lot of fluid and electrolyte loss. These cases need aggressive treatment.

The best method of treatment is prevention. Learn to watch your dog, and see the changes in the size of the tongue, and how quickly it goes down. Learn your dogs response to the different environments, and be careful when you head south for an early season hunt test or trial. I have been to Nashville at the end of May, only 5 hours away, but the difference in temp and humidity did effect the dogs as they were used to more spring weather in Ohio. Try different things in training to help the dog cool and learn what works better. Another very important point=> Do not swim your hot dog to cool it then put in put in a box/ tight crate. Remember, evaporation can not take place in a tight space, and the box will turn into a sauna and you will cook your dog.

Carry a stake out chain, and let the dog cool and dry before putting it up. I demonstrated this lesson this spring with my 10 month old pup.

After doing a 15 minute session in yard drill on a warm 70+ degree day, she was panting pretty hard and was pretty hot. She was OK but it was time to stop. Just for the heck of it I took her temp. She was 103.6, above normal but too bad for a dog that had just finished working. In my back yard I have a 300 gallon Rubbermaid tub filled with water. I took her to it and she jumped in and out 3-4 times. She appeared totally improved, tongue was much smaller, and eyes brighter and her full spring was back into her step. So I re-took her temp and it was 104.2, so even though she looked better she was hotter. This is a perfect lesson to show not get a hot dog wet and then put them in a box. The water on her skin caused the blood vessels to constrict, decreasing blood flow to the skin. Therefore the hot blood was shunted bac k to the dog’s core and retianed the heat. You may have felt the same thing, after exercising but still being very warm, take a shower and get cooled off but as soon as you turn the shower off you start sweating again.

I know this is s bit long, but hopefully this is easy to understand and helps provide some useful information.

Remember: Prevention, learn your dog. It is worth the time and effort.
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Nate Baxter, DVM
Lebanon, OH
blacklab@iac. net

(Scene: Mother snoring sleeping, me pacing the bed.)

Me: Mother.. *nudges her face with my nose* Mother wake up.

Mother: *grumble mumble* mm.. nnn..

Me: Hello, Mother! Wakey wakey! *nudges her face again* Mother!

Mother: *mumble* Go away boy.

(repeat above for another 15 minutes)

Me: *more frantic* MOTHER! WAKE UP!

Mother: (no response)

Me: *tries to get off the bed by climbing down the bedside table*

(Something clatters to the floor.)

Mother: What the. *stirs* What do you want Romeo..

Me: MUMMMMMYYYYYYYYY!!!!!! *nudges her face again and looks desperately at the floor from the bed*

(Mother grumbles and airlifts me off the bed onto the floor.)

Me: *runs to the peetray* AAAAaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh. Ooh oh wait wait for it.. *sputter sputter… ploop ploop ploooop* AAAHHHHHHhhhh. Relief at last.

Mother: *stares at the contents that fell out of my body, understanding dawning on her face* Ooohhh. *sheepish* Sorry boy, mummy forgot to give you enough bone with your rich lamb shank dinner. Teehee. Oopsie. Good thing you know not to do it on the bed! How long did you have to control? You didn’t take long to wake me up did you? Heehee.

Me: -.- So. Not. Funny. *punishes Mother by making her wash my furry butt at 5am in the morning*

(The End.)

Before I was a dog Mom:
I made and ate hot meals unmolested.
I had unstained, unfurred clothes.
I had quiet conversations on the phone,
even if the doorbell rang.

We went to see Dr Lye today, a highly respected and experienced vet, about my draggy hind legs. Mother wet my back when she cried into my fur.

Me: “Mother, what did the vet say?”

Mother: “He said you were born broken.”

Me: “Broken? How?”

Mother: “You have a congenital spinal nerve problem boy. It has no cure, but Dr Lye has suggested some things like swimming 3 times a day and giving you vitamin B and ginkgo biloba supplements, which could improve the dragging legs.”

Me: “So I can be fixed right? Why are you so sad then?”

Mother: “Because my dear, mummy googled your problem and read up about “degenerative myelopathy”. If swimming and supplements don’t help, and tofu, green tea, and the other things suggested by the various websites can’t improve your problem, your legs will become weak and you may even end up with your hind legs paralysed. The websites say DM’s onset is usually when the dog is in their middle ages, 5 or 6 years of age. The earliest I read was 3. You are only 1, my baby. What does that say?”

Me: “Oh. Hmm. Well, I hate swimming but I guess I’ll give it a go. And I’ll wear that awful life jacket you got me. Promise! We can go to Club4Paws tomorrow.”

Mother: “I can’t take you to the pool 3 times a week because I have to work and all the doggy pools will be closed by the time I’m done. So, I’m going to bring the pool to you. I will get an above ground pool for you so that you can swim at least a bit every day. We’re going to fight this ok Romeo? You are going to live forever.”

Me: “Yes Mother. I’m going to live forever.”

Woohoo! I want to now be called RAMBO! (Though it will be very confusing for Mother whose favourite mouse is called Rambo) I received my first BATTLE WOUND! On my neck too! So hot. So macho. I’ll have a sexy scar to show off to the ladies this weekend at the dog run!

Remember that crazy little jack russell terrier hanging off me in the video I posted not long ago? The sister of the brother I was annoying? Yes, well, she actually BIT ME! 2 weeks ago! YES! I KNOW! HOW COOL IS THAT! What? Not cool? Why is everyone like Mother!! She also thinks it’s not cool. She thinks I’m nuts too for the following reasons (I quote):

1. “You didn’t yelp or whine or anything! You just took it silently?!? You? Drama queen of the year? The dog that tripped over his own feet while being chased by a husky and screamed bloody murder and made me think you broke your leg when all you got was a tiny scratch!??”

2. “How can you continue to hound the brother and hang around the sister the whole time they were at the dog run?? I remember that day – you didn’t want to leave their table until they had left! Why would you want to be near the dog that just bit you??”

3. “You crazy little mutt! You even played with the JRT that bit you last week!! Don’t tell me you can’t remember the scent of the one that attacked you? Is this like some sort of canine Stockholm syndrome where you love the dog that attacked you??”

Mother doesn’t actually blame the JRT for biting me, because she says I deserve it for annoying the crap out of the JRT’s brother. It’s not a deep wound anyway. My collar got in the way and she thinks only two fangs punctured my neck. We went to the vet and he shaved off a bit of fur there (I told him not too much because I still want to look super handsome) and gave me an antibiotic jab that made me woozy and lethargic. I missed the sheltie gathering because of that (and the rain)!

I’m all better now if you were wondering. It’s healed nicely and Mother thinks there actually won’t be a scar. DANG IT!

OH YES!! Did I tell you? I was trying to push the boundaries and test the water last weekend! Being my naughty rebellious adolescent self, I was on Mother’s couch in her room doing my cute digging thing and amusing her while she watched me with her camera in hand. Then!! Guess what I did!! GUESS!!

I LIFTED MY LEG AND PEED ON THE COUCH AND THE COUCH PILLOW!! Teeheeheeheehee. Boy it was hilarious! I was looking right at Mother when I did it! You should have seen Mother’s face! Her jaw dropped and her eyes were wide like saucers! Then of course, she gathered her wits and before the last trickle of pee left my body, she said Bad Boy! picked me up and dumped me in my time out area. I was given a 45 minute time out!! But you know, between you and me, it was well worth it!! Heehee. SSSSHHH!!!!

The thing my Mother indulges in the most is shopping online (right now she’s looking for stuff for my birthday party which she is planning – MARCH 22 (Sunday) people! Jot that down in your diaries!).

I asked Mother where she buys stuff from me and she gave me a little list:

1. Trixie + Peanut
2. The Puppy Shop
3. Amazon
4. Coastal Pet Supplies on Amazon.com
5. KV Vet Supply on Amazon.com
6. SitStay – This one only accepts US credit cards but Mother did a wire money transfer through the bank.
7. Haute Hound
8. 2 Hounds Design
9. Clean Run – Alot of agility related stuff
10. Ralph Lauren (Pets) – Mother bought me polo tees so I will look like Father. Sigh.

I think Mother plans on adding more to the list. Stay tuned??

We watched Beverly Hills Chihuahua or something last night and I asked Mother why I don’t have a Harry Winston diamond collar and don’t have my own pool and don’t get to go to a doggy spa. She sort of scoffed and said “When I win the lottery hon until then you make do your Swarovski crystal one”. Pfft!

Mother got this amazing treat making machine! She puts all sorts of thinly sliced meats and liver and tendons in it and they come out dried like chips or jerky! She kept referring to it as a dehydrator. I call it God. Mother went to the wet market (Tekka Market actually) to get me beef liver and beef tendons and a rack of lamb ribs. She haaaaates wet markets and told me she held her breath and tip toed around the entire time! She kept saying “see what Mummy does for you!!” as she snipped up the tendons (oh she hates handling raw meat too. *snigger*). She made liver treats and tendon chewies (just like my favourite ones which she used to buy from the petstores!). She says home made treats are healthier and wants to make some for friends! She’s even made some dried apple slices for herself. I didn’t like those. Ick. For dinner, I was given 2 raw ribs for dinner. LOVED them. I’m happy to hear that Mother will be feeding me raw on weekends! She’s sold on the idea that chewing the bones will keep my teeth cleaned, and she feels this way I’ll get the best of both worlds – home cooked AND raw! I like raw. I feel like the wolf in me emerges. Roowrrrr! Or whatever sounds wolves make.

Sorry I hadn’t been updating my blog much last week. I stepped on a wriggling dying bee and got stung on my paw! Mother kept slapping her forehead saying that only I can get stung on my PAW of all places. She pulled the stinger out for me (she used a tweezer then later realized she shouldn’t have because she could have forced more venom in!!) then applied a paste of baking soda and water to it to neutralize the venom. To relieve the pain she tried to dip my paw in a cup of icy water but soon gave up and let me paw the ice from my bowl instead. Fun! It was like a game! Thankfully my paw didn’t swell up and I had no allergic reaction to the sting (no vomiting, difficulty in breathing, epilepsy, etc). Phew! That’s a picture of the stinger and some of the bee’s butt flesh. It wasn’t terribly big, more like a tiny splinter but STILL!

I’m getting a new trainer! Mother is sick and tired of being pressured at every single training class to put a prong collar on me. She will happily forfeit the $800+ she has spent for my classes if she never has to be told to “let the collar do the talking” ever again. I overheard her conversation with Grandpa where she went “If that’s the case, then I might as well just buy the collar and fire the trainer! Who needs a trainer when all you do it let the collar do its work?? That’s not training! What a load of bullcrap. I don’t need to be told at every single lesson that if I put a prong collar on Romeo he will be more attentive. I already said NO. Which part of that doesn’t he understand?! Stupid fool. Don’t come and tell me you’ve trained hundreds of dogs with a prong collar. For every 100 he’s trained this way, another 100 have been trained using a choke chain. Should I use that too!? And another 100 trained using purely positive methods! If he is such a good trainer then bloody find an alternative solution for me! I should have known. I did see an electric collar on one of his dogs. Poor Jack would yelp and cry out everytime he barked and got zap. He really ought to put in writing that ALL STUDENTS ARE TO USE PRONG COLLARS because really, we’re NOT given a choice at all. If I had known I wouldn’t have signed up. I’m surprised no one other than myself has questioned the need for such collars on their dog. Surely someone must have thought “there has to be a better way”?!?” Mother was super pissed off on Sunday and vowed never to go back to him again. She’s currently looking for another trainer.

I hate Christmas carols! I didn’t last month, but since 1st December Mother has been singing them (badly) around the house and it sucks not to be able to stuff my paws in my ears. I try to get away by sleeping in a corner of the room hoping that she won’t see me behind the bed, but noooo she’ll come prancing along singing “all I want for Christmas is youuuuuuu” and point at me and rub my face and smooch me. Ugh. Annoying!

And then when she’s settling into bed and I’m getting comfy in my cage, she starts staring at me like I’ve got a monkey on my back. I’m like “Wassup y’all?!” and she just keeps staring. And then she starts fidgeting with the blanket that covers half the cage and brings out the humidifier and mumbles something about me breathing heavily and being hot. Mother gets so incredibly paranoid when she sees my chest expand 0.2 inches more than usual. *rolls eyes* Since the pneumonia incident when I was just over 3 months old she would stare at me when I’m sleeping or about to go to bed just to make sure I’m breathing properly. She’s afraid of losingher precious boy. Pfft. As if I’d let her off so easily!

Not being able to solve the problem in the cage, she decided to leave the cage door open throughout the night so I can walk around and get THE SAME AIR as I do in the cage anyway! My Mother is not very smart. I ended up going back into the cage for my Zzzs!

I do however hope that Mother won’t close the cage door anymore and give me some freedom in the night. Mother said that she’s going to seal up the balcony and make that little alcove my bedroom! Yay! She’s going to drape a curtain over the doorway so that I have my own private space. I hope I get a new bed too! Coz the other 2 in the room just don’t cut it! Woohoo! My very own bachelor pad!

My mother is weird. She thinks I’m a cam-whore even though she’s the one with the aposable thumbs and the camera phone. Still, I must admit that I look downright handsome! (see photos for evidence)

Mother has been shopping for me online alot. She’s already bought me TWO christmas gifts, and a santa hat which I am supposed to wear for our next Sheltie gathering. NOoooo!!! I need to maintain my macho image!! AND she also bought this little red heart pendant that says “best friends” which comes in 2 halves so she can wear one and I can wear the other half. THAT’S SO GAY MOTHER. Still, what could I do but sit obediently as she clipped it on, cooing “ooh, we’re best friends aren’t we Romeo? Mummy looooves you.” Sigh.

In the spirit of trying new doggy things (including how to gay up a manly dog), Mother bought a martingale collar at the recommendation of several sheltie owners from the States. They raved about it and said even if their dog bolts, the collar won’t plop off the dog’s head from all the pulling. I don’t pull so I have no idea why Mother would need this. I think it’s because her father walked me one day when she was out of town and I wasn’t so obedient with him and the collar actually did come off (much to Mother’s horror). The one she got had a metal chain attached to the fabric collar. It’s pretty heavy for my neck! I don’t like it, and Mother was worried that the collar will slip off because of the weight of the chain. I told her to go buy a better all-fabric one, but she just threw up her hands and said “there’s just not much variety in Singapore!”. She’ll find a nice one for me online – one that will of course, match my leash!

Oh oh, Mother’s been very pervy lately. She’s had to rub my balls twice a day! I’ve got a fungal infection on my precious jewels. I think she takes too much pleasure in it really. It’s no fun getting this cold cream touching your sensitive baubles. She said it has cleared up abit so hopefully I won’t have to take much more of her molestation!

I am now officially a MAN. Ok, maybe not. I mean MALE DOG. My balls have decided to show themselves much to my perverted Mother’s delight! They are dangling there for show now. Phew! Had me worried there for a while.

Today we went to the West Coast Dog Run again. Mother thinks it is ok to drag me out at 8am in the morning. But I got to meet many many dogs today, surprisingly! Including Millie the labradoodle that I’m in love with. Mother then took me (all muddy) to the groomers and she later complained that my haircut costs more than hers. What the hey – I look great! And I smell FANTASTIC!! I should try to wow the girls tomorrow at the Sheltie gathering to be held at Bishan Dog Run.

Tonight I showed Mother what a great boy I am. I helped her find a cockroach in her room. I alerted her to it by staring intently at an area. I should have barked but that’ll scare the bug away won’t it? Boy did I get alot of lovin’ for that! Mother actually wanted to train me to find roaches, but then decided otherwise when she realised that would mean she actually has to be in close contact with one. She hates them. I guess that was my way of apologising to Mother for giving her a heart attack when I start breathing really noisily, like I had trouble breathing or was choking during pre-agility class. She turned so pale I thought she was going die. I don’t know what I did – I think I must have snorted in some grass or something got stuff somewhere, but our trainer was signalled over by a frantic Mother who then proceeded to rub my chest area and all was fine! Mother heaved a sigh of relief as colour returned to her face and reprimanded me for giving her a heart attack. Oops.