Be Careful when its Hot!

Well today its nearing 100 degrees (again) so I thought to remind you all too be careful when is hot. If you’re taking your dog on a walk or on a hike or any type of physical activity when its hot outside like it is today or like it is much of the summer, I usually recommend waiting for a lil while after to give your dog water. Some of you may not have heard of a condition called bloat, but bloat is a very serious health risk for many dogs. A lot of time bloat, which means the stomach swells and rotates and twist often times causing death, occurs when the stomach traps air, or food, or water in the stomach. And then the bloated stomach obstructs the veins of the abdomen leading to low blood pressure, shock or other damage to the organ. It can quickly kill your dog. A lot of times when a dog is hot it needs to cool down before you give it too much water otherwise it’ll drink really fast and a lot of times trap air in the stomach. So if you go on a hike or take your dog on walks during hot days, I recommend letting him or her cool down for 15 minutes to a half hour before you rush to give it water. You and I are porous, and we sweat, so we need to hydrate ourselves after sweating. But dogs cool themselves down mainly through panting, not through water. And while they may be thirsty and do need water, that is not how they actively cool themselves down. So my advice is to be careful when its hot, and let your dog cool itself down before giving it water.