Dog Days of Summer

Hey Y'all,
I thought I'd start today talkin' about a topic that is near and dear to all the black dog's hearts - COMFORT. Now we don't mind putting up with a little bit of inconvenience as long as we know there is a reward at the end but Y'all humans please remember, we have fur coats on year round and you guys only have skin. Heat is a bad, bad thing when you are a little black dog or I think just about any color when you have fur.
We were all doing a great bit of traveling with our momma's in the spring. They all got together and decided we needed to get something they call titles. I think the titles say that we know how do stuff when mom wants us to rather than when we decide to do it. What it really means is we get to go on vacation and I get to sleep in a hotel and eat oatmeal cookies on the bed with momma. Anyway, we were at a show in the late spring and it was in the mountains. Now I was born in kinda the same area as where the show was but it it's been a long time since I was there. Besides I was just a little puppy then and don't remember too much about the land. I just remember that my birth momma let all us puppies live in her living room with my doggie momma and we all had a really good time. I think she loved raising us all cause she played with us a lot. Of course we were all so cute how could anybody not love us, we're Labs!
I digress (you know, I really gotta watch that but I got so much to tell you all). The mountains were really hot and muggy this spring. I stayed in an air conditioned car or our hotel most of the time but the show didn't have air conditioning cause the mountains don't normally get that hot that early. Anyway it was hot. I don't mean just a little panting and don't move around much - hot. I mean HOT HOT. It got so bad that I was struggling and panting really hard and fast. The show didn't have air conditioning and it was so hot. Lucky for me, Teddy had this thing you call a cool coat. Your human gets it all wet with cool water and then they put it on you. Nnow keep in mind that I'm a Lab and Teddy is a Cocker Spaniel. We are not exactly interchangeable sizes mind you but this was getting to be an emergency so I had to try to wear Teddy's little coat! My momma put it on my side when I was laying down and you know it felt so good that I turned over and let her stick it on my belly. Boy did that feel good ! I cooled down enough that I didn't have to pant so hard and I actually felt better to drink some cool water. Momma said that I was showin' the early signs of doggie heat exhaustion. It all happened so fast I couldn't tell anybody I was in trouble. Good for me mom knew the signs I'm going to list for you below.

Heat stroke happens when heat gain exceeds the dog's body's ability to cool down. High temperatures make it really hard for me to cool down which leads to dehydration ( I dry out too much inside) and my blood actually gets thick. This puts extreme strain on my heart and causes blood clotting which means I could have a heart attack and die ! My liver, brain and intestines could go first and this can happen quickly. Normal body temperature for a dog is about 101 F to 102 F. If this temperature reaches 106 F, I'm in world of hurt and in danger of brain damage, vital organ failure and death. Humans have got to help us get cool fast any way they can ! A dog who recovers can still have organ damage and lifelong health problems. Temperatures above 106 F are extremely dangerous. As I said before here are the signs again to look for

Symptoms

• Rapid, frantic panting

• Wide eyes

Momma got all this information off the internet but I can tell you it happens so quick and just like they talk about above. I was okay because momma knew what to look for but I know some folks don't so I'm trying to help spread the word now that it is summer and really hot outside. Don't ever leave us in a car unless 1. you are in it and the air conditioning is on or 2. you want to kill us ( which I believe now is something they call a felony animal cruelty). Outside isn't much better in my opinion but if you can't be inside in air conditioning make sure you have some shade and LOTS of clean cool water. Your human also needs to check on you a lot. Okay, I'm getting off my soap box now and will quit preachin'.

The good part about summer is that we have a pool and I love to swim. Momma has a great idea about building me a platform that I can get to and just hang out when I get tired of swimming. She got some plastic storage boxes and is gonna fill them up with water and a clean brick to weigh them down. She's gonna stack them up like stairs and put some shower grippies on the boxes so I don't slip. I love to swim but it gets kinda scary if I can't get out without help. I can't wait to have a pool party with all my friends from The Black Dog Club!

Okay, thanks for readin' and keep an eye out for more posts!

**To read more information on topics similar to those found above please Google dogs and heat stress.**