We love safety - 12 Summer Safety Tips

We all know we should never leave our pets alone in a vehicle and that offering lots of cool water and modifying the speed/length/timing (during non-peak sun) of walks are 2 keys to keeping our animals cool.

Here are 12 more Summer Safety Tips to help your pet beat the heat.

1.Understand the symptoms of overheating and what to do about it
Symptoms can include excessive panting, difficulty breathing, increased heart and respiratory rate, drooling, mild weakness, stupor or even collapse, seizures, bloody diarrhea and vomit, an elevated body temperature of over 104F.
Ideally you can catch this at the panting stage and move your dog to a cool location of about 20C/70F and offer cool water. Do this as well if the animal is past the panting stage AND call your vet for further advise.

2.Understand that some animals are more susceptible to heat stroke and require extra care to keep cool
Animals that have
* double coats (Norwegian Forest Cats, Huskies, German Shepherds, Corgis, Samoyeds, Chows)
* flat faces / Brachycephalic (Pugs, Bulldogs, Persian Cats)
* heart or lung diseases
* geriatric and obesity issues
should be kept as cool as possible, ideally in air-conditioned rooms. Their bodies work hard to keep them in homeostasis and they need longer breaks to recover from heat exposure. A night time temperature drop to 25C/77F might not be enough of a rest for them.

3. Understand that even if your pet isn’t moving to a cooler location they may be overheating
If your geriatric pet doesn't move out of a sunspot it may be because of prescription side effects or mobility issues, and then they get too groggy with the heat to move on their own.
If your dog won't move to cooler room in your home with AC it may be because they are not accustomed to the noise or they don't want to be alone in a different room or seldom used area.
For the geriatric dog you can keep a close watch and monitor the sun and move them around to constantly be in the shade if its cooler than your house and the temperature poses no threat of heatstroke. For convincing dogs to move around to cooler spots in the house, gentle introductions, treats, and ice water work.

4. Experiment with different ways to cool your animal
Some dogs like cool pads, others might prefer slowly moving ice packs over their body and after 5 minutes they may tolerate laying beside them to keep cool. Try along their backs first and then move to the more vascular body parts like their neck, armpits, inner thighs and belly.
No ice packs? No problem. Dampen a towel, freeze, and then apply to your animal (*not recommended if the animal is experiencing heat stroke because it could cool them down to fast)
Some dogs like frozen treats or ice water. Just monitor them when these are available. Most dogs lick frozen treats or drink around the ice but if you have a fast eater/chewer it could be a choking hazard.

5. Skin care. Learn what irritates and soothes your animals’ skin.
Check your animals’ skin for rashes, sun burns, paw burns, foreign objects, wet fur from biting, blood, swellings, or hot spots. A lot of skin conditions can crop up in the hot weather and quickly turn into uncomfortable, painful wounds that need medical attention. Hot spots can start from wet skin on double coated breeds and/or your animal biting or scratching at a skin irritation (allergy, foxtail, pesticide, abscess, bug bite)
Before applying any sunscreen, insect repellent or other skin care medications on your animal, ensure it is safe for your individual pet and labelled for use on animals or on the advice of your vet.

6. Grooming. Hair cuts and brushing.
It’s ok for some dogs to get an all-over trim (Golden doodles), or maybe just a belly trim (Chows) to help them exchange more heat on cool surfaces, but never shave your dog. The layers of dogs’ coats insulate them from the cold AND from overheating and sunburn.
Brushing more often than usual can prevent overheating as they shed or blow coat.

7.Contact burns.
Asphalt, metal, concrete, and rocky surfaces can burn paws and radiate enough heat to your pets’ body to cause overheating.
Hold your hand or barefoot on these surfaces for at least 10 seconds. If it’s too hot for you, it’s too hot for them.
Stick to dirt or grass, and keep walking to a minimum.

8. Encourage extra hydration to help keep cool
Increase bio breaks. Dogs will self-regulate (restrict water intake) if they know they aren’t going to get a chance to pee. Adding a few more bio breaks in their schedule typically encourages more drinking.
Ice blocks or a treat at the bottom of the bowl to flavour the water will also get some animals to drink more

9. Do not leave pets unsupervised around water
Not all dogs are good swimmers or can swim long enough to get to safety
Introduce your pets to water gradually and make sure they wear PDFs
Rinse your dog off after swimming to remove chlorine or salt from their fur/skin
Try to keep your dog from drinking pool/ocean water, which can make them sick

10.Do not leave pets unsupervised around open windows or balconies
Open, unscreened, windows and balconies pose a real danger for pets, especially cats, who often fall out of them.
Keep all unscreened windows and doors closed or install adjustable screens and ensure they are tightly secured.

11. Manage your home/oasis
There are lots of ways to keep your home cool, regardless if you have AC or not. For example,
* decrease your use of heat generating appliances and hot water
* invest in thermal curtains to block solar heat
*manage airflow through windows at different times of the day
* use an umbrella to shade your house/windows even when you aren’t outside to lower the ambient temperature inside and move it as the sun moves
* Keeping you pets calm and cool inside with mental games to replace some of their outdoor time can also help them keep their cool and decrease agitation

12.Use a thermometer
Sometimes its hard to distinguish when hot is just too hot. A thermometer can help you accurately assess the risks for you and your pets. You will be able to clearly see when its cooler outside or inside, and hot spots to watch for. This will also help you evaluate the efficiency of your actions to keep the house cool.