Warm Weather and your dogs

Warm Weather Pet Safety Tips
Deblyns German Shepherds

Don't leave pets in parked cars: even if your window is cracked, the car will quickly become too hot for your pet, and they can die or suffer brain damage.
Dogs should never ride in the back of a pick-up truck. In a sudden stop or quick turn, dogs can be thrown from the vehicle and seriously injured. or killed. Make sure your pet rides inside and wears a seat belt harness designed for dogs or is in a crate. (PetLane carries seatbelts for your pets. You can see them at www.petlane.com/nikkispets )

Store plant food, fertilizer and insecticieds where your pets can't reach them.

Make sure your pet always wears a collar with an ID tag. If your pet gets lost, he has a better chance of being returned to you. Even better, have your pet micro chipped so that it can be returned to you even if it's collar falls off. If someone finds your dog and wants to keep him, then they will throw away the collar but they can not get to the micro-chip which is embedded inside his body.

Take care when exercising your pet. On very hot days, limit your dog's exercise to early morning or evening hours. Sidewalks and driveways can get very hot and can even burn your pet's paws.
If you have a pool, make sure your pet can't get to it when you are not around. If you want to play in the pool with your pooch, be sure to keep an eye on them. (Skamper Safety Ramps enable pets to get out of the pool totally unassisted in the event they should accidentally fall into the pool when no one is around)

Provide plenty of fresh water for your pets. When outside, be sure dogs have access to a shady area. Pool water with chlorine can cause digestive problems.

Don't take your pet to crowded summer events like concerts or fairs. Loud noises and crowds can be very stressful for pets.

Be on the lookout for heat stroke. Signs include panting a lot, glazed eyes, a rapid pulse, walking unsteady, vomiting, or a deep red or purple tongue. Move your pet to the shade and apply cool (not cold) water to his body, gradually to lower the pets body temperature. Apply cold towels or ice packs to your pets neck, head, pads of the feet and chest only. Let your pet drink water or lick ice cubes. And get them to a vet right away. If you have Pedi-Lyte available it is great in these situations. I would not hurt just to pick up a bottle to have on hand.

Don't chain or tether your dog outside. Plus choker chains can twist and hang a dog.
Keep your cat inside to keep them safe from other animals and cars.

Be sure to have your pets checked for heartworm and keep them on heartworm preventative. Get the generic if you are not doing the heartworm treatment because it is too expensive. Call us and we can send you the information as where to get it for one tenth the price of the brand name prevention.

Remember a dog does not have any sweat glands like a human does, so when he is getting hot he has no way of opening up the body’s air conditioning system to cool off. The only thing a dog can do is pant to extract the heat out of his system. If he pants too fast or hard because he is getting hotter, then he can have a stroke or die of a heart attack.

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