Fun family hike turns tragic for their dogs

From Toby Wisneski of LEAVE NO PAWS BEHIND:

I was so unnerved and saddened by the article today about the Golden who died of heat stroke while hiking with it's humans in 95 degree temperatures. I cannot even wrap my head or heart around that tragic situation. Please everyone, the temps are soaring into the 100's, the pavements are scorching hot and the heat beating down makes the air thick and difficult to breathe at times! Please, please do not allow your pets to be out in these conditions! Even if there is shade the air is still very warm and water will evaporate very quickly! Dogs are like kids, you know, the little tots who tell you, "the waters not cold", as their lips are purple and quivering! Well dogs will run, jump and play with no thought of their own safety or outside temperatures! They want to please, they want to be with you every possible moment HOWEVER these hot and humid days, "the dog days of summer", can be very deadly for them! If you must walk them, do it in the morning and evening times when it cools down and make sure you have water or at least a spray bottle. The cement is hot and their little paws are tender and will burn and trust me when I say, they will never complain! Common sense will tell you if you are uncomfortable, so are they! ALSO, NEVER, EVER LEAVE YOUR PET OR CHILD IN A CAR ALONE AT ANY TIME!!! Protect the pets, they are your dogs, your 4 legged family fur members and you love them, so please, please keep them safe!

From the album: Timeline Photos
By The Foothills Paper A FAMILY TRAGEDY ON THE HOSTETTER FIRE ROAD

A family on a fun hike in La Tuna Canyon Park with their two dogs had a fatal turn of events for the family dogs. The two family dogs couldn’t handle the 95 degree heat and began to go into convulsions, using all the water they had to try and cool down the overheated dogs was not enough to save the larger one.

Dr. Ann Hohenhaus, of the Animal Medical Center in New York, recommends: If you have refrigerated water handy, pour it over your dog, completely soak a towel in water, put your dog in the backseat covered with the wet towel and get to the veterinary clinic. But don’t waste time trying to find cold water or ice if it’s not readily available, she says. Just get the dog to a veterinarian immediately. “Don’t spend an hour trying to cool down the dog,” she says.

Dogs can’t tell you they are over heated, it is up to you the owner to make sure that they have more than enough water to keep them cool. Even when in the shade, if the temperature is just too high, a dog can get heatstroke. Dogs with any health condition that impairs normal breathing can suffer it too.

Also, it’s important to remember that just because you might be able to tolerate 98 degrees in the shade with a cool drink in hand, it doesn’t mean your dogs can. You can sweat – like crazy if you need to. You also can tell when it’s getting to be too much and leave the event if need be, go into an air-conditioned building on the grounds, or even drive around in your car with the air conditioning on full blast. Your dogs can do none of those things, except sweat a tiny bit through their paws. And pant. And pant. And pant.

Before you leave home, pack two bath towels big enough to cover your dog and enough refrigerated water to pour over a small dog or to soak the towels.

You don’t have to worry about your dog getting too cold, she says. But using cold water, even ice packs beneath your dog, while you drive to a clinic, won’t harm a dog with heatstroke, she says. If a dog is merely panting heavily and seems overheated, but can still drink and move around, you’re probably safe cooling it down on your own.

But if the dog has gray or purple lips, or can’t drink and stand on its own, Hohenhaus advises proceeding immediately to a clinic. Heatstroke can lead to seizures, coma and death. Only a veterinarian will be able to tell you when the dog has recovered.