As the weather kicks it up a notch, everyone gets the natural tendency to go outside, even the pets. Spending time out of your house can be great for all the fun, but you have to be wary of the heat exhaustion in your pets, especially dogs.
Dogs are sensitive animals and there are some serious issues that may arise from overheating in summer, which you need to avoid by taking the precautionary measures. These issues are:

1. Dehydration:
When the skin of your dog becomes slow to return to its original position after being pulled up or the mouth gums are feeling tacky to touch, realize that the dog is dehydrated, which lead to lethargy and the eyes of your pet may appear to be sunken.

2. Heart Stroke:
Heart stroke is a really serious problem as when it becomes fatal, the dog becomes comatose and its temperature rises to 104°F – 110°F. The symptoms may include salivating, vomiting, extreme panting and staggering. In this case, you must call your veterinarian immediately.

3. Sunburn:
Sunburn normally occurs in the non pigmented areas, like often the ears or nose and it looks similar on a dog as it does at you. Due to the reason that dogs lick off their sunblock, you have to keep them out of the sun from 10A.M. to 4P.M.

Here are FIVE most important measures that you should consider for your dogs when the temperature soars.

1. Do not leave your dog in a parked car:
On a sunny day, the temperature of a car can rise dangerously high for your dog to suffer the irreversible organ damage or even death. So just don’t leave your pet in your parked vehicle, not for a minute with the car running or even an air conditioner on.

2. Watch out for the humidity:
Not only temperature, but also the humidity can also badly affect your dog. Actually animals evaporate the moisture from their lungs that takes the heat away from them, but when the humidity level increases, they can’t cool themselves and their temperature instantly rises to the dangerous levels, so you should not allow your dog’s temperature to be over 104 degrees.

3. Limit exercise on sunny days:
Carefully adjust the intensity and duration of your pet’s exercise with respect to the temperature and always carry water with you to prevent it from dehydration. You have to be especially careful with the dogs of white-colored ears as they are more prone to cancer and short nose dogs, who suffer difficulty breathing. Walk your dog on grass to keep its’ paws from burning.

4. Provide shade and water:
Whenever your dog is out of the house, make sure that it is getting satisfactory protection from the heat and plenty of cold water. You can add ice in water during heat waves and provide tree shade and tarps as they do not obstruct the air flow.

5. Cool your pet inside and out:
Provide your dog enough water, whether you’re indoors or outside of your home. You can also whip up a notch of peanut butter with it. While indoors, you can keep your dog from overheating by giving it a cooling body wrap or a mat, first soak them in cool water and wrap it around your dog and they’ll stay cool for like 3 days.

Author's Bio: 

I am Susie Aga. I am the founder of Atlanta Dog Trainer. My passion for dogs stems from my mission to want to teach people how to communicate with dogs. With 20 years of working with canines, I have refined the science of behavior modification by adding my own unique techniques. I have provided learning strategies for numerous families, countless foster families, rescues, non-profits and government agencies that work with canines.