Overheating in Dogs — The Concerns Increase
I’d love to have a conversation about avoiding over heating in dogs. We all know that it can be a life or death issue for all dogs, but the fact is that my Skip overheats easily. Very, very easily. It may be that his bad heart is the only factor, or perhaps there are others, but it can take him 30 minutes to cool off when it takes Maggie 10. I simply can not run him if it’s truly hot and humid; or if I do, for a minute or so only. Given that those of us in the Northern Hemisphere are rolling into summer, and it’s already been hotter than hell up here in the Northland, it seems like a timely conversation to have for all of us.
First, it probably goes without saying, (and yet I feel obliged to), that high internal temperatures in dogs can be a serious health emergency that can lead to organ failure and death. You no doubt know that a dog’s internal temperature is usually somewhere around 100 to 102.5, and that dogs are unable to sweat except through their paws. (Which has always confused me. Horses sweat and have coats similar to those of dogs; why can’t dogs sweat?) An internal temperature over 106 is considered a crisis; imagine my shock when I took Skip’s temp after a training run and it was, yeah, 106. (I should mention, however, that I used a digital thermometer, CiiNii, inserted in his ear, which I’m told is not as accurate as a rectal one.) Skip seemed fine after he cooled down, but needless to say, I take all this very, very seriously, and am now always quitting before I think I need to.
Here are some of the factors that effect overheating in dogs that I know about; and some of the ways to protect our dogs. Please, don’t hesitate to add your own knowledge and experience here:
TEMPERATURE & HUMIDITY: This is the obvious one, and most often relates to dogs in cars. If there’s just one person reading this who doesn’t know how fast a car interior can heat up to a fatal temperature, then it’s worth mentioning it. A car parked in the sun can attain an inside temperature of 116 within an hour. However, it can take far less than that to kill your dog. The dashboard itself, in one study, rose to 157 degrees Farenheit. We’ve all heard the heartbreaking stories of children who have died while being left inside a car (an average of 37/year–I can barely type that), but we know it happens to dogs too. In 2018-2019, 78 dogs died in the US from heat stroke in cars. What seems to confuse people is that cracking a window doesn’t help much. Heat rises, right? It doesn’t want to go sideways. That’s why I have a car with a moon roof, which makes just getting into the car in summer so, so much nicer. (And explains why I left my dogs in the car on a warm but not hot day, and then had to explain to the person trying to break into my car to SAVE MY DOGS who were sitting in their crates looking amused.)
High humidity along with high temperatures, just as with us, can also make dogs more likely to overheat, no matter where they are. Of course, being in the sun, having a dark coat, being out of a breeze are also all factors that can influence a dog’s internal temperature, along with any exercise. Be especially careful of walking or running dogs on hot pavement–black asphalt is famous for holding and radiating heat, and while your head is high above it, your dog’s isn’t. I have to admit I’ve seen a few dogs walking on the street beside their owners that I felt a tad worried about. But there are some other, less obvious factors that you might be interested in.
I didn’t mind too much that this water was muddy at a recent clinic, because Skip doesn’t drink when he’s hot. The water was cool and Skip had no problem curling up to dunk himself while he watched another dog work. He got lots of clean water when we got back to my vehicle.
ACCLIMATIZATION It matters a lot what the dogs are used to. The first time I worked Maggie on sheep here in Wisconsin she came close to overheating, even though I worked her for an extremely short period of time. She had come from Idaho . . . dry, dry, low humidity Idaho, and had never experienced a hot, humid Midwestern summer. It took her about a year, but she eventually became just as tolerant of our weather as any other normal working Border Collie. Acclimatization has been found to be a key factor in keeping working military dogs fit and able to work in hot environments. Of course, it’s not the only thing–Skip grew up in Ireland but he’s been here for two years [[four now, actually]] and I see no signs of improvement in his heat tolerance.
HYDRATION There’s no question that well-hydrated dogs do better when exercising and build up less internal heat than dogs who are not well hydrated. The question is, how to do that? Lots of working dogs (mine included) are too focused on the work to bother drinking any water until they know that they are”done.” Giving dogs fluids, before or after working, with electrolytes (like Gatorade® for example) has been controversial, because of concerns of the build up of sodium. We sweat it out, but since dogs don’t sweat, the concern was that giving dogs electrolytes made for us would cause unhealthy levels of sodium. But a study done at the University of Pennsylvania found that excess sodium was simply excreted in the dog’s urine, and that such electrolyes, especially when flavored with chicken, were a good way to hydrate dogs before they worked. I’ve given my dogs Glyco-Gen Energy Bonesto replace glycogen loss if they run twice in one day, but that’s not the same as hydrating them. I’m going to try some electrolytic fluid with chicken flavor in it and see how the dogs do. What about you? Do you hydrate your dog before exercise, as well as after?
GENERAL CONDITION Of course, being in good physical condition makes a difference as well. Just as you’re going to struggle on the track if you used to run five miles a day but haven’t lately, dogs need regular exercise to stay in condition. You can’t stroll around the neighborhood twice a day and then go on a five mile, off leash walk with yor dog on a hot day and expect him to be fine. Be sure to ask yourself–what is my dog in condition for, and how are the external conditions going to influence that?
Two to three times a week, besides two walks and sheep work every day, I put Maggie and Skip on a balance board to work their core and the large muscles of their hindquarters. The stronger they are, the less they will struggle when exercising. I also keep them thin, because carrying around an arctic insulation system is not going to help a dog deal exerting itself in hot weather. I manage Ski’s weight so carefully I might as well be a falconer. “Keep him thin,” all his cardiologists have said, and thin he is. I feel like I’m always on the line of a vet saying, “Uh, what do you feed your dog, Trisha? Perhaps he needs a little more?” Of course, all working dogs should be kept trim–less stress on their joints, less needless work carrying around weight. Thus, the dogs I meet at sheepdog trials are almost always as trim as long distance runners. I am reminded, however, that about half of our country’s dogs and cats are overweight, so you might want to take a look at your dog and ask yourself how it would do on the BCS, Body Condition Scoring system.
This photo was labeled as “cute dog lies on rug” on a stock photo site. I’d label it as “Dog most likely to die of overheating” because of its muzzle structure and grossly overweight body. Poor thing.
Related to condition is a dog’s structure. Brachycephalic dogs with shortened muzzles and noses are especially prone to overheating. There’s just not much more I need to say, except perhaps to focus on breeding dogs who have healthy respiratory systems?
A HIGH FAT DIET? Or the opposite? Auburn and Cornell Universitiespartnered up to research the effect of diet on scent detection dogs, and found that ” . . . dogs eating the normal diet enhanced with corn oil returned to normal body temperatures most quickly after exercise and were better able to detect smokeless powder, ammonia nitrate, and TNT.” The results suggested that a higher fat diet, and lower protein levels, enabled dogs to tolerate heat better. I’ve seen this quoted to suggest that dogs do better in the heat on a high fat diet. On the other hand, you can find the exact opposite recommendation: You should feed low protein and low fat, said to create less heat in digestion than fatty, high protein foods. Right now I feed a relatively high protein and high fat diet. Hmmmmm. Any expertise/research out there to help guide us mortals?
I stopped this photo shoot right after friend Rob took this picture. Note how Maggie’s mouth is wide open and her tongue is curling upwards at the tip. . . all clear signs of internal heat build up in a dog.
HOW TO COOL OFF A HOT DOG If your dog’s mouth is gaping open, and tongue is longer than you thought possible and curling up at the tip, your dog is getting very hot. More serious signs are hind end weakness, staggering, or collapsing. Get them out of the heat and in cool water STAT if you think your dog is overheated. My dear garden helper and first year vet student told me she’d learned that the best heat transfer points are paws, groin, and . . . get this, cheeks.
I’m not sure that relates to dogs (apparently it does in people), but it does reinforce my shaving Skip’s belly in the summer time; now I’ll focus as much on his groin area. Do know, however, that shaving your entire dog is not believed to be a good idea. But water to lie in? Oh yeah. Skip dives into the water tank after working at home, and he has very own wading pool in the backyard. Every sheepdog trial has a tank set out with water for dogs to leap into after their run. (One of my criteria for a “well-run trial” is one that keeps the water tanks full of clear, cool water, both for the sheep and the dogs.)
Get a hot dog in water right away!
If your dog is overheated, do NOT spend time and energy trying to get them to drink. They are usually panting too hard to even think about it. Here’s article about how to respond to an overheated dog that I think is helpful and clear–it too says to get your dog in water, (have you noticed the water theme here?), don’t force him to drink, and don’t take him out of the water until his temp is 103 or below. If there’s no body of water, find water and flow it over his paws, belly, and groin. Continue to do that for a good 5-10 minutes if at all possible. If you think he was badly overheated (staggering, collapsing), take him to the vet once he’s been cooled to 103 or less. Another reason to have a thermometer handy.
Chilly Buddy Vests: I wanted to add that since writing this I’ve discovered Chilly Buddy vests, and am very impressed with them. They reflect the sun’s ray off of a dog’s coat, and can lowered the temperature by over 40 degrees. Here’s Skip with his newly acquired Chilly Buddy vest:
The difference was striking–I put my hand on the top of his head and it felt significantly hotter than the fur under the vest. What we don’t know if how it effects a dog’s internal temperature. I’ve reached out to the company with that very question, and got a call back within a few minutes. Impressive. I spoke to Mr. Leandro Monteiro at Chilly Buddy who told me that they’d never done that research, but now that I asked, was intrigued by the question. Right now it looks like all the data is based on coat temperature and behavior–Leandro’s own agility dog used to seek the shade, but with the vest on was happy to stay in the sun. I can say that Skip looked much cooler–tongue shorter, less panting–than he normally would have on this exceptionally hot and humid day at a friend’s last week. It wouldn’t be that hard to do the research; I think I might just try it on my own sometime, by using a thermometer. But I do recommend them based on everything we know so far. And I’ll mention that Skip completely ignored it, although I would take it off when working sheep!
MEANWHILE, back on the farm: We left last Friday for another short weekend at a cabin, owned this time Jim’s son Zach and partner Sarah, outside of Minocqua, WI. Following the time-honored inevitability of one’s dog injuring itself the day before you leave town, Maggie appears to have strained a cruciate, so out came the Assisi Loop®, which appears to increase circulation and decrease healing time. Cross your paws.
I’m just back today from a clinic with the awesome Scott Glen, winner of, uh, everything much of the year. And a kind, patient man he is. He’s helping me get Skip more comfortable pushing forward, and holding the right side rather than drifting to the left. Thanks John & Hixie Wentz for hosting him!
Our resident woodchuck is now adding to the Wildlife! Adventure! Park! that is our farmyard. I regret to say that this critter has expanded its dining to my zinnia seedlings, the leaves of the Jack-in-the-Pulpit, and I fear what’s left of my lily bulbs are next. Two years ago a woodchuck turned one garden, with at least 30-40 gorgeous lilies in it, into a roto-tilled mess, sans any lily bulbs. I regret to say that this might be your only chance to say hello to Chuckles.
Far less problematic, an uplifting joy actually, are all the baby birds begging for food around the yard. My current favorites are the newly fledged young of a pair of Hairy Woodpeckers. That’s a teenager on the left, waiting for a snack from mom, shopping on the right.
Food delivery service has arrived.
And last, here’s a peaceful scene from a waterway outside of Minocqua, complete with an impressive beaver dam. What astounding animals they are, and seeing their work was a delight.
May your week also include some unexpected delights.
Be sure to tell us your stories about keeping your dogs cool, whether one has gotten over heated, and any research you know that can inform us all. I’m all ears. Well, okay, eyes . . .
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About the Author
Patricia B. McConnell, PhD, CAAB Emeritus is an applied animal behaviorist who has been working with, studying, and writing about dogs for over twenty-five years. She encourages your participation, believing that your voice adds greatly to its value. She enjoys reading every comment, and adds her own responses when she can.
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There’s a UK vet nurse Emily J Hall who specialises in research into heat related problems in dogs. Some of her work is quite shocking. One study in dogs competing Cani-X found that dogs were overheating 20 minutes after competing in temperatures of 12 below. I was surprised at how many heat- related illnesses were reported in dogs in the UK in the winter months.
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Emily-Hall
Two big bug bears for me are dogs put into coats (because the owner thinks it looks cute and/or doesn’t want the dog to get wet or dirty) and natural coats stripped of all protection thus exposing the skin to damage. Winters are rarely that cold here but often wet and humid.
Many groomers seem not to have much knowledge of how dog’s coats work naturally (even when we have messed around with their breeding).
We have sudden hot weather here in the UK which is going to be harder on dogs because of lack of gradual acclimatisation and still owners are out in full sun throwing balls etc.
I thought that size and age were factors too, small and giant dogs being less able to regulate temperature and young and old likewise. However, this research seems to contradict that to some extent:
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11259-022-10045-2
I had a Golden overheat once. He was a big boy but lean. It was no hotter than usual. It was the regular walk. The difference was he had been a doofus when I got home from work and refused to come into the house and hung out in the garage instead. Garage wasn’t overly warm but wasn’t 68° like the house.
As we approached the end of the walk he started staggering. I couldn’t carry him to the house and had 3 more dogs with me, so he had to walk the last bit to the house, uphill no less.
I took his temperature, it was 104°.I knew we were in trouble. Left a voice mail for my vet and dragged him into the bathroom. I put him in the tub with running water, I grabbed a fan to blow on him and I poured rubbing alcohol on his pads and belly. His temperature continued to rise. It maxed out at 106°.
It took forever for his temperature to start dropping. It was years go, I don’t remember how long it took. Finally got him down to 103°.
Took him out, towel dried him, and he collapsed next to couch. I overdid the cooling part, his temperature continued to drop. He bottomed out at 96°. He spent the evening shivering under a blanket.
He survived with no damage. He was not a young dog at the time, probably 8 to 10 (was 6 when he arrived as a rescue).
Love the cooling vest. Will be getting one of those. Can you relocate Chuckles? Hope so! Sounded like he is headed for that long good night. 🙁
Thanks for this. I find that even “dog people” forget about the terrible effects that over heating can have on their dogs. Always worth a reminder.
Also, I love Chilly Buddy! I didn’t know that they are still available. My newest pup is too big for the Chilly Buddy that I have. So glad to get him one that fits!
Happy summer!
I would add age, I think? We’ve had Georgie nearly 10 years so estimate she’s probably 12-ish, and I started to notice her heat tolerance decrease last summer, and esp. this one. She was previously never a very pant-y dog, really didn’t pant at all unless she went on an all-out tear. Now on a warmer and esp. humid day she’s tongue-out even during an easy stroll. Nothing excessive or alarming, but I definitely keep an eye. In warmer weather we’ve always only hiked/walked places near water where she can regularly dip in.
About 1985, my brother-in-law and dear friend Leonard, walked dad’s Chesapeake, Chester, around the 5 mile “block” on a scorcher of a day. Just up the hill from your farm, Chester laid down in the shade in the ditch and refused to walk any further. We knew nothing about heat stress but recognized it was an emergency. I literally ran home the last mile while Leonard waited with Chester and I brought the truck, somehow loaded Chester in, and sped to Salmo Pond to submerse him. Home, where there’s a cold hose, would have been closer but we wanted to swim and cool off too. He got in the water, drank some, vomited, drank some more, and within minutes seemed back to his normal self. Whew. It’s a vivid memory.
I’d love to add a bit about health conditions and heat as well. My Chesapeake mix always seemed to struggle in the heat and his panting was especially loud and raspy. We recorded it for the vet and got a diagnosis of laryngeal paralysis. Surgery really helped but we had to be extra careful in the heat because of his reduced airway and the ban on swimming (forever!) after surgery. Wanted to add this in case it helped someone else recognize symptoms!
The best thing I ever did was teach our Shelby to swim! She was so fearful when we got her that she wouldn’t even TOUCH a puddle or water of any kind. I was adamant that we were going to get her swimming, as in paddling. It took two summers and she still doesn’t “like” it, but a chuckit ball is enough to convince her to hop in 😃. So my advice: if they won’t go in the water, teach them, teach them, teach them!
“Get your own damn seed!” (from frazzled bird parent on the feeder to an almost full grown youngster.) It’s the time when the fledglings are willing to perch on the feeder but can’t for the life of them figure out how to select a seed and eat it. It’s funny to watch and reminds me of times with our human offspring when he was almost fending for himself, the key word being “almost.”
In hot weather I force myself to exercise dogs at first light… That said, today at 0500 it was 78 degrees (F). I opted for short walks, briefly worked them in some obedience exercises, snifaris at Fleet Farm and beef cheeks to chew for when the sun went behind the blue spruces. I tried to knit outside in shade while they chewed in shade. I busted a sweat just sitting working my hands. The heat forced us inside. I keep A/C pretty chill for the dogs…. I only go to 62 degrees with heat in winter to offset my greedy cold air in summer.
I’d like to add that you can leave an electric vehicle ‘on’ with the a/c running for a certain amount of time. Teslas have a Dog Mode, but my Chevy Bolt will let you turn the car on with a/c and then lock it for a 20 minute running time. No emissions! Be sure to put signs in the window, since EVs are silent, so you can barely tell they are running.
Several years ago I had a Karelian Bear Dog whose fur could NOT be penetrated to get a good look at his skin. Surmise it may be because Finland is boggy in many areas and must have mosquitos by the hoards. Was up visiting a dear friend in eastern Washington state who had his sister and we were on an extended hike. My boy had never liked to go in water. I think when his coat got wet, it started to weigh him down and he’d sink like a stone. It was pretty warm on our hike and, when we ran across a stream, we encouraged both dogs to wade in it. As usual, my boy only paddled his paws. I encouraged him to go into deeper water to get his belly wet though he gave me a look that told me he thought it was a rotten idea. Still he humored me. And as soon as the cool water started flowing under his belly, his expression changed to one of surprise, then pure relief. I created a monster because he was reluctant to leave his pool when we were ready to move on.
I walk the dog 3-4 miles daily. She loves it. But come summer we walk early in the morning and try to stay on grass as much as possible. Also we cut our walks by up to 50% at times, and this past week we had to skip a few days due to 102 heat index in MI with actual temp 97 degrees. Luckily this dog likes to be sprayed with the hose on a light spray cycle so cooling her down is a pleasant experience! I try to be very careful for both of us, at age 64 now I am starting to fatigued in the heat more easily as well.
A really obvious observation, but pack water on hot and humid days – even for shorter walks. I never bring water on my one-mile walks with my lean, 49-pound, short-haired, 2-year old dog. After all, we don’t set a blistering pace as his nose dictates our speed. Even so, neither of us are acclimated to the warmer temperatures so I thought ‘why not’? I was surprised to find how thankful he was for water at the 1/2 mile mark. He probably drank a solid 24 ounces. Well, now I know!
I feel, SO SO sorry for that poor pug 🙁
I see the comment about the actual temperature 🙂
78 F is considered ‘pleasant’ here, 62F is considered too cold to go out in! And we aren’t even in the tropics,
When we loved in the tropics anything lower than 8OF was considered far to cold to go out in 🙂
Hi Patricia, love your end of the lease posts. Any chance you can share some info possibly a videos on the balance board work you do with Maggie and Skip? Thank you!
Kate, will do! I think I have some stills, but I’ll get a video, good idea!
Our late, great Obi -a tall, lean border collie – became heat-intolerant as he aged. He could hike for miles and miles, but if the air temperature was above 60 degrees F, he took many shade-and-water breaks, and we let him rest until he said he was ready to go – at which point he’d take off at a dead run. We made sure to finish before temps reached 70F, which meant early morning high-elevation hikes. In his last year. dealing with heart failure, we only walked where he could dunk in a river or pond. We’re thankful that he had a great spring (and that spring weather was long and cool), and then passed just before the 100 degree days set in.
It’s 96F today, and Rowan – 6 year old BC – and I got a late start out the door. So we took a 10 am walk on the shady, grass-edged Boise River Greenbelt, plus a few dunks in the river, and she’s now enjoying an afternoon in the cool house.
Charlotte K – thank you for the links to the articles. Good information.
How do you teach the dogs to sit and lie down in water? Our dog loves to swim in lakes and he will run into creeks on his own, but he refuses to sit or lie down in water. He’s normally responsive to these commands, so he’ll start to lower butt over a creek, but won’t dunk it. I’m thinking I should start by introducing him to an empty trough (repeat multiple days), then introduce an inch of water (repeat multiple days), and slowly work up to more water?
Freddy (papillon) is very heat sensitive as I learned to my cost his first summer. It was unusually hot for England so I waited until the cool of the evening before taking him out to play – after one too many round of Fetch he staggered and I knew what was happening. Straight into the house, into a sink full of cool water, splashed his tummy and face and ears and he recovered almost immediately. I have been much more careful since then but still have to watch him. Part of the problem as you say is that there is little opportunity to acclimatise here – this weekend we went from 15C/60F on Friday to 24C/75F on Saturday, with high humidity, and now back to 15/60 today. It is something I have not experienced with my other dogs but they were not keen on Fetch and were happy to bumble around and flop in the shade in warm weather – Freddy will continue to try to make me play, and I suspect the toy in his mouth makes things worse by impeding panting. I now ban any kind of Fetch when it is in the least bit warmer than usual, and am very careful even when it isn’t. And I watch the weather forecast – sudden warm weather means early morning walks, even if it means dragging myself out after just half a mug of coffee!
Fortunately for Freddy he has a new interest that doesn’t involve Fetch and for the time being at least is all indoor play. Tissle (was Thistle but that gets difficult after a few repetitions!), an 8 week old grey kitten, joined us very recently and after extremely careful introductions now has the run of the house. She and Freddy have worked out a compromise between his favourite game of Bitey Facey and her love of Kitten Wrestling which seems to satisfy them both. What with checking where she is, whether she has left food anywhere accessible, “borrowing” her toys and brief but fun games life is almost too exciting for him without needing to chase balls as well!
RuffWear has a cooling belly vest that fastens around the straps of their harnesses. I used that when hiking in southern UT with my GSD. Works very well! It’s called the Swamp Cooler and an essential part of our gear.
Have fun herding, we miss it a lot!
I will never understand the resistance to shaving a dog. A coat is insulating. This means that it also insulates the dog from dissipating it’s own endogenous heat. Saying a coat insulates from outside heat to keep a dog cool only holds true if the dog does not produce heat from the inside.
Why would shaving your dog’s belly help keep him cool but shaving your whole dog do the opposite? Just leave enough fur to prevent sunburn.
https://drdavidmarlin.com/how-do-dogs-regulate-their-body-temperature-and-is-sweating-important/
I use a washcloth wet with really cold water, rung out just enough that it doesn’t drip, rolled, and tucked in the space between back leg and body whenever I think my dog may be getting overly warm. It works great when used early in the overheating process. I’m always entertained by the way a Great Pyrenees stays cool outside by digging wallows. They pick a favorite place and use it year after year and you end up with bathtub deep pits.
A typical summer day around here is muggy and 90°F (32°C), occasionally pushing up to 100°F (38°C). Observations of dogs in this muggy climate:
We had a thick-coated Samoyed mix who did surprisingly well in the summer’s heat, presumably because her off-white coat reflected rather than absorbed the sun’s energy. A previous dog had a dark, Husky-like coat and loved to lie in the sun, but touching his coat was like touching a stove. Apparently a thick undercoat provides good insulation from heat and cold.
In contrast, Red Dog has a short reddish-brown coat with no undercoat. I expected her to do well in the summer heat, but to my surprise she overheats fairly quickly in the sun.
When we take long hikes in hot weather I regularly douse her with water from an insulated flask. At first she was resistant but now seems to recognize that this keeps her cool. She also loves to wade in a stream or pond when the weather is hot.
I also offer her water regularly, but she does not drink much until we get home. Seems like too much water while out and about upsets her stomach.
The most heat-resistant dog of ours was a beagle-retriever mix with a short, light brown coat and moderate undercoat. Seems like a few dog breeds from hot desert climates (Saluki, Afghan, etc.) have a moderately thick, often light-colored coat for insulation from the sun’s rays.