Your Dog and the Heat

I live in South Florida where the heat is pretty intense. The hospital where I work received a frantic call from a client of ours that his dog collapsed. We told him to bring him in immediately.
Unfortunately, his dog passed away on the way over.
We learned that he had taken his 3 year old labrador retriever for a walk at noon.....in South Florida.....in July........... What is my point? Well, most people would think a Golden, pretty hearty dog, young, loves water, etc - they're fine outside. Well, they aren't. And this unfortunately  happens more often than you think.
I'm hear to ask all of you to spread the obvious word that dogs should be not be walked during the hottest time of the day, anywhere. Here's another way to think of this - they are wearing a fur coat in the heat! I don't care how efficient their bodies are at cooling off. And it's not just the "squishy face" breeds (bullies, frenchies, pugs, etc) but ALL dogs would quickly find themselves in trouble in this scenario.

If you find yourself in a situation where your dog can't walk any longer, can't stop panting, tongue turning purple, this an emergency. However, you don't want to shock your dog by plunging him in ice water, so offer him/her some water. Not alot because they will end up vomiting. A wet rag on their forehead, getting them out of the sun and heat and wetting the bottom of their paws will all help.
The guilt that this owner is going through right now is something I never want to experience myself and neither do you!

Keep your dogs safe, Keep your dogs cool and always, Keep Wagging™