How quickly do dogs over-heat?

Please do not leave me in the HOT car!

There are serious dangers to leaving your dogs in the cars while you step out to just finish a quick 2 min job (which is almost always more than 2 mins!!) Dogs do not sweat in order to cool down their bodies like we do, so hot stuffy cars can make them suffocate and over heat in no time. Most of us will leave the windows open only about 4 or 5 inches to “let air in” but that is not at all helpful as the breeze in the summer is very gentle and not as much air gets in as you may think! Our temperatures here run upwards of 37 degrees, this means the inside temp of the car; in shade will be 47degrees in 10 mins and if parked in direct sun it will be close to 55-57 degrees.

These kind of temperatures kill even human beings. We rarely have water in the car for the dog to drink. Its understandable for practical reasons! However, for the dogs, the situation very quickly turns to unbearable and in some cases fatal. Heatstroke CAN kill your dog. There is no way for you to know exactly how HYDRATED your dog is at that moment and how many minutes of this suffocation he can handle. I am not even going to get into the phycological distress the dog might feel upon being locked in a HOT OVEN like environment while he slowly starts feeling dizzy. It can take less than 15 minutes in such suffocating heat for the dog to start hyperventilating and another 7-12 minutes for them to reach the state of unconsciousness. Post that the decline can be very rapid.

Dogs can die within 15 minutes in a hot car.

Don t leave me in a hot car!

The Last appeal is, if you were to see a dog locked in the car… Please help the dog. Find the owners and speak to them. Get the dog out of the car into some fresh air and give a big drink of water. You could be saving the dog’s life! In many countries it is perfectly legal to break open the car window to let a dog or a child out of the heat. That may not be the case in India. But the point I try to make is, such countries and their law makers have recognized that a situation like this could turn out to be quite fatal very quickly and the window of opportunity to save the dog’s life may be quite small, so if you were to see a dog trapped/ locked in / left in a car, then do take action, ask around and find the owners. Get the dog out into fresh air. That action alone will allow the heart rate to come down significantly. And then provide plenty of cool water.. And also wet the dogs neck and chest area… Shoulders and back. Don’t put cold water directly on the skull.

I hope we all go through the summer never seeing a dog locked in the car, but if you do, I hope you feel encouraged and prepared with what you need to do.

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