SUMMER DOG CARE TIPS

It is best not to allow your dog to swim in your swimming pool. Pools contain considerable amounts of chlorine and acids to control the growth of bacterium and fungi. These elements are detrimental to to our own well-being and can reap havoc on your dogs skin. They can cause flaking, redness, itching, even hair loss and open sores, not to mention the adverse effects these chemicals have on eyes. Be safe! Keep your dog out of pools!

When the cold days of winter float away into the northern skies and the days begin their journey in the hotness of summer, we must remember, puppies and dogs can just as easily contract heat stoke as we humans and in some cases easier. During these summer days and nights, whether your dog is outside much of the time or mostly in the house, be sure he/she has plenty of fresh, cool water available at ALL TIMES and shade, from a tree/large bush is best, because trees and bushes don't hold heat as man made structures do. The evaporation from their leaves actually aids in the cooling of the air which passes over them. Around the base of that tree or bush (when the next day is going to be very hot) your dog would love it if, the evening prior to that day, you were to wet the ground that will be shaded during the heat of that next day. By wetting it the night prior, it will leave the earth damp by morning, but not wet and muddy. The dampness and shade will make for a pleasently cool situation for your friend to spend in his yard with or without your company.

Many folks believe clipping the long hair very short (from a naturally long haired dog) will help keep him cooler during the heat of summer. Actually, the reverse is true. The long hair acts much the same way as our home's insulation. It retards the heat of the day from entering our living space. When we become over heated, we perspire. Our skin becomes damp and the air moving over that dampness aids in removing excess heat our body has built-up. So, we dress lightly to allow for faster evaporation, hence cooling. Dogs, on the other hand, do not perspire as we do. Their skin never releases the type nor amount of moisture as ours does. The only place you will find any perspiration is on the pads of the feet. The only way a dog can expel large amounts of heat from his/her body is through panting. The mouth and lungs are webbed with millions of major blood vessels and small veins/capillaries. With the intake of each breath the heated blood releases some of it's heat into the moving air, which the dog then exhales. The moisture within the mouth, throat, and lungs aid in this cooling process with each breath. The cooler the air entering the mouth, the more body heat will be transfered to it. This is called "Heat Seeking Cold"/heat transfer.

Heat of any kind seeks (is attracted to) cold. The colder the surface or air is, the more attractive that coolness is to heat. That's why, when you are hot and enter a well air conditioned home or store, you feel that immediate relief of heat from your body and say, "Oh that feels good!" This is why, especially long haired dogs need and seek out areas such as under the house and may create a pocket in the earth to lie in. Cool, damp air. Don't ever expect your dog, no matter what hair length, to be as active in the heat of the day as he may be in the cool of the morning or evening. When it's hot, our Great Pyrenees "Boomer" will be found in the far reaches of the crawspace under the grooming shop floor or in a well shaded area down near the pond. Both afford a cool, slightly damp situation. Activity creates body heat so, exertion should be kept to a minimum during hot weather.

Here's something that may really surprise you. If you own or have access to a long haired dog and it is a very hot day and the dog has been out in the heat for a while, run your fingers deeply down into the hair. All the way to the skin. What you'll find, is that under all that hair, the dog is not very warm at all. INSULATION AT WORK! We may run our A/C to cool the inside of our homes whereas, a long haired dog may find a place to get wet and then lie in the deepest shade they can find through the hottest part of the day. The most important thing we can do for dogs, such as our "Boomer"(pictured on this page) is to keep them brushed out (down to the skin). Hair that is matted will make a thick coated/long haired dog much colder in winter and much hotter in summer. In either season, the air spaces between all that hair are just as the loft in fiberglass insulation. It's those air spaces that hold out the cold or heat. The key is: Plenty of COOL WATER; plenty of DENSE SHADE; INACTIVE TIME; perhaps A PLACE TO GET WET but, never a human swimming pool with chemicals in it. A Child's 4-6 ft. diameter play pool is perfect. We must remember God created this type of dog for a cool/cold climate. If we ask him to live in a warm/hot climate with us, even for a few months, WE MUST ADJUST OUR THINKING AND CONDITIONS TO FIT HIS NEEDS. NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND!!!!!

Concerning smaller dogs, we must remember, body mass dictates heat loss or heat absorption. Small dogs can become effected by heat stroke much easier then large dogs. This is simply because the don't have the body mass to distribute the heat and dispose of it. Remember, "Shaving Down", to a very short coat length, WILL NOT HELP your dog stay cooler. It fact, it can produce just the opposite effect and, you could also be inviting sunburn and possible skin cancer.

Many times excess heat can cause, at least Westies, to "throw-up". We see this happen now and again, every summer when the weather gets into the 90's. It's best not to leave your Westie outside, even with shade, when the temperature approaches 90 degrees. This condition is not serious if it only happens only now and again but, it does make for a "smelly" mess. You can still take you dog for a walk during these times but, remember to check the temperature of the surface the dog is walking on. If you can comfortably hold the back side of your hand (not the palm side) on the surface for 30 seconds, it's safe for your dog to be walking on. If not, he/she needs to be removed from that surface. It is too hot for the feet! Remember ------ ALWAYS CARRY COOL WATER FOR BOTH YOU AND YOUR DOG. DON'T FORGET THE LITTLE "CANVAS" DOGGY DISH. Chances are, your dog won't have a "throw-up" problem while walking/hiking. It seems to happen when they are lying around in the heat.

A few things we need to be careful of, especially during the warmer months would be items such as Lawn Fertilizers and Pesticides. Although applying a nice dose of fertilizer to you lawn early in the spring will surely help create that nice green lawn, you will want to keep, not only your dogs off the treated area for at least three weeks (while watering it heavily every other day), but also your children. Especially, those that will have close contact with the ground. Many folks don't realize, but most fertilizers are made from chemicals and these chemicals as well as many others may be playing a considerable role in the increase in several cancers.

Children and dogs play on the grass, rubbing their hands, legs, arms, feet, paws, tongues, lips, or what ever on the treated grass/soil. Any toxins that are present on that grass, thatch or soil can and will be absorbed through the skin, the same way nicotine is absorbed when we use a patch to aid in us in our efforts to quiting smoking. Once inside the body, these poisons do some of their damage while passing through the cells and on into the blood-steam. Once in the blood, the toxins are carried through the veins, distributing some of their destructive power as they go, and finally end up in the liver. The liver is like a filter that attempts to remove waste products and toxic materials from our bodies. This organ is magnificent in it's ability, attempting to remove all the bad things we offer-up to it BUT, there comes a time, when it has fought so many battles trying to save our bodies, it becomes over powered. The result: A severely damaged liver or LIVER CANCER!!!! It did it's best, but we have offer-up far too much! Think of all the dogs out there that you have heard of who have died of liver cancer! Especially, smaller dogs that spend their life very close to the ground and how we are pushed by ads on T. V. and large lawn care services to fertilize our lawn every few weeks! This is crazy! We're killing our pets and very possibly our children who play on these toxic lawns. Think about this when you take your dog or child to a public park or such. Contact the Parks Department, for that area, and find out how often they fertilize and when.

Be very careful with pesticides. Use them only when it is mandatory. As for fertilizers, we need to be sure we reduce their toxicity to at least what is termed "Half-Life". This means the product's strength has been reduced to half it's original strength. Three weeks for most fertilizers, with PLENTY OF WATERING, should make the area REASONABLY safe for children and animals but, here at the ranch, I use very little fertilizers and allow 4-5 weeks just to be on the safer side.