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Reread the sticky " cooling back" above

6K views 20 replies 11 participants last post by  jeff t. 
#1 ·
If you haven't read it read it and if you have reread it (is that a word ?) Today was our first day with any Humidity and I have a hard going 3 year old that went down today on a triple with a blind, not a huge setup but enough, pretty scary. Thanks to this site and the above sticky I knew enough to do some of the right things according to my vet. Dog went down at 6:45 walking back to the truck after picking up last bird, I had 2 gallons of cold water that I poured over him and then got him in the truck with the A/C on high by 7:45 his temp was down to 100.4 . Vet figured by getting him into the truck with A/C prevented him from going into "Heat Stroke".....


Only thing I may have done wrong was giving him to much water to drink when he was panting heavly. Dog could possibly bloat.



The biggest point would be know the signs, know when to call it quits. Happy ending but could have been worse.





Just a Reminder

Todd
 
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#2 ·
Todd, sorry to here that Briggs got that hot but i am glad that every thing turned out alright. had my dog when i was 14 get heat stroke pheasant hunting after school it is a scary thing to watch your dog go down that one turned out alright too but allot of them don't.
Duane
ps hope to see you at the CMRC trial in July
 
#3 ·
If you haven't read it read it and if you have reread it (is that a word ?) Today was our first day with any Humidity and I have a hard going 3 year old that went down today on a triple with a blind, not a huge setup but enough, pretty scary. Thanks to this site and the above sticky I knew enough to do some of the right things according to my vet. Dog went down at 6:45 walking back to the truck after picking up last bird, I had 2 gallons of cold water that I poured over him and then got him in the truck with the A/C on high by 7:45 his temp was down to 100.4 . Vet figured by getting him into the truck with A/C prevented him from going into "Heat Stroke".....


Only thing I may have done wrong was giving him to much water to drink when he was panting heavly. Dog could possibly bloat.



The biggest point would be know the signs, know when to call it quits. Happy ending but could have been worse.





Just a Reminder

Todd
Glad things turned out OK.

Worth noting, if it can happen in Minnesota, it can happen anywhere. What was the ambient temperature when this happened?
 
#4 ·
Good reason to wet the dog down before training. During hot/humid weather, I try and train close to water.

At home I have a horse trough right beside the kennel for just such a purpose. Before and during a session they go to the trough.

When away from home, I don't train if there isn't water nearby.
 
#5 ·
I wonder if dogs are like people when they get hit by heatstroke. I had it bad once when I ran a construction company. Putting a lid on a house we were building, had shivers all night and throwing up. Now I seem to be more prevelant to problems with heat and direct sunlight.

I have a small female that seems to be the same way.
 
#6 ·
Scott....it's been my experience that dogs exhibit the same symptoms you did, especially the vomiting.

Interesting, I have the same issue with cold weather after sustaining pretty severe frostbite and exposure(hypothermia) while in the army. I don't take the the cold near as well. In fact I get downright uncomfortable and the shivering is hard to stop.
 
#7 ·
What was your high yesterday like 82? Did you take the dog's temp right away or just when it was 100.4(normal for a dog)? I just don't understand how a dog goes down from heat at 80 degrees running a triple? Trained in 98 degrees and 65 % humidity yesterday and had no problems.
 
#8 · (Edited)
What was your high yesterday like 82? Did you take the dog's temp right away or just when it was 100.4(normal for a dog)? I just don't understand how a dog goes down from heat at 80 degrees running a triple? Trained in 98 degrees and 65 % humidity yesterday and had no problems.
I would guess that your (our) dogs are already acclimated and have shed their winter coats, a dog from Minnesota probably has not shed winter hair and has not had much exposure to 80 F

I think dogs become conditioned to heat much like people do, I ran regularly for about 10 years, 5 miles per day, midday year round, by mid summer I was superbly conditioned to heat

Some dogs are just inherently more heat tolerant than others, I have had both kinds, I have always theorized that the larger the diameter of the airway the more heat tolerant the dog is, however I have no scientific support for my theory but if anyone would like to fund the study I think I could get it done.
 
#11 ·
probably, again no science to confirm it but veterinarians have always cautioned that susceptibility to heat exhaustion is enhanced if it has happened previously, the thermo regulating mechanism for the body is located in the hypothalamus and it is possible that an episode of significant hyperthermia could somehow reset the thermoregulator making the dog more susceptible to heat exhaustion in the future
 
#12 ·
What was your high yesterday like 82? Did you take the dog's temp right away or just when it was 100.4(normal for a dog)? I just don't understand how a dog goes down from heat at 80 degrees running a triple? Trained in 98 degrees and 65 % humidity yesterday and had no problems.

I know it seems kind of strange, our temp was around 80 but it was very humid, I mowed our grass befor I left and I was soaked. this dog has been on 3 winter trips, I know he's been pushed harder than he was yesterday, he had a pretty big hunt on one of the birds and was recalled on one of the birds, so it added up to quit a bit of work. And like I said he doesn't do anything half speed.

I did not take his temp untill we got home, since we now have a "Rectal" thermometer I'm going to keep it in my first aid kit.

Hopefully it was just one of those things that happened, I'll certainly keep a close eye on him from now on.


I had it happen to my 9 year old female, when she was about 5 we were going to go on a short hour long grouse hunt on a fairly warm day in September I got turned around and it ended up being a 3 hour walk with another dog that didn't know when to quit. We made it back to the truck but she went down right befor we got there. I didn't have AC but there was a stream right there to get her into. And I have never had a problem with her since.
 
#16 ·
I just re-read what I typed there and apologize for coming across a bit hostile, wasn't my intent at all. I was just wondering more about the dog and if there may have been more going on there than just the heat?
 
#17 ·
Dr. Ed, I remember Martin Coffman, DVM, at the time a Eukanuba employee, telling me that one of the best things to do when a dog is overheated is to get his face right in the cold air vent outlet in the vehicle and let him breathe in the coldest AC air you can get.

His theory as well, was that there is significant heat exchange and cooling impact through breathing. It makes sense that the greater the exposed surface area, the greater the cooling impact.

Chris

The minute I put Bodey in the truck he plastered his nose and face up against the vent, and started to recover pretty rapidly after that.




I just re-read what I typed there and apologize for coming across a bit hostile, wasn't my intent at all. I was just wondering more about the dog and if there may have been more going on there than just the heat?


No need to apologise Trust me I was thinking the same thing being this had never happened befor and I know he has been pushed harder. I'm still not totally convinced it was just heat and or humidity.
 
#19 ·
The minute I put Bodey in the truck he plastered his nose and face up against the vent, and started to recover pretty rapidly after that.








No need to apologise Trust me I was thinking the same thing being this had never happened befor and I know he has been pushed harder. I'm still not totally convinced it was just heat and or humidity.
Todd,

Have you had the dog tested to determine it's EIC status?
 
#18 ·
High humidity seems to have more to do with a dog overheating than ambient air temp. One of my dogs went down last year on one of those days when it was 80 degrees, but humidity of 90%. He has since worked in much warmer temps with alot less humidity with no problems.
 
#21 ·
Good to be able to rule that out!
 
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