(Copyright © 2001-2002 Linda K. Lawrie. All rights reserved.)
From the GRRRR Newsletter editor: A very timely article--we nearly had a
tragedy here at our house last week. Be especailly careful in the heat if
you have a golden that doesn't know when to quit.
It's that time of the year again! Heat stroke can come
to our dogs quickly and must be dealt with immediately! As we all know,
Golden Retrievers are long haired dogs -- this coat can act for or against them
in hot weather. And, of course, dogs can only "sweat" by panting
-- that is their only method of cooling themselves. We have to help them
keep their "cool". Since many of the rescue dogs have unknown
backgrounds and questionable health issues/immunity, they may be even more
inclined to suffer from heat stroke.
Some signs and symptoms of heat stroke (these signs may
not be present at the same time):
1. Uncontrollable panting
2. Foaming at the mouth
3. Depressed or lethargic behavior, they may seem
weak, stupor like, and have a "drunken sailor" walk
4. Unusual levels of agitation and cannot calm down
5. Either or a combination of vomiting, loss of bowel
and bladder control
6. Loss of consciousness
7. Gums and tongue go from bright red to blue or gray
as the symptoms get worse
8. Capillary refill rate is over 2 seconds
9. Elevated body temperature (normal is
100-102). Heat stroke victims will rapidly climb.
This information was taken from the following web site
(which has a lot of other good information including prevention ideas):
http://www.goldrushflyball.com/Documents/HotDogs.html
And a story in the making, of a survival:
http://www.eaglerun1.com/heatstrokepage.htm
Another good (looks like overall) information site:
http://dogs.about.com/library/weekly/aa082100a.htm