How to take care for your dog in summers.

I have been living in a desert land of Rajasthan for all my life. Here temperature sores to 48 degree Celsius ( that’s 118.5 degree Fahrenheit) when sun is at its peak throwing flames. In past three decades I have kept several dogs. And some of those were hairy breeds with huge bodies and a double coat. Because of this I have some first hand experience in managing difficult situations. So, can you guess what breeds I had? Well, lets move through this post about “How to take care for your dog in summers” and discuss some really important things.

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An overview of my lookout about how to take care for your dog in summers.

I will try to address following points in this post.

1. selecting an appropriate breed.
2. becoming aware of your dog’s needs.
3. managing your dog’s needs and your schedule.
4. enjoying outdoors and indoors responsibly.
5. what food you can provide.
6. what preparations you should make beforehand in case of emergencies.

so, lets start!

Selecting appropriate breed and don’t skip the next heading.

Have you guessed what breeds i have kept? There are quite a few.

Yeah, a St. Bernard, six German shepherds, a pair of doberman, three German Spitz to be counted as cold weather origin dogs that I have kept. Now, by experience I know that some were bad choices. Some did just fine. As you progress you learn things by experience. Sometimes even when its manageable some choices should be avoided.

Like the St. Bernard in my case. You see, managing a large breed with lots of fur and cold origin is possible. But going a distance to manage conditions isn’t always a right choice. It could be managed, of course with some financial input. But why? Its understandable as I also have gone far to keep dogs that I like.

But, with time we gain experience and in upholding our values and concerns towards our four legged children we change our perspective. That’s it sometimes we have to choose in between being stubborn about our choices and doing the right thing. This right thing in my understanding with reference to our present discussion is to leave giant breeds with heavy double coat.

So, as it is indicative, you can go for short hair breeds but still avoid large and giant breeds. Having said that the emphasis on “NO” is more on giant breeds than large breeds.

Becoming aware of your dog’s needs.

If you are really serious about How to take care for your dog in summers then in most certainty you can not escape this mind exercise.

Become aware of your dog’s needs.

In doing so you must consider the breed and its origin. For example an English Grey Hound is unlikely do do well under extreme hot weather conditions. Where as an Azawakh hound will thrive under desert conditions. Similar is true for other breeds. Primarily it means that you must take the heat bearing capacity of your dog under consideration.

Secondly observe hydration habits of your dog. Because every dog has different behavioral traits. Some of my dogs are heavy drinkers! Some are adequate but a few do not intake water in appropriate quantity. You will be focusing on encouraging your dog to drink more water in such cases. I usually increase water in their food. There are several ways, I usually just pour more water in their food. I always give chicken stock in higher quantities to one of my German shepherd female than others.

Additional to this try to limit yourself in pushing your dogs with exercises like running, especially on really hot days.

Apart from this there will be several factors playing. Like the age, gender, breed, time of the day, temperature and many other factors will be deciding activities of your dog. So, ultimately you will be the best judge of that.

Managing your dog’s needs and your schedule.

There are some very basic requirements for your dog, even in those dreadful summer days. They need some exercise, good nutritious food, good sleep, nice cool and fresh water and lots and lots of love.

Let us start by exercising. For me it is the first thing that I do with my dogs. It is even first thing that I do daily. It’s a habit that is there since i started keeping dogs. I prefer to take my dogs for a quick walk and then for a short play session before or just about the sunrise. By, doing this I avoid most of the morning walkers, early school going traffic and rash driving early office goers. But most importantly by doing this before sunrise timing with my dogs I give them an opportunity to relieve their wanderlust and ease for rest of the day along with really quality bonding time. My perfect timing is 5 am in the morning and I am back by 6 am.

Now this morning routine is a little vigorous. For a light long walk I take them out for around 30 minutes late in night at 10 pm. To answer their nature’s call I take them out 4-6 times a day additionally.

Next comes their food. For hot summer months I avoid giving them too much meat. Treats are reduced considerably in numbers and i limit daily feeding to 3 meals a day. These three meals mostly consist of rice or oats mixed with low fat yogurt, boiled vegetables, raw fruits and occasional eggs and boiled chicken.

Rest of the day they spent on cold floors or in their cotton beds that keep them cool.

What preparations you should make beforehand in case of emergencies.

In most of the cases with a little preparation and precautions you can easily avoid any emergency situations. But if unfortunately some thing happens and symptoms show signs of heat stroke then call your vet immediately.

You will be having two options likely. First, the vet may call you to the clinic or hospital secondly they may visit you dog at home. I hope the case may be not serious and vet just gives primary care to your pet.

If the vet feels that you should leave your pet in the care of hospital then you have to there is no choice.

Now let us talk about precursor to these conditions. These heat stroke attacks mostly happen when owners ignore certain basic and very necessary considerations. Don’t let them outside in extreme heat, especially giant and large breeds. Try not to feed them difficult to digest food like red meat. Always keep them nice and comfortable with air cooling of any sorts you can afford.

Also, clean, fresh and cold water should always be in their easy reach.

above all keep contacts of veterinary help accessible to even children of your family and pet sitters or dog walkers you hire for help. lets hope you should never encounter such situation.

Some quick tips on how to take care for your dog in summers.

Choose coolest hours of the day for me morning 5 am-6 am works the best.

I take my dogs for long walks late night at 10 pm, 2 hrs after their last meal.

I always exercise them empty stomach.

Always stop at the first sing of over panting.

Do not exert them in any case.

Always keep fresh clean water in ample quantity near their resting place.

Always provide them with cool shady area. I keep a couple of desert coolers running all the time.

I prefer to keep my dogs indoors but if you absolutely must keep them outdoors pay close attention in keeping temperatures down to comfortable range.

My dogs love a quick shower, just water nothing else, and I let them stay damp for half an hour. Then I roughly dry them with a towel so that they remain cool for devastating afternoons.

Remember to check their joints and skin folds regularly. Because if left unattended for days they may develop fungal infections.

I really hope this work helps. I cannot concentrate everything in one post so please let me know in comments if you have any further queries. Also please subscribe and share our blog with your family and loved ones. goodbye.