(with help written by Dr. Anna, Camden Pet Hospital)
Your vet won’t tell you this, but if your dog is running a fever, get some ketchup, and maybe a little relish too. It’s the best thing for a hot dog.
I wuv going for walks and a jog on the boulevard! It’s so great when my family takes me out two, even three times a day on long jaunts this time of year because it’s just so nice out! The parkway is my absolute favorite place – I get to say hi to some of my besties: Arlo, Sally, Rocco, Millie, Ellie and Vincent, McKenna and Harrison.
It’s so fun to just sniff and sniff because there are way more smells around and evidence of new neighbors (or maybe just some pups that don’t get out much). The one thing that can really detract from our excursion is when it’s so hot that I feel like I have to tap dance! Too hot to trot!
Did you know when the air temperature is 95 degrees the pavement is 140 degrees, the concrete sidewalk is 125 degrees and the sunny grass is 105 degrees! The shaded grass is really the way to go – it’s actually a little cooler than the air at only 90 degrees. That’s why I really wuv when my hoomans take me out early in the morning when the ground is still a little wet and cool, and later in the evening when the ground is shaded. I may help encourage an early walk by resting my head right by theirs early morning while they’re still in bed and patiently waiting for them to wake up while I wag my tail loudly and whack it on the side table and everything on it (hee hee).
When it’s super hot outside, I also need lots of water (and so do my hoomans). It’s really important to remember to bring lots of fresh water along on walks or know where there’s water stops along the way. Last year, I was chatting with my friend Roscoe who told me that a goodboy he knew named Ranger almost died because it was one of those really hot weeks and the hooman’s air conditioner had gone out.
Ranger was one of those squish-faced goodboys (a bulldog I think it was). Ranger was also allowed to snack on his food and lots of hooman food, so he was really overweight to boot. Those three factors squish-faced (brachycephalic), overweight, and the heat are a deadly combo! Apparently, he was rushed to Camden Pet Hospital (boy oh boy I love that place – the hoomans are all so nice! I always get treats and lots of love there!), and they had to put an IV in and put him on oxygen and everything! Thank God he lived! Woah, that sounds so scary. I might even think twice about eating a hot dog that’s at eye level, but then let’s be real… I’ll still eat it, what do you expect? I’m a dog!
Last thing you need to hear from me is to get your hoomans to go get the magic pills! It’s that time, in fact it’s already started, though doesn’t it seem earlier every year?! That’s right; there are magic pills that make the bangs and booms of the fireworks and firecrackers way less scary, and actually there’s a magic gel too that is amazing for helping me with the panic that seems to overtake me when I start hearing those sounds. If you want the magic pills, you have to play by the rules and you have to be up to date with your veterinarian (legally they have to have seen your pet within the year to prescribe that magical stuff). I just love that I feel much more calm, the noises seem less intense, and I might even just have a nap while all that commotion is going on. In the past, in the days before the magic, I remember I would get so anxious that I would just start panting, my feet and chest would get wet from my drool, I would even tremble, pace and no matter what small space I would try and fit myself under, the unpredictable bangs, snaps, pops and booms were just as scary!
If you happen to find yourself in a household that doesn’t have magic pills or gel, cotton balls in the ears can help, so can drowning out the noise by turning on music or the TV, and going in the basement or somewhere it’s a lot quieter. Sometimes, as long as I’m not too nervous, it would help to get some special treats every time I heard a bang or pop, it helped me feel a little less scared anyway.
Have a safe and happy Fourth of July all my goodpuppies! Take it easy on the barbecue and for all those hot digity dawgs – stay cool and consider wearing booties to protect your feet!
With lots of wuv,
Your faithful companion,
Theo