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| Wednesday,
July 31, 2002 And Now an Important
Message from 4 Hot Dogs...
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Here's a pop quiz for anyone who lives on the top half of Earth (those of
you who live in the southern hemisphere are exempt, but your turn will
come in six months, so you'd better study up).
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Question: A dog's sweat glands are located in its
- skin
- tongue
- feet
- nose
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Answer: Unlike humans, dogs cannot cool themselves by sweating
through their skin. A dog's most efficient method of cooling is by
panting, which takes place in the dog's nose where there are many folds of
tissue that provide a large surface area for cooling—about the size of
50 postage stamps (see Useless
Dog Facts). This tissue actually perspires and has a large
blood supply, thereby acting much like the radiator in the car1.
A dog's only other sweat glands are located in the pads of its feet.
So the answer is c and d.
Conclusion: Dogs are much more susceptible to heat than
we are.
Now take a look at the following four pictures, and take a guess at
what these pooches are trying to tell us this summer:
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Run for your lives! It's a twister!!
In the heat of the afternoon, June 26, 2002, a schnauzer mutt named "Lyubka"
cools off in the Columbia River at Walla Walla Point Park, Washington (USA).
(Photo: Don Seabrook / AP)
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"Wow, this sure beats the garden hose."
A stray dog in Bangkok's central business district
quenches her thirst while wading through a fountain on May 17, 2002. (Photo:
Sukree Sukplang / Reuters)
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A clever dog named "Kaos" uses a sprinkler to cool
off in Lafayettle Park, Los Angeles, California on Tuesday, July 16,
2002. (Photo: Nick Ut / AP)
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"Hey, I'm not roadkill. I'm just chillin' here." A
prairie dog lies flat on the pavement on a Tokyo street trying to cool off in
this week's summer heat wave; temperatures soar to 35.6°C (upper 90s Fahrenheit).
...Uh, Prairie dogs are dogs, too, aren't they? (Photo: Toshiyuki Aizawa
/ Reuters)
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How to Have a
Cool Dog
If you need a little more
guidance on beating the heat, check out the following tips, compiled by the
Jacksonville
Humane Society and published in Friday's Florida
Times-Union article, "Take
care of pets in hot weather":
- Always provide plenty of shade and cool, clean water for animals
kept outdoors.
- Bring pets inside during the hottest part of the day.
- Your pet may slow down when the weather heats up, so the best time
for exercise is in the early morning or evening.
- Take care not to let your dog stand on hot asphalt. His body can
heat up quickly and his sensitive paw pads can easily burn.
- Avoid walking your dog in areas that have recently been sprayed
with insecticide.
- If you think your dog has been exposed to dangerous chemicals, call
your veterinarian immediately.
- Make a habit of taking a thermos of fresh water and a water bowl
with you whenever you travel with your pet, even on short trips.
- If your pet shows signs of heat stroke, transport him to the
veterinarian immediately. Symptoms include heavy panting, failure to
respond to commands, rapid heartbeat, glazed eyes, staggering,
vomiting or collapsing.
One final point: I'm sure I
don't have to remind all you dog-lovers not to do
anything stupid like leave your dog in a hot car where
temperatures can get as high as 120ºF (49ºC) within minutes. A
dog's critical temperature occurs at about 106ºF (41ºC), above which
death is likely to occur. And you might even find yourself in hot
water with the law...
Pomeranian
Survives 90 Minutes in Hot Car,
Woman Responsible Faces 90 Days in Jail
Twin
Lakes, Mich. (USA) — Last week a woman allegedly left a little
pooch in a locked in a car for 90 minutes in the sweltering sun. The
black Pomeranian female, ironically named "Cinder", was rescued
by Muskegon police and survived, but just barely, according to the Muskegon
Chronicle. Police and animal-control officers said all of
the Ford Topaz's windows had been rolled down about an inch, but that was
not enough to keep the interior from getting extremely hot in the sun.
Prosecutors authorized an arrest warrant on a charge of animal cruelty, a
misdemeanor that carries a potential 93-day jail sentence in Michigan.
A Really Dumb
Thing to Say to a Police Officer
Who is Rescuing Your Dog from a Hot Car
Tacoma,
Wash. (USA) — The Tacoma
News Tribune reports that a man allegedly left a Black Labrador
inside a car parked in the sun for over 30 minutes on the afternoon of
July 15. At the time, the outside temperature was 75 degrees, but
inside the vehicle, the dog was drooling and panting from hyperthermia.
Tacoma Police noted that the dog's hot breath was beginning to fog up the
back window. At around 2:15pm, a man approached, identified himself
as the owner of the dog and took an "angry and condescending"
tone with the officers.
"I'm not hot, so he is
OK," said the man, according to the police report.
An officer cited the
57-year-old man on suspicion of inhumane treatment. The dog was
evaluated and treated by the Humane
Society for Tacoma and Pierce County before being released to the man.
Editor's note: Maybe a
fitting punishment would be to strip the man naked and dump him in a
snowdrift this winter. Meanwhile, the Lab can frolic and play in the
snow for 30 minutes beneath a sign that reads: "I'm not cold, so he
is OK!"
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