Heat Exhaustion
On the unfortunate occasion of the untimely loss to heat exhaustion of one of the dogs he bred, Mike Stewart owner of Wildrose Kennels and retriever trainer, offers excellent advice about the prevention of heat exhaustion in hunting dogs. Stewart's advice to sportsmen (and women) is equally valid for pet owners:
A dog who is overheating will be panting heavily in fast repetition and the tongue will be hanging out and curling at the end in cup form. The mouth is dripping and they may have a glazed look in the eye. Often they show signs of a staggered gait or they may simply stand fixed.This is when the untrained handler gets into serious trouble. One may misread the dog as refusing a cast, command or quitting. Force may be applied to gain compliance pushing the dog too far. Some dogs just don't quit until it's too late. It's up to you to quit before this point.
In other words if your dog ordinarily comes enthusiastically on command, but on a hot summer day stands or lies down where s/he is and stares at you, don't get mad, get your dog out of the sun and get water.
Know your dog. Strummer's tongue hardly ever hangs out of her mouth: when it does, even if she looks like s/he's having the time of her life, I know it's time for a rest and a drink.
I've also noticed—in the Memorial Day Parade, at Paws in the Park, and at ArtBeat—that she will not drink water even when I know that she is overheated. This could be because she is too distracted to drink; because she thinks she is "working" and, as a former show dog, (inadvertently) learned not to drink when she is performing; or because the water in the plastic bottle is too warm. Whatever the reason, it's bad, and it's my job, as the only one of us that does not have a brain the size of a lemon, to get her out of the sun and cooled off.