Protecting your dog from the heat: a safe Moroccan summer

A dog doesn’t sweat as we do. It loses heat only by panting and, very little, through its paw pads. When the air is hot, and even more when it is humid, this system reaches its limits quickly. Every summer, dogs die of heatstroke within minutes, in a car, on a terrace or after a walk in the middle of the afternoon. These accidents are avoidable if you adapt a few habits from the first hot days.

The dogs most at risk

All dogs are affected, but some far more than others:

• short-nosed breeds: French Bulldog, English Bulldog, Pug, Boxer, Shih Tzu, Pekingese. Their narrow airways make panting inefficient;
• dogs with thick coats and a dense undercoat: Husky, Malamute, German Shepherd, Chow Chow, Spitz;
• puppies and older dogs;
• overweight dogs;
• dogs with heart or breathing problems;
• dark-coated dogs, which absorb more radiant heat.

If your dog falls into one of these groups, consider it at risk from 25 to 28 °C, especially if it exerts itself.

Adapt the walk times

This is the most effective measure. In summer, walk your dog early in the morning, before eight or nine o’clock, and late in the evening, after sunset. Between eleven and six, limit yourself to a short toilet outing of a few minutes, in the shade.

Leave ball games, jogging and long hikes for the cool hours. An enthusiastic dog won’t stop by itself: it is for you to decide the session is over. During Ramadan, when it falls in summer, the walk after the fast is broken is ideal for both of you.

The pavement test

Asphalt, sand and paving exposed to the sun easily reach fifty to sixty degrees when the air is at thirty-five. Paw pads burn in under a minute.

Put the back of your hand on the ground for five seconds. If you can’t keep it there, the ground is too hot for your dog. Prefer grass, earth and shaded pavements, or wait until the evening. On the beach, dry sand burns as much as tarmac.

Water, everywhere and always

• Leave several bowls of fresh water around the house, in the shade, and change the water several times a day.
• Always take a bottle and a folding bowl on walks, and let your dog drink every fifteen to twenty minutes.
• Don’t give it a lot of ice-cold water all at once: fresh water, in small repeated amounts, is better.
• A few ice cubes in the bowl or a toy filled with food and frozen keeps it busy and cools it.

Cooling the house and the dog

A dog instinctively seeks cool tiles. Help it:

• close shutters and curtains on the sunny side during the day, and air the house at night;
• let it use the coolest room, often the bathroom or kitchen;
• a fan helps little if it just moves hot air; combine it with a damp cloth;
• offer it a cooling mat or a wet towel laid on the floor;
• wet its belly, inner thighs and paws with cool water;
• a small paddling pool or a basin in the shade makes many dogs happy.

A dog that lives on a terrace, a roof or in a courtyard must have real shade all day, not just in the morning, a ventilated shelter and plenty of water. A tin or plastic kennel in full sun is an oven.

Should you clip it?

Not to the skin, and above all not double-coated dogs. The coat insulates against heat as well as cold and protects the skin from sunburn. Clipping a Husky, a German Shepherd or a Golden Retriever can damage the coat for good without cooling the dog.

What really helps is regular brushing to remove the dead undercoat, which lets air circulate. For long-haired dogs without an undercoat, such as the Poodle, Bichon or Yorkshire, a short cut at a groomer’s is welcome. See our guide to grooming at home.

The car: never, not even five minutes

Parked, the temperature inside a car rises by around ten degrees in ten minutes and can pass fifty degrees in half an hour, even with the windows ajar. A dog shut in can die in under half an hour.

Never leave your dog in a car in summer, however short the errand. When travelling, use air conditioning, stop every two hours and don’t let it ride in the back of a pick-up in full sun.

Recognising heatstroke

Heatstroke occurs when body temperature passes 40 to 41 °C and the organs start to suffer. The signs, in order of severity:

• very rapid, noisy panting that rest doesn’t calm;
• thick, abundant saliva;
• bright red gums and tongue, then purple or pale;
• restlessness, then lethargy;
• a staggering gait, weakness;
• vomiting, diarrhoea, sometimes with blood;
• loss of consciousness, seizures.

Actions that save lives

Heatstroke is a life-threatening emergency. Act immediately, then take the dog to a vet, even if it seems to recover: damage to the kidneys, brain and clotting appears in the hours that follow.

1. Move it into the shade, to a cool, ventilated place.
2. Wet it with cool, not ice-cold, water, starting with the belly, armpits, groin and paws. Ice-cold water constricts the skin’s blood vessels and slows cooling.
3. Fan it: evaporation is what cools most.
4. Offer it water in small amounts, without forcing it.
5. Don’t cover it with a wet towel, which traps heat.
6. Set off for the vet, windows open or air conditioning on, keeping it wet.

Stop cooling it when it stops panting hard: over-cooling is also dangerous.

Other summer dangers

• Sunburn: the pink nose, ears and thinly haired belly of pale dogs can burn.
• Seawater: it dehydrates and causes vomiting and diarrhoea if the dog drinks it. Rinse it with fresh water after a swim.
• Parasites: ticks, fleas and sandflies are at their peak. See ticks, fleas and leishmaniasis.
• Grass seeds: these dry grass awns lodge between the toes, in the ears and nose. Check your dog after every outing in dry grass.

Kit for summer

A bottle with a built-in bowl, a cooling mat, a basin, a harness rather than a collar for short-nosed dogs: these simple accessories make a real difference. You will find them in the supplies listings.

Key takeaways

Walk at cool hours, test the ground with your hand, give water and shade at all times, don’t clip a double-coated dog to the skin and never leave a dog in a car. At the first sign of heatstroke, wet, fan and head for the vet. To learn to spot other emergencies, read when to take your dog to the vet.