In order to keep dogs safe from heat-related illnesses, Glendale Engineer Fire Fighter Amber Jones expressed the importance of making sure your dogs are just as equipped as you are before enduring physical activity outside. (Photo by Amanda Kukkola/Cronkite News)
GLENDALE-With temperatures increasing, members of the Glendale Fire Department helped spread awareness and tips on how to help avoid dehydration and heat exhaustion in your pets.
“It is definitely an occurrence that we’d like to lower that number and as any of us most of us are all pet lovers and we’d like to make sure that our pets are part of the family we want to keep them safe. If we can help educate people to keep their animals safe then it’s a better world for all of us,” Glendale Fire Captain David Colson said.
In order to keep them safe from heat-related illnesses, Glendale Engineer Fire Fighter Amber Jones expressed the importance of making sure your dogs are just as equipped as you are before enduring any physical activity outside.
“We have booties that we use that we can put on their feet, it helps with the heat. It’ll also help with any rocky terrain they might encounter and then just making sure that they’re hydrated as well, making sure that you have snacks,” Jones said. “We get called quite often for dog related heat illnesses people call 911, we’ve lost a few in the past so it’s really important that you know that animals are our loved ones and making sure that we protect them just as we do ourselves as we go out to hike.”
In an event of an emergency, Colson mentions that there are signs of distress.
“[If they] start wobbling, having a lot of excessive white drool, very dried out drooling, that’s the late stages,” Colson said. “The early things we’re looking for, dogs have the ability to sweat is actually their panting. So when they’re panting that’s them kind of blowing off the heat inside their body, that’s their first stage of it. And when we see that and a lot of it, anytime in the heat they’re goanna be panting but we should make sure that we’re giving them water and make sure they stay hydrated throughout that time frame.”
An avid hiker, Mindy Cuthbertson mentions other tricks she would do with her black lab once it would get too hot outside.
“I would just go first thing in the morning, I would never run at this time of day if it was this warm outside. I put myself through the torture but not my dog” Cuthbertson said.
As for rescue dogs Koa and Brewer and the rest of the Glendale Fire Department, they just hope that their message is received and heard.