Caution overheating

[anderson7807]

Just wanted to share what has happened to my only beagle. I have been running him a couple times a week mainly in the mornings due to the heat and only for about an hour. This past saturday i took him out to run in middle of the day the temp was high 70's so I decide to run him for a couple of hours. I gave him a water break apprx. 45 min into the run then picked him up just at second hour. He got plenty of water again. On the return home I put him in front of the cab with me with A/C on. I got him home (back to the apt) he ate, drank plenty of water, and slept all normal for him. 8 hours later he started vomitting he vomitted all night. I tried giving him gatorade/water mix and 5 min later vomitting. A couple of hours later he had a lot of bloody diarrea with no solids. I took him immediatly to vet hosp. He has been in there 24 hrs now and they believe that somehow he got overworked and over heated then not cooled good. This caused for intestainal inzemys to die which caused the delay in vomitting and diarrea. Now they are filling him full of fluids and he needs to have plasma transfusion if not he will die. He will have to stay at least another 24 hours at the vet. I hope this works.

Were do you draw the line in cost, because this in draining my bank account.

[beagle crazy]

Drawing the line is strictly up to you. It may be a burden on the wallet, but you're the only one who can decide if it's worth it or not.

[wvduece]

fellows ya better watch the heat i done one in a few years ago was running at night he run great for about 3 hours with 4 other dogs started back toward the truck n i notice him stumble in front of me o stopped n watch him i could tell he was weak i picked him up n carried him to the truck next morning he didnt act just right but seemed ok to me but he went down hill for about 2 weeks n finally died had him to vet he checked him over good n couldnt find anything vet said the bloody stool might have come from the dog eating wood or something out in the wild anyways he died period i wont run mine too much in this hot i think to much of them i use to brag about my dogs running in the heat n it dont bother my dogs their TUFFFFF n got GRITTTT no more hard lesson learned keepem running n keeppem COOOOOLLLLLL jb

[danny vansickle]

i watched dog after dog overheat at the chilocothe hunt last week,dogs that where in shape and dogs that where not,dogs of all different bloodlines and from aall different states,bottom line is it is rough on them,i run late at night now for about 4 to 6 hrs a night,depending on how hot it is,safety first,vet told me that if one overheats,tale a waterhose and run it over thier front legs for 10 minutes,right where the main artery is that most vets draw blood from,it lkowers thier core temp gradually without throwing them in shock,if your in the wild,make themSTAND in water,if they lay in it,it could cool them to fast and they go into shock.

[wvduece]

danny sometimes mine will lay in the water n mud n come back in n are a muddy mess got one i belive rolls in it i always carry water with me after loosing the one i metioned above you can wett their ears n feet too ive seen them come in n just try to lay in the water bowl i carry n mine gets run about every day n are in shape they still can get overheated different factors come into play like a big running rabbitt fast n hard driving for about 45 minutes to a hour n in real rough thick cover jb

[anderson7807]

Just an update:

I went to see him after he got his plasma last night. He vomitted again but he was acting a lot better. I called early this morning to get his results of blood test. His albunion is higher but last night he had a very bad bloody diarrea again. The vet is going to take more blood test later this am, if not any better they are going to do an ultrasound of abdominal.

[Tim H]

It's good to hear about some improvement. I hope he continues to improve.

Just some knowledge to pass on, when it comes to heat stroke and overheating, the condition of your dog makes no difference in how the heat will effect them. A dog in top shape can be a victim of heat stroke just as quick if not quicker than a dog that is out of shape. Conditioning will effect dehydration but not overheating.

Placing an ice pack between their back legs on the main artery is one of the best methods to cool them as well as what Danny said which is to cool their feet. Water and wind (fan) are the best choices for cooling rapidly. Early vet care is critical if they have gotten into an overheated stage because they can give things intravenously that cool and rehydrate.

[SilverZuk]

The main thing is water.
They need to have access to plenty of water, both to drink and lay down in when running.

I have a gip that started to go down on me last night. She just doesn't take the heat well, and she is in tip-top shape.
They had a hard run and all the dogs were hot when they came back into the road.
The gip started looking weak in the hips and lying down.
She was alert, and acting normal other than she was lying down too much.
I watched her for a couple of minutes then took her to water.
I let her cool down in the water and drink all she could.

You don't want to give dogs (or people) cold water or ice water.
A dog, or person, cannot drink enough ice water.
They will refuse it before they quench their thirst.
It shrinks their tongues, makes them feel cool, when in reality their body is still hot.
By shrinking the tongue, you just shut off one of thier cooling devices.
Keep the dogs wet, let them lay in mudholes, creeks, whatever.
Their drinking water should be warm to cool, but not cold.

When you pour water over a dog, rub the water into the fur all over them.
Don't put ice water on them, it is too much of a shock.
Any water warm to cool will help the dog cool off, just not cold.
Just keep trickling water over them and rubbing into the fur, underbelly, and legs.

The biggest thing is to make sure they have lots of water to drink, and are taking the time to stop and drink.

[Larry G]

Best thing is don't be a big enough fool to believe the guys that say they are running hard 8 hours in 100 deg heat and go try to do it. If you have one that is any good you will probably kill him. If you ain't that smart at least do what SilverZuk says, get the dog immersed in cool but not ice cold water and if your dog goes into convulsions and heat prostration you may have a brain damaged dog in spite of all you can do, that is if he lives.

[tandd]

I have had a couple have heat strokes over the years and also know of others whose dogs have had them and they are never right again. They seem to be very sensative to even a little heat after the original heat stroke. Be very careful during this time of year. Run at night or at dawn. Some dogs can take a little more heat then others. You know your dog and how it handles the warm weather, It's not worth the risk.

[BrewerMo]

Ditto, to what tandd posted. Hope all goes well with your dog.
Ryan

[wvduece]

fellows ya better watch the heat i done one in a few years ago was running at night he run great for about 3 hours with 4 other dogs started back toward the truck n i notice him stumble in front of me o stopped n watch him i could tell he was weak i picked him up n carried him to the truck next morning he didnt act just right but seemed ok to me but he went down hill for about 2 weeks n finally died had him to vet he checked him over good n couldnt find anything vet said the bloody stool might have come from the dog eating wood or something out in the wild anyways he died period i wont run mine too much in this hot i think to much of them i use to brag about my dogs running in the heat n it dont bother my dogs their TUFFFFF n got GRITTTT no more hard lesson learned keepem running n keeppem COOOOOLLLLLL jb

[ncbeagler]

MY VET SAYS RUNNING OR WORKING DOGS IN TEMPS AT 80F OR ABOVE CAN LEAD TO DAMAGE TO KIDNEYS/LIVER OR DEATH.HE BELIEVES THEIR SHOULD BE A LAW AGAINST IT.

[DRamey]

When a beagler risks his hound's life to get some running in for recreation or condition the hound for field trialing, who/what is he doing it for? It doesn't hurt them to be in their kennels for days at a time without running, but they are hotwired to run rabbits when they smell them. People will quit when they get too tired, beagles will try to keep going. Some of us have learned lessons the hard way, some of us are trying to keep others from having to learn them the hard way. Bragging rights are NEVER worth the life of a good, loyal hound. If it's too hot, give the hounds a little less food, and a lot more fresh water, grab an iced tea and stay home. In Ky especially, if you don't like the weather, turn around and it will change. It's about too hot here for anything but wade fishing, and the river is almost too low for that.

[Larry G]

Naah, don't get too hot or too cold for some of these old boys dogs, don't believe it just ask them.