Summer pet safety: Cool off your hot dogs!
Summer is a time for the whole family, including our pets, to enjoy the great outdoors. However, just as there are safety precautions to ensure warm-weather safety for humans, there are precautions to make sure pets stay safe and happy.
Warm-weather precautions
Many of the safety concerns we have for ourselves during the hottest months of the year also apply to our pets. Hot weather makes us all a little uncomfortable. But when it's hot for you, it is probably even hotter for your pet — especially if it has a dark coat, a short muzzle (brachycephalic breeds such as bulldogs and pugs), is in its elder years, or has a tendency to overexert itself. Dogs aren't as efficient at cooling down as we are, since they release most of their body heat through panting and the pads of their feet.