It’s a beautiful sunny day.
A breeze is softly blowing, the sky is blue and clear, your frisky Fido
is over-the-top excited for the adventures ahead, and (best of all) you don’t
have to work! It’s a perfect day for…
Wait for it…
BURNING YOUR DOG’S FEET!!
Not what you expected, right? After all, when you set out to have some fun
on a hot, sunny day, it’s perfectly natural to want to take your dog with you
to share in the good times. Many people
think it is cruel NOT to take your pooch with you everywhere you go when it’s
your day off, and most times, I would agree.
However, when we’re in the midst of summer, the pavement and gravel
roads we walk can cause some serious damage to your pooch’s paws.
The tender tootsies pictured above belong to a dog who went
on a 10km run. With 2km left to go, she
simply stopped, lay down, and refused to move; the person with her had to carry
her for the last 2 km. This was quite
strange because she’s gone on 10 km runs before and hasn’t had any problem
keeping up (in fact, she’s usually ahead of everybody else!) Usually when she goes on these runs, it’s in
the afternoon or evening, and it’s through a wooded area on a root trail, but
this time it was a little different. She
was taken out in the middle of the day on a gravel trail that had very little
shade. It sounds like a small
difference, but in the hottest part of the day, that gravel is not only abrasive,
but can burn a dog’s feet; this goes for pavement and asphalt as well. The loose tan coloured part of the pads (ie,
the dead skin) initially presented as very large blisters, and once they burst,
they revealed the raw and bleeding pink flesh underneath; this was followed by about
10 days of bed rest, cool hibitaine soaks, and pain control before this dog was
back in full form.
Burns are not always obvious when they happen. In the case of the above dog, her feet looked
fine for the first 24 hours, and it wasn’t until the day after that the
blisters became obvious. Other signs to
look for are limping, refusal to walk, excessive licking of the feet, and pads
that are darker than normal or that are missing some skin; dogs with pink feet
may have pads that look more red than pink.
If you notice any of these signs while you are out, the
first think you should do is keep the foot and pads cool and clean by flushing
with cool water, or using a cool compress.
Keep the dog off of the affected feet as much as possible by carrying
him/her; if this isn’t possible, get the dog off of the hot surface, and onto a
grassy area. At the first available chance,
your dog should go see the vet; your vet will look for signs of deeper burns, assess
the possibility of infection, and provide you with a gentle cleanser to keep
the feet clean, as well as antibiotics and pain medication (if needed). Your dog’s tongue MUST be kept away from the
sore spots, so the Cone of Shame (or the Funnel of Love, if you prefer to call
it that) is your best way to do this; bandaging the feet is also an option, but
it is difficult to maintain because bandages on burns must be changed every 12
hours.
So, what’s the best way to avoid this kind of thing? After all, you don’t want to keep your dog
indoors all summer; that’s not only not fun for the dog, but it’s not fun for
you! One of the best things about summer
is all the things you get to do outside, and if you can do them with your best quadruped,
they’re even better!
It’s all about choosing the right time and place. Going out during the hottest part of the day
is probably not a good idea, but if you take Fido out first thing in the
morning, and again later in the evening, you can avoid hurting your dog’s
feet. If the only time you have to take
your pooch out is high noon, then stay away from gravel and asphalt roads and take
him/her to a grassy park, a shaded root trail, or to a lake or the ocean so
they can keep both their bodies and their paws at a comfortable temperature. Be mindful of hot surfaces, like the metal on
a boat dock or a truck bed, and take steps to either avoid those surfaces, or
make them more tolerable; walk on the shady side of the street, or bring a wet
refrigerated towel with you when you go boating to cover the hot metal surfaces
your dog might walk on. The sand on the
beach can also be extremely hot, so maybe take your dog to a shady lake with
grassy shores instead.
By making the right decisions, and considering the weather
ahead of time, you and your dog can enjoy a full, fun summer, without the
interruption of an injury and the resulting recovery.
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| My dog, Lemon, enjoying a sunny day at Trout Lake |
