Fatigue and Heatstroke when Exercising Your Dog

Exercising your dog is great for keeping joints healthy, weight down, an active heart, and a strong respiratory system. Running with your dog a mile a day is very good and will greatly aid your dog's health in the long run. When a dog is sedentary and gets no exercise, you may begin to see a weight increase and he/she may lay around more. So it is important to allow your dog to live an active lifestyle. Now, with exercise comes fatigue and heat stroke in warmer temperatures. If you exercise your dog too much, he/she can fatigue fairly fast and may end up collapsing on you. The blood pressure may increase and you may see your dog black out as well. It is therefore important for you as a pet owner to recognize the signs that your pet gives off when getting tired from exercise. Heat stroke commonly occurs when the temperature outside is elevated and is too hot for prolonged exercise and exposure to the heat.

Signs to look for when your dog becomes fatigued are panting, rapid breathing, lethargy, vomiting, disorientation, excessive salivation, legs seem "wobbly", etc. For heat stroke, signs to look for are vomiting, excessive salivation early on and then dry gums as the heat stroke progresses, seizure activity, diarrhea, heavy panting, staring, high temperature, and elevated heart rate. These are the signs indicating that you should probably take your pet to your veterinarian's office. Fatigue and heat stroke can be severe and cause problems if not addressed right away. Heat stroke rapidly increase and within minutes, your pet may die. In early stages of heat stroke, when you first begin to notice the rapid breathing and elevated body temperature, you should immediately place your dog in cold water or spray them down with cold water and place ice packs in the axillary regions and along the back. Spraying alcohol on the paws will help cool the temperature down as well.

When the temperature outside reaches higher than normal, you should consider decreasing the distance at which you and your pet run to decrease the chances of fatigue and heat stroke. These are two conditions which are easily preventable. Remember to bring enough water for your dog when you go out for a run, they too need a supply of water around when they get thirsty. Dehydration can occur much faster when running, especially in elevated temperatures.