Had a real case, Lahore, June 2024. Boxer, so already the worst possible starting point. Sharing what the vet told us afterwards because most of it contradicted what I thought I knew.
What I got wrong in the moment: I put him in a cold shower. That is the instinctive thing and it is wrong. Very cold water makes the surface blood vessels clamp shut, which traps the heat inside, and it can also send the dog into shock. Cool water. Not cold, not ice.
What the vet said actually works, in order:
- Out of the heat, into moving air. A fan is doing more than the water is — evaporation is the mechanism, and still air stops evaporation.
- Cool (not cold) water on the belly, the groin, the armpits and the paws. Thin skin, big blood vessels close to the surface. Not on the back — the coat holds it and it does nothing.
- Wet, then air. Wet, then air. Do not leave a soaked towel on the dog, it becomes a sauna. This was my second mistake.
- Offer water but never pour it into the mouth of a dog that is not fully conscious.
- Move. Even if the dog seems to recover completely, go to a vet the same day.
That last one is the part that nearly cost us the dog. He looked fine after twenty minutes. Normal, walking, drinking. The vet explained that heatstroke damage to the gut lining and the kidneys shows up six to twenty-four hours later, and dogs die the next day having apparently recovered. He was on a drip overnight and had bloody diarrhoea at hour eight. If we had gone to bed pleased with ourselves he would not be here.
Cost: overnight stay, fluids, bloods — about Rs 22,000.
What he told us about prevention: walk before 7am and after 9pm in summer, full stop. Test the ground with your hand. And for a flat-faced breed, accept that some days there is no safe walk at all and do something indoors instead.
