ST. LOUIS – The dangerous heat has pet owners looking for ways to keep their animals cool. A handful of people braved the heat at Creve Coeur Memorial Lake Park, which is normally full of runners, kayakers, and dogs.
“I wouldn’t bring him around this park. It’s just way too hot for him,” said Derrick Burney.
He said keeping his dog, King, cool in the summertime is a top priority.
“We don’t let him out a lot because it’s extremely hot, but when we do let him out, like in our yard,” Burney said. “We have a little sprinkler system, and we play out there with him, and he likes running in the water.”
Dr. Jennifer Pearl with the Humane Society said there are a few lesser-known actions pet owners can take to cool their pets.
“Offering water is good, but when they’re panting very heavily, it’s hard to drink water, it’s hard to drink enough,” Pearl said. “So getting cool by other means is good. Getting the paw pads wet is a good one. The ear flaps wet, there is a lot of blood flow to those areas, and it can help to cool those down.”
She said there are specific breeds that tend to overheat faster.
“Pugs, Boston terriers, English bulldogs, French bulldogs, Shih tzus, any of the dogs with the very short noses have a very hard time moving enough air,” Pearl said.
She hasn’t treated any burned paw pads this summer and said the main issue she’s seeing is overheating.
“If you’ve already taken some strategies like tried to cool them down with water on the fur and get them out of the hot weather,” Pearl said. “If they’re not starting to calm down and cool down, it’s better to make that call.”