The dogs have become use to going potty on our walks, especially Sampson. Delilah will go out in the yard, but with Sampson’s bad legs, he mostly only does his business on our walks, which happen twice per day.

Like the majority of the country, the northeast has been hit with a vicious heat wave.

Up until Sunday, we were managing walks ok.  Morning walks are tolerable, although I can’t say I’m a fan of boob sweat or swamp ass at 5:30 in the morning, but at least the temps are in the 70’s.

Sunday was supposed to be the worst day, but we managed a morning walk just fine. In the afternoon it got blazing hot.  It was 98° at 5:00 pm.

When it’s super hot and humid, I modify our afternoon walks. By modify I mean, I usually shorten them, or wait until the sun has started its descent so the pavement is cooler, and we walk uphill, where the shade is.

I thought if I drove the dogs up to the woods, we would have some relief from the heat, and Sampson could enjoy a walk in one of his favorite places. It would mean shortening Delilah’s walk, but with her heart issues, I was fine with that. I brought some water with me, and gave them both water every couple of minutes.

By the time I realized this wood walk wasn’t a good idea, it was too late, we were already at the turn around point. My first clue was the way Sampson was lagging behind, but he was sniffing and Delilah was pulling so I missed that signal.

Then he lay down on the path. Shit! We had to turn around and head back home. It was all down hill so I thought he’d be okay.  (In retrospect, I should have called Hubby and had him meet us at the top, but that’s in retrospect.) By the time we were approaching the car, Sampson’s back end was giving out, he had that sloping walk that today’s GSD’s have and every time he stepped on his bad leg, his hip sank. I was afraid he was going to collapse.

I helped him into the car, and watched his ‘good’ leg knuckle. I just about threw up at that point. I gave him some more water, and drove home.

I got him out of the car and coaxed him to the back door, and pounded on the door for Hubby to come out and help him. He got him about three feet inside the door, and he lay down again. He was panting really hard. (Sampson, not Hubby. Hubby was smart, Hubby stayed inside.)

Hubby brought the water bowl over to him, and gave him some water, then he moved the fan so it was blowing on him.  We had the air conditioning on, but it was so hot, that the air inside the house was still in the upper 70’s to low 80’s.

I wanted to take a quick, cool shower, so I left Sampson in front of the fan.

While I was in the shower, I was thinking about Sampson. We don’t have a bathtub that is low enough for him to climb into, so I contemplated bringing him in the shower with me, but I was afraid of him slipping on the tile and hurting himself.  I wished we still had the little wading pool.  Lying in the little pool would help him cool down. I thought about the times on our hikes, when he would put his belly in the stream.

Then a light bulb went off, and I thought, “A cool, wet towel on his tummy!”

I hopped out of the shower, grabbed a hand towel and soaked it with cool water.

Sampson was still lying on his tummy, so I rolled him onto his side and draped the towel over his stomach. The fan was positioned to blow on him, but he was still panting.

I finished my shower, and checked on him again. The towel was still cool, and he was still panting.

I texted Jen, “Help, I fucked up.”

She asked if I’d taken his temperature.

I’m embarrassed to say, I don’t even have a thermometer.

She told me to not let the towel absorb his body heat. To keep checking it and refreshing it, so it stayed cool.  She also said I could rub his gums with an ice cube, and cool his paw pads with cool, but not super cold water.

By now, about an hour had passed and he wasn’t panting continuously, but in smaller increments. I tried rubbing an ice cube on his gums, but the little shit ate the ice cube. I took the towel and wiped his paws.

I felt like the crisis had past, but I didn’t encourage him to move. I was concerned about feeding him his dinner, but he stood up fine and didn’t seem to be having the same problems with his legs.

While we were eating our dinner, he got up and moved into the living room.

I don’t think it was heat stroke, or heat exhaustion, but I do think for Sampson the heat and exercise was just too much for him. I told Hubby, “From now on, when it’s that hot, walks will be after the sun goes down, and if it’s still too hot, it will just be enough to do their business.

Moral of the story, don’t walk your dog when it’s almost 100°, it’s not worth their life. Or the time you shave off your own, thinking you killed your dog.

For some great tips at keeping your dogs cool during the hot months, check out what Jen had to say on this My Brown Newfies post.