It’s never too early to start thinking about ways to keep your dog safe in summer, especially from the heat. Dogs left inside cars on hot days are at obvious risk, but those you might not think about are dogs who are outdoors for hours with no access to shade or fresh water, even on days that don’t seem excessively warm.

Protecting pets in hot weather means thinking about air conditioning, safety around pools and other bodies of water, and the effects of sun. Factors to consider are temperature and humidity, your dog’s activity level, and existing health conditions. These pet summer safety tips will help you to recognize and prevent canine sunburn, dehydration, heat exhaustion, and water hazards.

Sun Seekers

Does your dog love to lie out on hot asphalt or concrete? I’ve had several, including two with thick black coats, who loved nothing better than to toast themselves on a scorching summer day. Since we didn’t have a yard, that necessitated my staying outdoors with them. I’d give them 10 minutes before shooing them inside. But dogs who have free access to the outdoors without supervision are at risk of sunburn or—over the long term—skin cancer, especially if they have light-colored or thin skin with little coat cover.

Areas such as the nose and ears (or belly if your dog likes to lie on her back in the sun) are most likely to get sunburned or develop skin cancer. Apply sunscreen—one made specifically for dogs—any time your dog spends long hours outdoors, especially between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., when the sun’s rays are at their most powerful. Be sure to look for a water-resistant canine sunscreen if your dog plays in the water a lot.

Some dog sunscreen options include:

• Emmy’s Best Pet Products Sun Skin Protector Dog Spray
• Lucky Pup SPF 40 Lotion Dog Cream Sunscreen
• My Dog Nose It! Dog Sun Protection Balm
• Warren London Dog Sunscreen Spray

Provide reliable shade in your yard. Place covered beds or pup tents in different areas so your dog has a shady place to go throughout the day as the sun shifts if your deck or patio doesn’t have all-day cover. In extreme temperatures, though, dogs are better off inside with air-conditioning, especially if they are short-faced, or brachycephalic, breeds such as Bulldogs, Pekingese, or Pugs. Their airway structure makes it difficult for them to dissipate heat. Those dogs can die rapidly in hot, humid conditions. As little as half an hour outdoors at 85 degrees Fahrenheit can be fatal.

Dogs, especially brachycephalic breeds, can also die indoors if the power goes off during periods of extreme heat, leaving them with no air conditioning. Consider installing an app that will notify you of power outages in case you’re not at home or see if your electricity provider offers sign-ups for power-outage alerts. It’s also a good idea to have an emergency contact who can get to your house quickly if you cannot leave work to help your dogs.

Dog Hydration

At home, outside, and on the road, dogs should always have access to fresh water. Refresh it daily, or any time it looks dirty. Wash the bowl in warm, soapy water daily or run it through the dishwasher to remove the bacterial slime that can build up, especially in hot weather. If you’re hiking or at the beach, carry water and a collapsible pet bowl (use a carabiner to attach it to your backpack or bag) or a water bottle your dog can drink from.

In addition to fresh water, some fun treats to help your dog stay hydrated include:

• frozen cubes of low-sodium chicken broth, which you can add to water or give to the dog to lick
• a frozen watermelon cube (delicious, but high in sugar, so don’t give too many at once)
• frozen pumpkin cubes (mix plain canned pumpkin with low-sodium chicken broth or water and freeze in an ice-cube tray)

Dehydration symptoms in dogs include lethargy, lack of skin elasticity, dry or sticky gums, a dry nose, excessive panting, and sunken eyes. If your dog is exhibiting any of these symptoms, get them to drink some water right away. If they don’t improve, see your veterinarian. Severe dehydration calls for veterinary treatment.

High Temps and Hot Dogs

What is a dog’s heat tolerance? That depends. According to a 2016 study in Scientific Reports, significant risk factors include breed (Chow Chow, Bulldog, and French Bulldog were among those at higher risk), above-normal body weight, a brachycephalic skull shape, being over two years old, and weighing over 110 pounds (50 kg).

But heat exhaustion and heatstroke can affect any dog. In addition to flat-faced dogs, be especially cautious with:

• Obese dogs, whose excess body fat traps heat and makes it more difficult for them to cool down
• Dogs with heart or respiratory disease
• Dogs prone to laryngeal paralysis—think Labradors or Newfoundlands
• Dog prone to collapsing trachea, which includes most toy breeds
• Puppies
• Senior dogs
• Any dog with immature physiology or chronic health conditions

Don’t think your dog will be safe just because it’s not mid-summer yet. Lots of dogs experience heat exhaustion on those surprise spring or fall days that are unusually warm. Without treatment, heat exhaustion can become heat stroke, which is a medical emergency.

Signs of heat exhaustion in dogs include:

• Excessive or continuous panting
• Fatigue
• Dark-red gums or pale gums
• Thick, ropey drool
• Dizziness or confusion
• Nausea with vomiting or diarrhea
• Collapse or seizures
• Loss of consciousness

Immersion in cold water will help to lower your dog’s temperature (the idea that cold water will send them into shock has been debunked). If immersion isn’t possible, use evaporative cooling: Get her into an air-conditioned building or car or shaded or indoor area, wet her head, neck, and underbelly, and direct a fan toward her. Seek veterinary help, as this can be a medical emergency, especially if your dog has lost consciousness.

Dogs primarily cool themselves off by panting, although they also sweat a little through their foot pads. If you notice your dog is panting heavily—especially if her tongue looks abnormally long and wide and her lips are pulled back—it’s time to help her cool off. Here are some ways to help a dog stay cool, whether at home or out and about:

• Schedule walks for early morning or at twilight.
• At parks, the beach, or outdoor dog sports events, provide shelter with a pup tent, soft crate made of UV-resistant fabric, or wire crate with a shade cover. If you are using a crate, make sure it has very good ventilation—think screens on all four sides and the top—to keep it from getting dangerously hot for your dog.
• In your yard, use shade sails, canopies, or tarps made of UV-resistant fabric to offer shade.
• On walks, carry a sprayer filled with water and mist paws and groin along the way to help keep your dog cool.
• Booties protect tender paws from hot asphalt, concrete, and sand.
• Cooling mats and cooling coats and bandanas are helpful to prevent overheating, but they must be kept wet throughout the day.
• Acclimate dogs gradually to exercising in hot weather. The more conditioned they are, the better they’ll tolerate it.

Water Safety for Dogs

If you have a water-loving dog, you probably spend a lot of time in and around water with them. What to know to prevent problems:

*Beware of harmful algae blooms at lakes and ponds—contact can lead to illness or even death for both dogs and humans. Remember that harmful algae isn’t always visible. It’s best to check with your state conservation or health department to see if the water has been tested before letting your dog too close. At the ocean, be mindful of red tides, which present similar dangers. Identify them through the presence of dead fish, respiratory irritation, and public health advisories. Again, there won’t always be visible changes in water color, so check first.

*Keep an eye on your swimming or body-surfing dog. While dogs naturally ingest water while swimming, swallowing too much (either fresh or saltwater) can lead to potentially fatal sodium imbalances. To help prevent this, don’t let your dog swim for more than 15 to 20 minutes without a break out of the water. Also, keep water fetch playtime short to limit the amount of water your dog ingests. For more information, see “Water Intoxication in Dogs Can Be Deadly.”

*At swimming pools, always teach your dog how to find the steps and use them to get out or provide a Skamper-Ramp or similar product for ease of exiting. Skamper-Ramps are good to have on boats, too.

*Protect old or blind pets from falling in by putting up a pool fence or other barrier, or put a pool alarm in the water that will go off if a pet falls in.

* Some dogs just aren’t built to swim, especially if they have big heads or short legs. Around water, keep a watchful eye on Basset Hounds, Boston Terriers, Bulldogs, Dachshunds, and Pugs.

You can find them from Portland to Poughkeepsie, from Boston to Blackwater…in fact, you’ll find them almost every state in the nation.  Despite their sweet-sounding name, they’re one of the most noxious and detested plants in North America: the foxtail. They can also be deadly to your dog.

First, let’s get some nomenclature out of the way. Foxtails are a weedy grass in the grass family of Poaceae, which includes everything from wild rice to bluegrass to sugarcane. Except for knotroot foxtail—the oldest cultivated cereal in the Americas that dates to almost 9000 BCE—none of the foxtail grasses are native to North America. They likely originated in Africa and entered North America with the prehistoric migrations of the ancestors of Native Americans across the Bering Straits land bridge.

What is a Foxtail?

Foxtails are clusters of tall, slender weeds with long, drooping leaf blades; their stems are topped by bristly, spike-like panicles that have a soft, bushy appearance that vaguely resemble a fox’s tail—hence, the name “foxtail.” Plants germinate in the spring, with flowering beginning in mid-summer as days begin to shorten. The first seeds mature about two weeks after the panicle flowers; then, as the plant begins to dry out in the summer months, the seed heads become brittle and fall off.

What Makes Foxtails So Dangerous to Dogs?

While cases of foxtail infiltration occur throughout the year in warm climates, these weeds are especially dangerous during summer and early fall, when they have dried out and hardened. All foxtail spikes (awns) have a hardened tip and retrose (backward-pointing) barbs which disconnect easily and cling to animal fur—or in the case of humans, to socks, mesh-topped shoes, and any clothing with loose weaves or textures. In animals, the barbs, which point in only one direction, cling to the fur, and with every movement, burrow deeper into the coat. For wild mammals, their fur is usually short enough that the foxtail awns will eventually fall out before doing damage.

The same cannot be said of our dogs.

Foxtail awns easily penetrate soft tissue, traveling throughout the body for days or even months before clinical signs appear. Often, an abscess will emerge where the awn has settled, necessitating surgical removal. Dogs often pick up foxtails between their toes, where the foot’s movement allows the awn to burrow ever more deeply until it punctures the skin. It’s also extremely common for dogs to get foxtail awns in their nostrils, where they can aspirate them.

Inhaled foxtails can cause lung infections and pneumonia, pyothorax (infected chest cavity), or pneumothorax (punctured lung), and can travel into the brain and cause seizures or death; foxtails in the ears can rupture eardrums or cause chronic ear infections; foxtails in the eye can lead to conjunctivitis or even blindness; and when they migrate, foxtails can cause infection of the spinal vertebra and intervertebral disc, or penetrate the body through the chest or abdominal wall. If ingested, the awns can embed themselves in the dog’s gums, tonsils, esophagus, or stomach; this can lead to excessive drooling, inability to eat, and in worst-case scenarios, perforation of the gastrointestinal tract and peritonitis, a serious and often fatal condition in dogs.

Long-haired dogs are especially vulnerable to foxtails, as the awns have more hair to secure themselves onto. Hunting dogs are also susceptible to picking up foxtails because they spend so much time in tall grasses. Although there are no definitive studies on dog deaths caused by foxtails, one veterinarian says she sees one to two foxtail deaths per year among her canine patients.

What Are the Signs of an Embedded Foxtail?

Much depends upon where the foxtail is lodged.  Some of the most common signs of a new foxtail incident are head shaking, limping, constant licking of one spot on the body, pawing at the face, and snorting or sneezing. Some indicators can show up days or weeks later; these include unusual lumps or bumps, red or tender areas, inflammation, decreased appetite, and lethargy. If the awn has traveled to a vital organ such as the lung or heart it can cause symptoms specific to that organ.

Where do Foxtails Grow?

The U.S. is home to three species of foxtails: yellow foxtail, green foxtail, and giant foxtail. All are known by other common names, including yellow or green bristlegrass, bristly or golden foxtail, wild or foxtail millet, pigeongrass, and nodding foxtail. Yellow and green foxtails range in size from one to two feet, but the giant foxtail can grow up to four feet tall.

Foxtails grow in almost any type of soil and environmental condition, including pastures, lawns, gardens, roadsides, and ditches. The Weed Science Society of America ranks foxtail as one of the most common weeds in the nation. It doesn’t grow in some lucky parts of the country—namely Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia—but can be found in the rest of the U.S.

When is Foxtail Season?

There isn’t really a “foxtail season,” since every part of the country is a little different: for instance, in the cool, wet northwest, the season begins in June and lasts until August. In warmer, drier parts of the U.S., it can begin as early April and extend through September.

How Can Dogs be Kept Safe from Foxtails?

If you have property where foxtails are abundant, the best thing you can do is pull them out in the spring or mow them down later. Avoid taking your dog to areas with foxtails or tall grasses; if you do walk through fields or along roadsides where foxtails could be growing, check your dog afterward for visible awns, especially between their toes, in their ears, on their face, and in their armpits and groin areas. Keep the fur on your dog’s feet trimmed as short as possible.

Some veterinarians suggest that dogs who roam in foxtail-prone regions should wear a special lightweight, mesh hood that covers their heads and faces.

Other Barbed Grasses

You may live in a region of the country where foxtails are rare but that doesn’t mean you can relax. There are a number of other grasses that pose dangers to your dog.

Cheatgrass (AKA Downy Brome). Cheatgrass is an invasive annual grass that’s now found in at least 49 states and has adapted to thrive in areas with wet winters and hot, dry summers. Like foxtails, cheatgrass has awns that can easily burrow into your dog, causing the same problems that foxtail does. Native to Europe and eastern Asia, it found its way to America through European settlers in the 1800s.

Needlegrasses. North American is home to various species of needlegrass, with much of it found in western regions. During spring, livestock feed on needlegrasses, but once they dry out they have seed heads with sharp, barbed awns that can detach from the plant and easily penetrate skin and other tissues.

Spear grass. Spear grass is native to the tropics and subtropics of Africa, Southern Asia, Northern Australia and Oceania and is naturalized in tropical and subtropical areas of the U.S.  Like other barbed grasses, when dry its head contains sharp awns that can burrow into dogs’ skin and orifices.

Wild barley, foxtail barley, skunk-tall grass, flicker-tail grass, tickle grass. These are all common names for a type of perennial short-lived cool season bunchgrass native to almost all of the U.S. except for the Southeast.  Often found in pastures, roadsides, meadows, alkaline/saline areas, moist soils and disturbed areas, it features the same spiky awns found on other barbed grasses.

Bromegrass. Native to western North America from Alaska to northern Mexico, there are over 40 species of bromegrass in the U.S., many of which are also dangerous to dogs because of their sharp awns that develop in summer.