The heatwave is here. Protect your dog
Here's how it is: you feel when you're too hot and you stop on your own. Your dog doesn't do that.
If you throw the ball, it brings it back. If you walk, it follows you. If you play, it plays — until it goes past the limit, without giving you a clear signal in time. In the heat, its instinct turns against it: it wants to be with you, it wants to please you, it wants to finish its job. None of these impulses has a "stop, I'm overheating" button built in.
You're the one who has to press that button. Let's understand together why — and above all what you do, concretely.
How the dog's "radiator" works (and why it breaks down easily)
You cool down by sweating all over your skin. Your dog can hardly do that — it only has sweat glands on its paw pads, a tiny surface. Its main cooling system is panting: it moves air quickly over the tongue, the muzzle and the moist airways, and the water that evaporates from there takes the heat away with it. The muzzle, especially, is a real cooling station, full of blood vessels.
This gives us three truths worth remembering all summer:
Its cooling is slow and fragile. Unlike your sweating, which covers your whole body, it relies on a single vent. If that vent is overwhelmed, the internal temperature rises quickly.
Anything that blocks its panting cuts off its only defence: a short muzzle, extra kilos, a tight collar, a muzzle that doesn't let it open its mouth wide, a space with no airflow.
Humidity is the hidden enemy. Evaporation only works if the air still has room to take in water. On a hot, humid day, panting becomes almost useless — the dog pumps air, but no longer cools down.
The human parallel: imagine running at 33 degrees, dressed in a thick coat you can't take off, breathing only through a straw. That's what a dog with a dense coat lives through on a July afternoon. And if it's humid outside too, it's as if the straw were slowly clogging up.
What "heatstroke" actually is
A dog's normal temperature is around 38-39 degrees. We talk about heatstroke when the internal temperature goes above roughly 41 degrees and signs appear that the brain is suffering — disorientation, staggering, collapse.
And here it's important not to take the problem lightly. Heatstroke isn't "just tiredness from the heat". At high internal temperatures, the body enters a dangerous cascade: blood pools in the internal organs, the gut suffers, inflammation and clotting disorders appear, and the kidneys and other organs can be affected. That's why, in severe forms, about half of dogs don't survive, even with veterinary treatment. Of all the cases that reach the vet, including mild ones, roughly 1 in 7 ends fatally.
I'm not telling you this to scare you, but to set the stakes correctly: we're not talking about passing discomfort here, but about a real medical emergency that unfolds in minutes. The good news — and that's exactly what this whole article is about — is that it can be prevented almost completely.
The big myth: "only in the car"
We all know the rule "don't leave the dog in the car". It's correct and we repeat it. But it's only the tip of the problem.
A study of over 900,000 dogs showed that most heatstroke cases — 74.2% — come from EXERTION: play, running, walking in the scorching heat. The car accounts for only about 5% of cases, and hot environments in general (yard, room) for about another 13%.
And even more surprising: the danger doesn't only appear on extreme heatwave days. The average temperature on days with such cases was 16.9 degrees — meaning a day that feels pleasant to you, even cool, can be dangerous for a dog that runs hard.
The conclusion that actually changes behaviour: the biggest danger isn't the car you avoid anyway, but your decision to let it run at noon, fetch the ball ten more times, pull on the leash over scorching pavement. That's where, in the small everyday choices, summer is won or lost — not in the supermarket car park.
Who is more at risk (with care, not with panic)
The risk isn't equal for all dogs. It's higher in:
Short-muzzled dogs — French Bulldog, English Bulldog, Pug, Boxer, Chow Chow. In them, the radiator is small by design; many breathe with difficulty and cool down poorly even with light exertion.
Overweight dogs — fat keeps the heat in and makes breathing harder. It's one of the strongest risk factors — and one you can actually change.
Large dogs — they have more mass to cool with the same system.
Puppies and seniors — the internal thermostat works less well; seniors and short-muzzled dogs have the highest risk of death.
The surprise: athletic, popular, "ordinary" dogs too — the Labrador, for example — are on the risk list, precisely because they run enthusiastically and don't stop. Energy doesn't protect it; sometimes it gets it into trouble.
Dogs not used to the heat — the first hot spell of the year, or the dog suddenly taken out for exertion after a winter spent on the couch, is more vulnerable. Gradual acclimatisation to heat and physical fitness improve the odds.
If you have a dog in these categories, it's no reason for fear — it's a reason to be one step more careful than the owner of an athletic, lean, long-muzzled dog. And if you have a bulldog or a pug, treat summer with full seriousness: for them, an ordinary warm day is what a heatwave is for other dogs.
The behavioural thermometer — the signs, in three stages
Learn these signs, because between "tired" and "emergency" there are minutes, not hours.
Stage 1 — caution (stop the activity, take it to shade and water): increasingly intense and noisy panting, looks for shade on its own, slows down, falls behind, drools a lot, the tongue hangs out wide and very pink.
Stage 2 — alarm (actively cool it NOW and get ready for the vet): the tongue and gums turn deep red, then bluish or pale; thick, sticky saliva; glassy eyes; it seems dizzy, staggers, is disoriented; refuses to move.
Stage 3 — life-threatening emergency (immediate cooling + trip to the vet without delay): vomiting or diarrhoea (sometimes with blood), trembling, severe disorientation, seizures, collapse, fainting.
The simple field rule, easy to remember: if the panting doesn't visibly settle after a few minutes in the shade and with water, don't wait any longer — treat it as an emergency. It's better to go to the vet for nothing than to wait for it "to pass".
The KNES summer plan — the dog's day in a heatwave
Here we move from "why" to "what you do, concretely". Nothing complicated — just moved to the right time.
Walks
Move the schedule to the edges of the day. The serious walk — early in the morning (before 9) and late in the evening, after the sun goes down. The 11:00-18:00 window = a break, not exercise time.
The asphalt test — 7 seconds. Put the back of your hand on the asphalt and hold it pressed down. If you can't stand it for 7 seconds, it's too hot for its paw pads — scorching pavement burns paws and also throws extra heat right up at its belly. (It's a practical rule, not a lab measurement — but the principle is correct and it keeps you out of trouble.)
Walk in the shade and on grass, not on concrete. The same street has cool corners and oven corners.
At home and in the yard
Real shade + airflow. Not under the car, not on scorching concrete, not in a crate with no ventilation. A fan helps less than it does for humans (the dog doesn't sweat), but moving air still helps it cool down through panting.
Fresh water, always, in several places. And, if you like, a cooling mat or a small paddling pool it can stand in.
Watch out for the greenhouse trap: a closed terrace, a parked car, a sunny balcony turn into an oven within minutes.
In the car
Never alone. Not "two minutes", not with the window cracked open. The inside climbs to values that kill astonishingly fast. If you stop and can't take the dog with you, better leave it at home.
During exertion and play
You decide when to take a break, not the dog. Stop the game in the shade BEFORE it looks exhausted. The dog won't ask you for a break itself — see below why.
Careful after swimming: let it rest, don't send it straight off running "because it has cooled down".
The right first aid — "cool first, transport second"
If it has already overheated, what you do in the first minutes matters enormously. Stay calm, but be firm — hesitation here costs. The current guidance for dogs is clear and deserves to be said plainly: cool first, transport second.
Get it out of the heat immediately — into the shade, indoors, into air conditioning.
Actively cool it with water, including cold water. Pour water over its whole body or, if you can, immerse it in water (except the head), combined with air movement — a fan, wind. This needs to be said clearly: the old advice "don't use cold water, you'll do harm" is outdated. Prompt cooling with cold water is effective and recommended. The weak method is precisely the wet cloth left on it, which cools too slowly.
Offer it water if it drinks on its own, but don't force it and don't pour it down its throat.
Set off for the vet urgently, ideally calling on the way, and keep cooling it during the journey (open window, wet towel, air).
Go to the vet even if it seems to be recovering. The internal effects (kidneys, clotting) can appear hours later.
And what NOT to do: don't waste time with "I'll watch it a bit longer", don't cover it with soaked blankets that keep the heat in, don't wait for it to drink before setting off.
Four short myths to bust
"Its coat protects it from the heat." It insulates partly, but in great heat and during exertion, a dense coat is more blanket than umbrella. Don't shave it down to the skin (the skin can get sunburnt), but don't rely on the coat for protection.
"Let it drink as much as it wants after running." Huge amounts all at once, especially in an overheated dog that swallows a lot of air, aren't ideal. Water yes, but in rounds.
"A yard dog is used to the heat." Getting used to it helps a little, but it doesn't cancel biology. It too needs real shade and water, and it too gets heatstroke.
"Only southern or short-muzzled breeds are affected." False — see the athletic Labrador above. Exertion and enthusiasm put "ordinary" dogs in danger too.
The KNES bridge — you are the thermostat
Here's the link with everything we do at KNES, beyond summer.
You've already seen, in the article “Why your dog looks you in the eyes — and why it's the strongest bond you share”, the idea of co-regulation: an agitated dog calms down because you stay calm next to it — you lend it your calm. With temperature it's exactly the same, except the stakes are physical, not emotional. The dog has no thermal brake it can pull on its own. You are the brake. Your clear head, the one that decides when you stop, is literally its safety system.
The human parallel, so you really feel it: think of a good parent with a small child at the swimming pool, on a scorching day. The child would play until they dropped — not out of disobedience, but because at that age they can't yet read their own body's signals. The parent stops the game, gives water, pulls them into the shade, says "that's it, let's rest a bit". It's not meanness and it's not pampering — it's mature care. That's exactly what you are for your dog in summer: the calm leader who makes the good decision the other one can't make.
And this is where you see the difference between the KNES method and "let it do what it wants". Our leadership doesn't mean keeping it on a tight rein out of fear, but nor does it mean leaving it a slave to its impulses. It means Foresight (Previziune, in Romanian: you see the heat coming and move the schedule in advance), Initiative (you stop the game first, without waiting), Control (you keep your hand on the situation, you don't leave it to its enthusiasm) and Consistency (you do the same on every hot day). A dog that's balanced on the inside listens more easily to this brake — and this is where summer connects with all the calming work you do all year round.
If you want to make its summer easier, start simply and without rushing: walks in the cool hours, water and real shade always at hand, and your eyes on the signs of the "behavioural thermometer".
If you want to understand why everything you've read here works, the first step is KNESsence, the free material in which I've put the essence of the system we work by at KNES. Create an account on knes.ro, you'll get a six-digit code by email and go straight to it.
With care for your dog,
Petre ROMAN
This material is for educational purposes and does not replace a consultation with a veterinarian. If you suspect heatstroke, go to the vet urgently.
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