I Almost Killed My Dog

Picked her up today because I'm going to be watching her for the next two weeks to give RacerEx a break. First thing I did was take her for a walk. I arrived around noon and hadn't fed her yet, but figured she'd want the exercise, so I took her to the 2.25-mile loop we usually walk. It was a warm, sunny morning with a nice breeze. Not too hot for her or for me. She doesn't like the heat.

I had on my jogging clothes, as I'd gone for an earlier run, so I decided to let her set the pace, jogging, walking or pausing along side her at her pleasure. We trotted a bit and sniffed a bit and sometimes set out at a full-on gallop. At her usual place, she began to slow down; but unlike usual, she started making a hacking noise or a coughing noise (if dogs could cough). I wasn't sure if she'd inhaled a fox tale or if it was allergies or what, so I made her stop and rubbed her nose and throat a bit until she stopped snorting.

We had at least 1/2 a mile to go, but I forced her to slow down because her tongue was drooping pretty far out of her mouth and it was getting hotter. The snorting resumed at intervals, exacerbated by any pulling of her leash. Then she started favoring her right left paw....

We stopped and started at my discretion. I could see she was in pain and uncomfortable, but, like I said, we still had a ways to go--and she's way too big and heavy for me to carry. It's a dog's life. She had to keep walking.

We finally finished the loop at the dog-water-fountain, where she took a cursory lick and then sought shade and dropped to the ground unable to move another step. The panting began full "freak freight train" (as RacerEx would describe it), and I felt a little panicked as I realized she was over heated and in distress. I went to my car, parked very close by, and she did not get up to follow me but instead lay there panting like a mad man. I retrieved a cup and began making trips to the water fountain and then back to her to douse her with cool water. She rolled over and offered her belly for the water.

Poor thing.

I gave her a good 15 minutes, cooling down the car with the air conditioning as we waited. Finally I got her to rouse herself (with no little effort) and follow me back to the car. Once home, she collapsed once more in the shady grass. I got out the hose and hosed her down for several minutes until she got up, walked away and rolled in the shady grass to get the water off of herself.

Guess I know not to take her out in the heat like that on an empty stomach again. Shoot. I was a little afraid I'd done her in. Stupid person.