Tips on how to keep pets cool during hot weather days

As we all know, it has definitely been a hot and sticky week in Toronto and we hope you've done your best at keeping cool. While you are keeping cool and hydrated, guess who also needs to be cool and hydrated? Our pets. Joining us now, Lucas Soloway from the Toronto Humane Society. And but all the cutest guests we've ever seen on 24/7. It's Beetroot. Thank you so much for coming in. Thanks for having us. First of all, can you please tell us about sweet little beetroot? Yeah, Beetroot is 3 months old. She's an American bulldog mix and she's available for adoption. She's very sweet and playful. And yeah, she will make a great pet. I can just tell you she may go no further than this newsroom because everyone has already gathered around. We'll talk a little bit more about beetroot and how you can learn more. But let's talk about the weather. It has been pretty intense for us, but I can't even imagine what it's been like for our little ones like this. Our four legged pals. What have you seen? Yeah. So we really want to look out for them. So on the hottest days, just avoid being outside except for bathroom breaks. So when you do bring them out, bring them first thing in the morning or later at night when it's cooled down a bit. You also want to avoid pavement. Try and keep them to grassy areas as much as possible and you really don't want them to be in cars at this time. It's just it can get dangerous quite quickly. What about their paws? I'm always concerned about the pads here and how, you know, susceptible they are to the heat would be with the ground. Yeah, if it's too, if you put your hand on the pavement and it's too hot for you, it's definitely too hot for your pet. So try and keep them on grassy areas. Avoid asphalt or sidewalks for long periods of time. I know this might sound like a silly question, but do you recommend they wear any footwear to help or does that actually go the opposite direction where it's they'll overheat that way? That could potentially help, but I would for the most part stick to walking them during cooler periods of the day or grassy other types of areas. And then you'll also want to keep them hydrated. Lots of water, maybe some ice cubes in the water, Frozen treats like this frozen Kong. You can, you can put a frozen peanut butter or other things in a Kong and that is a refreshing treat that they will love. And you'll also, if you start to notice them overheating, you'll want to cool them right away. Soak them in water, get them wet, get them cool, bring them to a cool area right away. OK. And if they're showing signs of overheating, you'll want to bring them to a vet right away. What are those signs? Because we always see the panting, but at what point is the panting going beyond just the regular cooling off? Exactly. So kind of if they're hyperventilating, if they're panting excessively or if, if you just feel that something's off with them. Yeah. Like first you'll want to cool them in water, get them out of the heat. And then if they're still not returning to a normal state, then you'll want to bring them to the vet right away. Let's talk about certain breeds that you know have more difficulty than others when it comes to cooling down. Which breeds should we be very careful with? Any with the smushed faces, So the, the chow chows or the pugs, any of those French cheese, they already have a hard enough time breathing on a regular day, let alone a hot day. So you'll, you'll want to keep extra, an extra careful eye on them and really follow this quite strictly where other dogs such as Labradors or golden retrievers, they're quite active. So we want to avoid a lot of excessive activity on these days. We want to keep them calm. We want to keep them indoors or when we do bring them from walks, just for the purpose of going to the bathroom. And of course, older dogs, too, and those who are already have medical conditions or overweight. Now, can we please talk a little bit more about beetroot because we've all fallen in love. Tell us more about her. And she's available now? Yeah, she is available now. You can go to torontohumanesociety.com to learn more about her or visit us at 11 River St. She is three months old. She's a she's in puppy mode, so she's she enjoys playing, running around, playing with toys. She's very sweet and adorable and will make a great friend. I have a feeling she's going to be making many friends soon. Do you want to come home with me? You do. OK, Well, then you're going to come home with me. No, someone else will beat me too, I'm sure. Lucas, thank you so much. Incredible tips. Toronto Humane Society if you want to find out more and be rude. Thank you. Thank you. You're just a sweetheart.