Contributed by a CP Volunteer
I've never written anything on the site before but here it goes and hope it's helpful or everyone can say of course I know that. Well here goes!
I was reviewing my doggy first aid course material and thinking of some of the mishaps that have occurred to our wonderful furkids or the neighbors and wanted to express some thoughts.
Summer Fun:
• Dogs only perspire at their paws so a good way to cool them is to have them stand in cool water and cool their groin area
• Before you decide to go on that walk in the heat of the day take your shoes off and step on that hot sidewalk. Not a good time to walk.
• Bring water on walks even early in AM and in PM
• Of course the car is a NO NO even for a second in hot weather.
• Don't forget to give your dog a good massage looking for tic tail areas and
ears are favorites after a work or play.
For the back yard
• Check out the wonderful plants – some may be poisonous to furkids
• What about the bees - two of mine furkids love to pounce on them and get them in their mouths luckily they are not allergic , but I have found out from the vet the baby gel cap to pin prick and squirt it in their mouths to give them to hold until I can get to the vet if need be.
• Fence gates. Coming from out to in I had Andre mount a baby gate on the inside in case he doesn't know if the pups are out so they won't run out on him when he opens the big 6' door. It also works well when neighbor kids want to see new fosters and the fosters aren't ready for kids or just aren't kid friendly or you aren't kid friendly that day for the neighbor kids. Smile!
• Stagnant water in the yard is bad for furkids
• Watch out for birds of prey – we had one fly over and our 16 pound MacKenzie ran for cover totally scared
• Lovely chemicals on the lawn take forever to dissolve and furkids love to eat grass sometimes
• Then those wonderful pool noodles YUMM YUMM and all the other pool toys
• Can your furkids climb the pool ladder - mine can. Make sure those stairs are secure or removed if you can
• Oh those kids next door always throwing stuff over the fence and poking sticks through the fence……we cannot wait for the terrible 5's to pass
• Oh almost forgot those chlorine tablets look appealing and that electrical cord for the pool pump why not run it through PVC or something else that the pups won't chew.
Boy you could go on forever – we do a check of the outdoors every day
Now for inside
Think toddler and all those small items that go in the mouth. And what fun a home office or children's toys can be or a teenager who drops sugar free gum on the floor and who knows what else. (We are still trying to trade the teenager for another furkid but those state laws are interfering……..). Keep them in a safe area just like you would do a baby.
Our one foster loves to lick the floor so I need to really be careful and rinse the floor well if I need to sanitize after a fur kid oops.
Doggy First Aid Kit
Do you have one so you do not yell at your spouse when something does happen.
I hope it never happens to any of us but the perfect splint for our size dogs (cairns) is the internal toilet paper roll. Maybe put one aside for the day that we hope never comes.
Don't use peroxide to flush a wound because if a clot has begun to form the peroxide will destroy it.
Sorry this is so long but I try to review my first aid stuff every month and with the new season I hope you don't mind me sharing.
