Reminder - Don't Leave Your Dog Alone in the Car!

Now that warm weather is here, I thought it was time for a reminder.  Don't leave your dog alone in the car!  Not even for a few minutes in  hot weather, not even if you park in the shade, not even if you leave the windows cracked.  The inside of a car can become unbearably hot very quickly.  A study conducted at Stanford University found that even when it was just 72 degrees outside, within an hour the temperature inside a car reached 116 degrees, hot enough to cause heatstroke and even death - and cracking the windows had almost no affect on the temperature inside the car.

The temperature inside a car can reach 19 degrees higher than the outdoor temperature in just 15 minutes.  That means if it's 80 degrees outside, it could be 100 degrees in your car in just 15 minutes.  People can have heatstroke when the temperature rises above 104 degrees.  Dogs can also have heatstroke and can die from the condition, just like people can - and you can't call 911 and have your dog rushed to the nearest hospital emergency room if he has a heatstroke.  How far is the closest emergency vet from where you live?  It's about an hour away from my house.  Would your dog survive that long?  He might not.

Even if you think you'll be in and out of the store in just a few minutes, don't take the chance.  Leave your dog at home unless you can take him inside the store with you.