Jill Bowen

Jill Bowen has practiced veterinary medicine in England and Texas and has taught at Texas A&M. She lives with her veterinarian husband and two cats in Blacksburg. If you have a question, please write to her in care of The Roanoke Times, P.O. Box 540, Christiansburg, VA 24068, or send an e-mail to mjbowen@radford.edu

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I have a registered therapy dog that I take to a local long-term care facility once or twice a week. Initially she seemed to enjoy the visits, but lately she has shown some reluctance to enter the facility and seems a little stressed and pants a lot. Should I continue forcing her to go? The patients look forward to her visits.

Stress in therapy dogs is not uncommon. Signs of stress vary by the breed, the individual dog, its degree of socialization, as well as your stress level. Signs of stress include laid-back ears and a tucked tail, hiding behind the handler, licking lips, panting and salivating, shaking and sneezing, yawning, dilated pupils and an unhappy face.

You need to study how your dog responds to different situations and recognize what factors cause her stress. Many therapy dog owners give them regular vacations from work.

If your dog starts to show signs of stress while on a visit to the facility give her a "time-out" in a quiet spot and then take her to another room. Some dogs can be stressed by a too-tight hug or loud or angry voices. As dogs are required to be bathed and groomed before visiting care facilities, try to do this 24 hours ahead of the visit, because bathing in itself can be stressful. Tour other facilities and see which ones make her most comfortable. Each place has unique smells and floor surfaces that can influence the stress level.

Since your dog is not enjoying the work, she should be given the chance to work in a less-demanding situation for a while. Give her time off and cut back on the number of times per week she visits these facilities.

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On a recent warm day I was horrified to see a dog shut in a car in a local grocery store parking lot. The windows were barely open, and when I spoke to the owner she said that the dog was an escape artist. Please tell people how dangerous it is to leave your dog in the car in the summer.

Ten minutes is all it takes for a dog to die from heatstroke. Heatstroke commonly occurs when dogs are shut in a small, unventilated space such as a car or truck. Even if it is parked in the shade. A dog's normal body temperature is higher than ours (101 to 102.5 degrees).

Dogs normally eliminate body heat through panting, and panting generates more body heat. The act of panting evaporates moisture from the throat and lungs, thus cooling the body. However if the inspired air is already of high humidity this evaporation does not occur. If the inspired air is at a higher temperature than the dog's body temperature it increases the dog's internal temperature.

Cars are not the only source of heatstroke; dogs that are kenneled outside without adequate shade and access to fresh water can also be at risk when the ambient temperature is high, especially if there is no breeze. Dogs that are taken hiking in the heat of the day without enough water are also vulnerable.

Any dog that is thought to be suffering from heatstroke should seek veterinary attention immediately. Do not douse a suspected heatstroke victim with ice-cold water. The dog is already in shock, and the sudden application of freezing water will make matters worse. Application of cool damp towels until veterinary care is available is the best action.

On hot, humid days be very cautious about leaving your dog in any enclosed area, even in the shade. Once a dog's internal temperature begins to climb, heatstroke is only minutes away.