So scary!!!

We took Kingston to the park yesterday around 7 at night. He doesn't really care to play with other dogs, but he absolutely LOVES to chase his ball. We had been there for about 15-20 minutes when I noticed he was stumbling around a lot. Then, he plopped down on his stomach and started panting uncontrollably. I said, "Kingston, let's go bye-bye" to see if he would jump up and run over to me as he usually does. Instead, he just stayed there panting. He was being completely unresponsive to my voice, had no use of his limbs and his heart was racing uncontrollably. It was so obvious that he was not himself all of a sudden. I scooped him up and took him over to the water spigot they have at the park and filled up a bucket with water. I set him down in front of it to get him to drink, but he plopped back down again. I put cold water all over him and got him to drink out of my hands. I really felt like he was going to pass out at any minute. I grabbed him and took him to the car where I put the AC on blast and drove home. I made him drink water, eat ice cubes and set him in front of a fan. Luckily, he eventually calmed down and slowly returned to normal.

Let this be a lesson, that some dogs can get overheated very fast. It was partly cloudy yesterday and 94 degrees at 7pm (which is as low as it gets around here right now). All the other dogs at the park were completely fine and had been there a lot longer than us. I was so terrified to see Kingston stumbling and his eyes glaze over like that. I thought I might lose him.

For my own future reference...What are some good things to keep in mind when a dog gets overheated? Are there certain steps you're supposed to take other than what I did yesterday?

That was very scary! I am glad he is back to his usual self.

Given these symptoms, I think you should also read up on Episodic Falling Syndrome in cavaliers and discuss this incident, and this condition, with your vet. It would be a strong possibility as well, especially given that this seems out of character and that other dogs were not having problems.

www.episodicfalling.com

PS You did all the correct things regarding heat exhaustion but I would also have rushed him to the vet rather than taken him home. A dog can quickly die from heat exhaustion and a vet may be his only hope if the collapse is serious.

wow...very scary!!!!! I'm so glad you took immediate action to help him out!

I have heard, but not have had to use it, taking a bandana, wetting it and freezing it...then wrapping that around their necks during hot weather. Sounds like it could work to me!

Whew! I'm so relieved to read Kingston is ok!

I was told in a dog training class that wetting a towel with cool water and putting it on their tummy helps cool them off fast, too.

I have to keep reminding myself that these little cavvies are a brachycephalic breed, even though they don't look like a pug, shih tzu, etc. On hot, humid days my three cavs just want to go out to do their business and come right back inside to the air conditioning.

Ah, just read in another thread to wet a towel with cool water and put it on the inside of their thighs to help cool down faster.

I would do what Karlin recommended, look into Episodic Falling, it sounds very like what happens to Prince, the only times he has had the episodes is in the heat, I usually wet his tummy a little to cool him down.