About Labradoodles

Do you have to spell out “R-I-D-E” in front of your dog?   Many dogs love to take a car ride with their people—after all, a lot of drive-through places have dog biscuits these days.  Most people know that their Labradoodle can’t be left inside a parked car on a baking summer day, but many don’t know how high or how fast the temperature rises inside the vehicle.  Parking in the shade or cracking a window does little to alleviate this process, since the windows will absorb light.  For example, on an 85-degree day, the temperature inside a car with cracked windows can reach 102 degrees within a ten-minute period of time.    After thirty minutes, that possibility rises to 120 degrees.  Pets are at danger of heatstroke at 100 degrees.  The temperature in a car parked in direct sunlight may elevate more than 30 degrees per minute.  Dogs can suffer organ and brain damage after about 15 minutes in this situation, and it can prove lethal not long after.

A dog’s natural design conserves heat.  The sweat glands on their noses and foot pads do not provide adequate cooling for a hot summer day inside a vehicle.  Panting and drinking water does help them, but not if they are only breathing overheated air in a confined space.   Short-nosed breeds such as pugs and bulldogs, puppies, senior pets, and pets with health problems are particularly vulnerable in hot weather.