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Remember your mother’s warnings about playing hard during “the dog days of summer”? Good Ol’ Mom knew her stuff despite what we thought as youngsters about her heeded advice. Dog owners should heed the same warnings for canines that are unacclimated to hot, humid climates, or those that may possess a contravening medical condition. As summer approaches, health risks intensify in canines that work and play in hot environments. Whether it’s searching collapsed buildings in a high heat index or a dry creek bed in 110°F desert sun, canines experience much of the same physiologic degradation as their human counterparts, with one exception….we’re not wearing thick coats! While this insulative layer initially protects against sunburn and radiant heat, a thick coat like on German Shepard’s thwarts their ability to efficiently expel metabolic heat build-up through their skin surface. Each year organizations promote awareness of the health risks associated with heat stress in animals. Yet, in spite of these good intentions, too many animals needlessly succumb to heat related illnesses.

Most SAR handlers are well versed on the facts and remedies of minor heat illnesses… heat cramps/ tetany (painful muscle spasms), heat syncope (fainting) and heat exhaustion. Since canines experience much of the same physiologic responses as humans, it’s the obscure damage that one serious heat related incident causes that is shrouded in obscurity. Heat stroke (severe hyperthermia), the most common occurrence following severe exertion in hot weather, is by far the most lethal among all the syndromes experienced by working canines. Similar to humans, heat stroke causes a major disruption of bodily fluids and muscle tissue at the cellular level inciting massive necrosis by denaturing proteins. Neurologic injury causes edema within the brain or intracranial hemorrhaging further leading to seizures, a comatose state or death. Neurologic complications vary from mental disorientation to delirium, convulsions or unconsciousness. In severely dehydrated canines, the cardiovascular system often is affected by decreased blood volume, lack of oxygen in the blood, abnormal coagulation and low blood pressure causing strain on the heart that ultimately results in arrhythmias and cardiogenic shock. Further damage occurs with ischemia (decreased blood and oxygen perfusion) by subsequently affecting their gastrointestinal tract by causing a migration of bacteria from the colon developing into abnormal toxins present and progresses into septic shock and absolute ischemia. The most serious consequence of heat stress is that exacerbation of dehydration and ischemia commonly causes acute renal (kidney) failure. This can be recognized by brown-colored urine.

Heat stroke continues its bane with a major impact on the acid-base status of the canine. Respiratory alkalosis, caused by excessive panting or hyperventilating and metabolic acidosis-where deficient oxygen in the blood results in lactic acid build up. These acid-base abnormalities directly affect cardiac output and metabolism. Research cannot well define the dysfunction of the canine’s immune system when broached by a disruption caused by severe heat. It does, however, intimate that as the body experiences disruption, the natural killer cells that fight viruses can be suppressed or become deficient, compromising the immune system. Hyperthermia is linked to kidney cancer, liver damage, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) among other lesser-known maladies. The American Journal of Medicine links ARDS and CFS with chronic aftereffects of a serious heat stress incident. Medical research hints a correlation between continual exposure to excessive heat or metabolic heat that forces both humans and canines to near exhaustion usually results in mild to serious sequelae (physiologic and neurologic aftereffects). Typically described as exhaustion and poor stamina, the underlying factor in both a severe heat illness and CFS is their pathology involving an erosion of the body’s cellular energy “storehouse”. Canines who experience severe metabolic heat exhaustion while running hard in a search mission or playing in hot, humid environments may not eat well or hydrate sufficiently at the end of the day. Subsequently, their body won’t absorb sufficient nutrients and the canine begins its next day in a deficit. When continued metabolic exertion is required over several days, avoidance of the negative domino effect is important to recognize. Herein lies the balancing act for maintaining effective thermal regulation in difficult situations.

Many overlooked factors that predispose canines to be more susceptible to heat stroke are: [1] physical condition (obesity, musculature, coat density, age and acclimatization); [2] environmental (excessive heat, humidity and radiant heat from the sun; [3] contravening medical problem (drug assimilation, underlying cardiovascular, upper respiratory and/or neurological disease); [4] mental status (emotional personality is affected by fear, anger, excitement and worry); [5] previous episodes of heat stroke or heat exhaustion. While the first two are commonly discussed, the latter three are the obscure factors hard to pinpoint. Contravening medical problems could be skin related – like Ichthyosis, a thick scaling of the skin increasing the thermal burden on the animal….or pulmonary like in brachycephalic breeds. Breeds experiencing heart problems incited by poor diet and dental disease also fit this category. Adrenaline stress, like we humans experience, changes the physiological responses and causes a magnitude of complex reactions including, but not limited to increased blood pressure, heart rate and blood vessel contraction, bronchiolar muscles and metabolic effects. While our friends crave routines, when certain verbal commands are given or the recognizable equipment is exposed, drug dogs and tactical attack dogs experience the onset of hyperactivity (incited by the anticipation or excitement of the task) in their body’s vitals long before they may experience exertional heat stress. Continued psychological stress experienced by some canines further increases the negative pressures on the body’s vitals. Number five “previous episodes” is all too often overlooked or forgotten as an important factor in the overall health of the canine. Like humans, continued exposure to hot environments, especially to the point of dehydration, engages all of the body’s vitals affecting them severely at the cellular level.

Just as each of us is unique in our DNA makeup, so too are our best friends. Spoken from my mentor who taught me the most about heat stress over the past decade, John LoZito-Neurologist, “what heat stresses and negative pressures they tolerate today are not necessarily the same levels that their bodily functioning mechanisms will tolerate tomorrow or the day after.” The same principle applies to humans as well.

More than a decade ago, I was a small business owner. Every day I dressed in suits, sat behind an oversized desk and dealt with the general public from a nice air-conditioned office. I taught a business course at a local junior college and donated more than my share of hours of community service. And one night I changed from the dress ensembles to Levi’s and T-shirts and joined my soul mate in a research and development venture to solve heat stress problems for the U.S. Armed Forces. The project initially sounded reasonable. Create a simple, passive means of keeping ground soldiers cool, especially in desert warfare conditions, without using electricity and encumbering mechanical devices like pumps and batteries. The end result must be a man portable device with temperatures that would be tolerated harmoniously by the body without negative physiologic reaction.

We examined a variety of patented devices, amassed data from previous test contingents-case studies on battlefield soldiers, helicopter pilots, firefighters, miners and a host of professional athletes. We evaluated numerous laboratory test results of a variety of ice/gel, evaporative, vortex and water circulative technologies. Aside from their usual shortcomings of too cold of temperatures to allow heat abstraction from an exothermic body, we elected to explore exotherm type, constant temperature phase change technology. Little did we realize what a huge undertaking this project would entail. During the three and a half years of research and development, I was fortunate to have been tutored by some terrific doctors. I spent an inordinate amount of time in sports rehabilitation facilities like Alabama Sports Medicine and HealthSouth. I visited the working dog kennels at Lackland Air Force Base and Churchill Downs horse track in an attempt to better understand optimum healing temperatures.

According to the United States Sports Academy, the perfect temperature for optimum healing in prolonged cryotherapy is 50°F (10°C). Devices that could maintain that temperature would not cause negative physiologic reaction, vasoconstriction, soft tissue damage, cold shock or frostbite. This temperature thwarted the onset of histamine production, swelling and fluid retention to affected areas. We now had a starting point.

The Physiological Benefits of Exotherm Cooling
Based on substantial research, a blend of »53-55°F Heat Transfer Formula, when placed in direct contact with the hairless skin surface of a canine’s ventral abdomen for conductive abstraction of heat greatly reduces the symptoms and effects associated with heat related illnesses. First acting as a heat sink, this cool temperature abstracts excess body heat gained through metabolic activity. The blood carried throughout the peripheral vessels and surrounding soft tissues expel the latent heat and become cooler as more and more heat is abstracted from the surface area. Consequently, recirculating cooler blood back through the venous return thwarts additional concomitant hyperactivity required to meet the demands of thermal regulation. As cooler blood continually irrigates the cardiovascular system, less metabolic energy is required, slowing the activity of essential body vitals (blood pressure, heart rate, pulmonary output of increased oxygen demands). As the vitals slow, cellular metabolic activity is reduced and less fluids and precious minerals are needlessly forfeited or destroyed, resulting in a prolonged endurance factor. Since no vascular constriction is occurring, proper oxygen flow is maintained for optimum muscle function, brain activity, and central nervous system functions.

Akin to the radiator of an engine, the optimum temperature of 53-55°F is the cooler receptor absorbing heat from the medium closest in proximity (the ventral abdomen). In this example, as the body’s engine cools, less heat needs to be exacted and less stress is placed on the body’s engine. As more heat is exacted by the body’s cooling mechanism, the canine’s vigilance and senses remain more acute. Heat loss through conduction from the warm body to a cooler object has long been a common method of reducing heat stress in dogs. Australian farmers regularly fill tubs with water affording their sheep dogs the quickest method of cooling down by immersing themselves in the water. While dogs gravitate to lying on cool surfaces to cool down, we opted for another conductive means for working canines to relax during rehab. We developed a cool seat for helicopter pilots and a canine cool pad at a higher temperature (80°F). Why this temperature? Given a 20-degree temperature differential between core temperatures and the conductive cooling medium, this temperature proved to be more than adequate to reduce fevers, abstract heat and maintain thermal equilibrium.

The objective of this exotherm technology is to assist both canines and humans in maintaining homeostasis (normal body vitals) in spite of the environment, activity and/or situation. For more information on this technology, visit this web site: www.50degree.com.