June 22, 2007

HOT. Boy, is it HOT. Nobody told me Colorado would be HOT. Yow. I've been able to keep cool at home by relaxing by my pool. Ah, life is good.

I have a bone to pick with some of you pet owners. Yeah, you. You know who you are. You're the one who thinks Fido the dog or Felix the cat will be lonesome at home, so you take the poor thing with you on your errands.

Trust me, no pet wants to ride around with you when it's hot. Why would we want to be stuck in the car at the grocery store when we could be at home, stretched out on the cool tile floor next to a water dish? Or in the back yard under a nice shady tree with a wading pool handy for quick dips?

Speaking of dips, leaving us in the car is a Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Idea. Yeah, yeah, you say it will be "just a few minutes." But what if you get distracted or delayed?

I had Marianne do some research for me.

I'll bet you didn't know that the temperature in a car rises 19 degrees in 10 minutes, 29 degrees in 20 minutes, and 43 degrees in an hour.

Studies show that cracking the windows doesn't significantly change that, and the temperature rises inside the car even on cool days. If it's 72 degrees outside, it will be 115 degrees in your car in an hour.

But let's focus on summer. There you are in the store, wheeling your cart up and down the aisles, trying to decide what to fix for dinner. It's 90 degrees outside. In the 10 minutes you've been in the store, the temperature in your car has risen to 109 degrees. Fido is panting like mad, trying to cool off.

You finish shopping, but checking out takes another 10 minutes. The temperature in your car is 119. Fido is dangerously near heat stroke, and may suffer permanent brain damage or even death. Do you still think he really wanted to ride to the store with you?

And another thing you silly people don't think about -- sidewalks and pavement! Hello, you with the shoes on your feet -- WE DON'T HAVE SHOES! Our feet get burned when it's hot. If it's too hot for you to go barefoot, then it's too hot for us, too.

Let's talk about water. You always carry your fancy-schmancy water bottle for yourself, but do you bring one for Fido? He gets dehydrated too, so make sure you carry lots of water for both of you, whatever activity you're doing together.

And please make sure he has lots of fresh water at home, too. Give him some ice cubes for a treat. The puppy raisers give us "water biscuits" all the time, which we adore. Crunchy, wet, and cold all at the same time -- what could be better?

If you need more summer tips, go to www.mydogiscool.com.

Thanks for listening. I'm going to go take a nap in front of the fan.

Chow for now!

Parker

Questions or comments for Parker? Send them to call7forhelp@thedenverchannel.com.

Interested in Canine Companions for Independence, or maybe you'd like to be a puppy raiser? Call 1-800-572-BARK or go to www.cci.org for more information.