There are certain things we need in life—seat belts, fire extinguishers, bicycle helmets, air horns for the dog park—that we hope we'll never have to make use of, but we keep them handy “just in case.”

In my time with dogs, always owning multiples, I've had plenty of emergencies. Some life or death, some ending with an embarrassed, relieved chuckle at my overreaction to an injury.

As a veterinary nurse, I was equipped to handle other people's canine emergencies. My own dogs? I become the overprotective mother. Luckily, the training kicks in quickly and appropriate actions start to take place.

I recently came across this excellent video on performing CPR on dogs. It's clear and precise, and I hope you'll watch it. Go over the procedure in your head to make sure you have it down. Send the link to all your dog-loving friends. Review it from time to time to keep it fresh, because like the dusty fire extinguisher sitting in the corner of your kitchen, you're pretty sure you'll never need it, but someday it just might help you save a life.

And, being at the height of what is to me a pretty wicked summer, the heat and humidity can cause problems in our canine friends that just might result in the need for CPR. Last week, I saw a woman out running mid-afternoon on one of those 90-degree humid days. In jog bra and shorts, carrying her water bottle, she looked like she was doing OK. It was the dog at her side that had me worried.

Tongue lolling, he didn't look like he was enjoying the run one bit. He just seemed to be putting one foot in front of the other, waiting for it to be over. As there was clearly no bowl present, I was hoping the dog knew how to drink out of the bottle and that it was being shared. The bottles with the flip-top spout are ideal for this. Let your dog drink out of the spout, unscrew the top for yourself. Most dogs learn this skill pretty quickly.

Water is one of the most important things a dog needs when it's hot. Not only to prevent dehydration but also to help their inefficient (compared to us sweaty humans) cooling system. Keeping the mucus membranes lining the respiratory system moist helps move cooler, drier air into the lungs, expelling excess moist heat by panting. It's their own mini evaporative cooling system, which works pretty well as long the air is dry. Add humidity to heat and suddenly that evaporative system isn't nearly as efficient. Add the lack of sweat glands (dogs have few sweat glands on their bodies) and a hairy coat, and you've got a prime candidate for heat intolerance.

Much debate goes on in the dog world regarding shaving of coated breeds to help them keep cool in the summer. My experience is this: Sure, the coat insulates them from the heat (as long as it's well maintained and isn't full of dead undercoat and mats, which has the opposite effect), which is a good thing. The downside is that it also holds heat in, making it harder for your dog to cool itself should it get too hot. Rarely, the coat doesn't grow back normally in a double-coated breed (where you have stiffer guard hairs and a downy undercoat) after being clipped. It may be more coarse or of a different length. So, if you are vigilant about watching your dog in the heat, leaving the coat long may help with keeping your dog cool, but if you and your dog are active, or your dog is large and/or overweight, I think shaving, at least of the belly, can be a good thing.

So keep an eye on your dog when you're outside running or playing. Remember that if you're out running with your dog, you're not allowing your dog to move as it naturally does when it's hot out, with brief periods of heavy exercise followed by a cool down in the shade. Panting with an occasional deeper breath is normal, but frantic panting is not, especially if your dog's eyes have that “something isn't right” look.

As your dog passes into “uncomfortably hot”, her gums and tongue will become bright red (the body's way of trying to cool itself, since mouths are a very vascular area), and your normally dry mouthed dog may begin salivating uncontrollably. This is beyond the time for playing to stop. It's time to get your dog somewhere cool, preferably in air conditioning or in front of a fan. If the saliva has thickened and is no longer dripping like that faucet that keeps you awake at night, and the mucus membranes have taken on a purplish color, your dog is suffering from heat stroke and immediate medical attention is required.

Use cool, not cold (cold water causes the blood vessels to constrict, the opposite of what we want here), water-soaked towels, and place them between the hind legs and in the arm pits, and use them to gently rub the muzzle. Spray your dog with cool water, making sure it penetrates to the skin. Start the car and let the air conditioning run for a few minutes before you transport your dog to the vet. Left untreated, vomiting, seizure, coma, and death are the next, and final, stages of heat stroke.

It isn't all gloom and doom, though. Summer is a great time to have fun with your dog. Here, the kiddie pools are out, as well as a large, two-foot deep stock tank for some keep-cool fun. Tug is not a big fan of the pools, so I spritz him with a water bottle to keep him more comfortable. I freeze water using kids' beach buckets for giant, rolling popsicles that my dogs love. You can use anything from a yogurt container and bigger, depending on the size of your dog. Sometimes I use chicken or beef stock, diluted juice, or almond milk. I also usually add some fruit (bananas are Rocket's favorite!), small spoonfuls of peanut butter, or a few handfuls of kibble. Just to make things more fun.

I also make frozen kongs using a dab of peanut butter to cover the little hole in the bottom, and then layering with coconut milk yogurt, fruit, kibble, anything my dogs like. Lots of tails are wagging when I grab these out of the freezer.

I pull out the bug spray (for all of us) and walk early in the morning or later in the evening. The change in walking time puts a bit of a different rhythm into our day and not only is the air cooler, but also the sidewalks aren't hot. Which brings up one more point: If the sidewalk is too hot to be comfortable to your hand, it's too hot for your dog to walk on. Sure, their feet are tougher, but they're going to be barefoot out there. Eventually that heat will be uncomfortable and affect, again, their ability to cool.

And since the Art Fairs are right around the corner, I'm hoping, and you probably are too, that this year I don't see any of those dogs, walking in the heat on hot pavement, surrounded by a crush of legs and feet, dragging along at their owner's heels. Really, those dogs are not having fun. They just want to go home. So if you are one of those people who, like me, enjoy taking their dog everywhere they can with them, skip this activity. Do your dog a favor and just tell her about the feast of almost endless art when you get home, maybe while you're taking a stroll in the cooler evening air.

Amy Samida was a professional groomer prior to her career in veterinary nursing. She began training dogs as a child and has continued training and working with problem dogs through it all. Amy is now the owner of Naughty Dog Cafe in Ann Arbor. She can be reached at amy@naughtydogcafe.com or 734-276-3522