Heat Exhaustion
The short, bracycephalic nose of the boxer has as many obstructive folds inside as outside. This renders the boxer particularly susceptible to heat stroke and heat exhaustion. The distinctive boxer head can work against the boxer's well-being. In hot, humid weather they simply cannot breathe well enough to cool themselves off as efficiently as many other breeds.
Precautions
You must never leave your boxer in a closed car in hot or even warm weather. The interior of a car heats up quickly if left in direct sunlight. Even in a ventilated car, never leave your boxer for long without water. Accordingly, you must never leave your boxer in a back yard without shade and access to fresh water in hot climates or in warm weather (or cold, for that matter!). You must also monitor physical activity on hot days to make sure that your boxer is not overheating. Most adult boxers will know when they are getting too hot, but young puppies that love to play often will not and are at risk of overheating.
Signs of heat stroke or overheating include a temperature that may rise as high as 109 degrees Fahrenheit; a weak and rapid pulse; gums and tongue that are sometimes swollen and almost fiery red; extreme rapid panting; an inability to walk and move; and sometimes vomiting and diarrhea. If you see any of these signs alone or in combination on a hot humid day, you need to take measures to cool your boxer down quickly.
Once overheating has occurred — and symptoms of overheating can occur long before an internal temperature of 109 occurs — the only way to save your boxer is to cool him off. If you have a pool to put him in, by all means do, or hose him down as much as possible with cool water. If you have access to ice cubes, press ice to the pads of his paws, his ears, and private parts. All dogs perspire through the pads of their paws, and applying ice or cool clothes to their paws is one way to cool them off as well.
Finally, you need to get your boxer to a vet immediately, as he may need other veterinary treatment as well, such as help in restoring fluids and electrolytes.
Solutions to Overheating
Boxers that are regularly exposed to heat can usually tolerate it. However, even those in the Southern and Southwestern states are at risk when the heat changes from cool or cold to hot suddenly. Just as humans need to time to acclimate, so do boxers. So when you've had a sudden increase in temperature in spring or fall, keep a close eye on your boxer for a week or so until he has acclimated.
If you take your boxer hiking or like to play fetch or other active games, there are still things that you can do to stay active in hot weather. One is to dress your boxer in a wet coat. Popular in the Southwest, these dog garments are made of materials that retain water, such as chamois or terry cloth. You soak the wet coat, and as the water evaporates it keeps your boxer cool. You can also get wet mats for your boxer's crate, which work on the same principle. Other solutions are to keep a spray bottle handy and frequently spray the pads of his feet, his underarms, ears, and genitals, where the blood vessels are closer to the surface. Some people think that spraying a dog's coat will cool him off, but the sunlight on the water usually only makes him hotter.
Some breeders suggest that you keep a squeeze bottle of honey handy for your boxer in hot weather. Honey contains a lot of electrolytes as well as vitamins and minerals, and the sugar gives instant energy, all of which helps to offset heat stress. As a preventive measure in the really hot months, some vets recommend that you crush a vitamin B tablet (twenty-five to fifty milligrams) into your boxer's food once a day or every other day. Vitamin B helps in preventing and recovering from overheating.
