This past weekend, Itzl, Xoco, and I ran a pet watering booth at the OU Medieval Fair. I've volunteered out there for 35 years, Itzl's been out there for 7 years, and Xoco for 2 years, so we're all experienced.
We named our booth "Water Paws" both for the play on words and the description of what we did - providing pet comfort for the animals brought to the Fair.
We spent 9 hours working in the Fair Office on Thursday (not sure how that happened, most years, my Thursday shift is generally only 4 hours). The extra time spent on site meant I had less preparation time for the actual fair itself.
This is what the Water Paws looked like from the Fair Office Thursday afternoon:
And this is what it looked like when it opened Friday morning:
It wasn't long before the dogs began to find us. At first, Itzl had to greet each new visitor, but as the day wore on and so many dogs showed up, he retreated back to his chair or his carrier.
The temperatures rose into the low 90's - 10 degrees warmer than expected, so Itzl and Xoco spent a lot of time in their chair, resting on the ice packs I brought for cooling dogs down:
They spent a lot of the weekend on that chair. I changed out the ice packs as they thawed, and refroze the packs at night to be fresh and frozen for the next day. My ice chest kept the ones in it frozen solid all day, and kept the thawed ones cold enough to provide gentle cooling for the tiny puppies that visitied the booth, like this tiny puppy:
This trio of harlequin danes visited several times during the day:
We actually became the center focus for a number of people with pets. They'd stop by Water Paws to get water for the pet (mostly dogs - 95% dogs, but we got cats, ferrets, snakes, and rats, too), wander out through one part of the fair, pass us for more water, then go through another part of the fair and pass us again for more water. I was glad to see repeat pets because that meant they were staying hydrated.
Friday, the temps were modified by a slight breeze, about 30 mph, and cloudy skies, so dogs and people didn't suffer a lot.
Saturday was a completely different story. There was no wind. None to speak of, anyway, as the wind barely topped 10 mph. There was very little cloud cover. We were kept insanely busy cooling off dogs with heat stress - we soaked their paws, bellies, ears to cool them off, and brought the worst ones inside the tent to cool off in the shade. There were a dozen dogs that suffered heat exhaustion. We rehydrated them with slurps of water. And when they were better, I suggested they take the dog home. If they were unwilling to do that, I asked that they keep to the shade as much as possible, make sure the dog stayed shaded, and that they kept the paws and belly cooled off. I also asked that they come by often for water. Most of them did that, so we'd see the same dogs over and over.
There were 5 dogs that suffered either severe heat exhaustion or the early stages of heat stroke - all black dogs. These dogs we cooled gently, rehydrated slowly, kept in the shade inside the tent, and strongly suggested they take the dog straight to the emergency vet for IV fluids and further evaluation. I have them directions to the nearest 24 hour emergency vet clinic. Those dogs, I didn't see again, so I'm hoping they all made it to the vet's.
I flushed grass bits out of the eyes of 3 Dachshunds and 4 Chihuahuas, and a splinter from one Great Dane's paw.
This Chihuahua was very happy to get her eye flushed, and so was her owner!
A Maine Coon cat came for water and snacks - preferring the soft treats to the crunchy ones. One woman brought out a 3 week old kitten she was nursing, so I provided her with a portable ice pack to keep the kitten cool.
An albino python (I see this python at the fair every year) came to cool off, along with 2 smaller constrictors. The smallest constrictor was so cute - when we were pouring the water over its scales, it started weaving its head up the water stream. It looked so happy.
A couple of rats came to bathe in the water bowls, along with several ferrets. The ferrets were tolerating the heat better than I expected. I gave the owners portable ice packs for them, too, just in case.
Itzl's wings were so popular that every vendor at the fair selling dog wings sold out. During Fair Check-Out, they all said a little Chihuahua from Water Paws sent the dogs to them.
This pug got his wings, but he came back after my camera stopped working so I didn't get the return photo.
These dogs came back to show off their new wings:
I handed out many portable ice packs to puppies and small dogs, and told them they could refill the baggies with more ice to help keep their pooches cool - and if they got a parasol or something to provide shade, they and the little dog would be quite comfortable.
Sunday was hotter, but we had a breeze of about 30 mph, which made it more tolerable for people and harder on dogs. The breeze didn't penetrate through their thick winter fur - most of the dogs were still carrying their winter coats.
I handed out so many ice packs to ferrets, cats, puppies, and tiny dogs. Most of the Sunday dog owners were more careful of their dogs than the Saturday crowds, so I only dealt with one case of heat stroke.
That one was a full winter-coated St. Bernard. He was so very hot he was drolling and panting hard. I asked if I could wet him down, and soaked his paws, belly, ears, and then the rest of him. 5 minutes later, he was completely dry, so I asked if I could wet him down again, and could we move him to the shade? His heart was racing so fast I couldn't count them. I wet him down, placed him in front of the fan, and he collapsed. I dampened his paws with rubbing alcohol, and that revived him a bit, but he was shaky and unable to stand. I explained to the tiny woman walking him (she didn't weigh more than 90 pounds) that he was in serious condition, that he was beyond heat stress and suffering heat stroke. He needed to get to a vet ASAP for IV fluids and support. She couldn't get him up and there was no way she could carry a dog that weighed more than she did, so I called for a gater to transport him to her car. As we were waiting for the gater, her husband finally answered his phone and he got there before the gater. He manhandled the St. Bernard up and dragged him off, weaving and stumbling and sometimes falling back down.
I told the man he needed to get the dog to a vet ASAP, and gave directions to the 24 hour vet hospital. He responded by saying they were getting the dog shaved on Monday and they'd just give him water and he'd be fine.
I explained the dog had full-blown heat stroke and he would not get better quickly. He needed vet care.
The man didn't listen, but I hope the woman did. I hope that St. Bernard got the cae he needed.
He was the worst case out there the entire weekend. He wasn't the only St. Bernard - the other owners took more care of their dogs. The other St. Bernards were already shaved and they kept them hydrated and used the shade well.
This little charmer came to visit and thought she'd just take over the entire tent and make it her favorite home-away-from-home:
As did this gorgeous Silken Windhound:
And this darling little Pekinese named Molly:
It wasn't just pets we cooled off - we filled water bottles for people, and even sprayed them down - if they asked and barked for us. A lot of people came up to Water Paws and said, "We heard that if we barked, you'd wet us down, so, um, arf?"
The men at the Norman Emergency Medical Response CORPS kept sending people over to make sure we had all the help we needed. The university APO did the same thing. I had plenty of volunteers because we got to see all the puppies and dogs, and ferrets and cats and snakes and rats that came to the Fair. We got to play with them, give them cookies, and hand out pooper scooper bags, discount coupons for vets, and more.
Most of the dogs (and their owners) loved the booth. Next year, I plan to make several changes. The Plague Booth, run by the Norman Emergency Medical Response CORPS wants us to be next to them since they have a people cooling station (spritzers people can walk through), and the glass blower wants beside us because she has compressed oxygen in case any dogs need it, plus she has really good tent heaters if the Fair is cold (far more common than this brutal heat).
I plan to provide a wading pool for the dogs next year. If the Fair is hot again, that will be useful in cooling dogs down who are only heat stressed - and keep me from getting as soaked. I spent most of the weekend rather damp, so it's a good thing all my costumes are 100% cotton.
I also plan to make a nice information panel similar to the one I provided for the Norman Emergency Medical Resonse CORPS' Plague Booth:
Except, the panel I want to put together involves service animals. I found references to animals being used to assist the lame, the blind, and the deaf as far back as the 15th. Formal training of animals for assisting the disabled seems to have started in Germany - at least those are the earliest recorded references I can find. Recorded means written in a story or diary or letter, or a painting or tapestry weaving or illuminated letters or a woodcut. Sometimes, it's hard to tell if it's actually an animal providing a service or just being a dog, so I discounted the ambiguous ones.
Still, there's material out there to indicate animals have been used to assist people with various disabilities for far longer than most people think, and I think a panel on that would interest pet owners.
Plus, I want to design some flyers to hand out about caring for pets at Fairs - mostly weather issues such as heat, cold, rain, ice...but also dealing with foreign objects in the eyes and splinters and cuts, especially on the paws.
Based on the photos I took before my camera crapped out, as well as the number of pooper scooper bags we gave away, there were over 2,000 dogs cared for at Water Paws, and I think we saw perhaps 1/3 of all the pets out at the Fair.
Edited to add: The City of Norman Emergency Medical Response CORPS gave me a service coin award:
I've never gotten a service coin before. Usually, I get plaques, certificates, or service pins. This is pretty awesome.