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For the past few weeks, we have been living in a hazy world. My daily habit in the summer is the wake-up, stretch, and then look out the window. Usually, I'm greeted by the moon as it turns in for the day and the promise of a blue sky. Lately, I'm greeted by an overcast day and a haze of fog. Then I go outside, and I'm reminded that what I'm seeing is smoke.

Here in Western Washington, we're surrounded on three sides by wildfires – Canada, Eastern Washington, and California. The Pacific Northwest has been living under a constant cloud of smoke – we can smell it at our house. And each week, the weather forecasters tell us to stay indoors, wear a mask if we have to go outdoors (I ordered mine), and that this won't be forever.

This weekend was supposed to be better, it wasn't, and I stayed home (a sore throat, headache, pressure on my chest, coughing and sneezing, itchy eyes) for two days. I feel better, but I'm still living with a headache and low energy – it's amazing what the poor air quality is doing for me.

So what's it doing for our dogs?

DepositPhoto/alinbrotea

Signs of Smoke Irritation in Dogs

According to The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), if the smoke is irritating us, then it's a problem for our pets too.  Dogs with cardiovascular or respiratory diseases are especially at risk and should be closely monitored when the air quality is low.

Signs that your dog may be experiencing smoke irritation include;

• Coughing or gagging
• Difficulty breathing, including open mouth breathing and increased noise when breathing
• Eye irritation and excessive watering
• Inflammation of throat or mouth
• Nasal discharge
• Asthma-like symptoms
• Increased breathing rate
• Fatigue or weakness
• Disorientation or stumbling
• Reduced appetite and/or thirst

Source: American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA)

Protecting Dogs from Wildfire Smoke

What we see with our dogs is increased panting or mouth breathing, and this has forced us to change our daily exercise regime to keep them safe.

• Our dogs are spending more time indoors, only going outside for potty breaks and brief walks.
• Games of fetch and swimming in the ponds have been suspended for now.
• When we do exercise, it's when we get brief reprieves from the smoke (it's more clear outside)
• We keep our windows shut.
• We've been running our A/C despite the slightly cooler temps to keep the air in our house cleaner.
• I've been dusting the house every other day to remove any additional irritants from inside the home.
• We keep fresh water on hand for the dogs.
• We're respecting the burn ban; no need to make matters worse.

Because of the past couple of weeks, I've started to build an evacuation kit for our pets to keep them safe.  I already have a first aid kit, I purchased a larger Rubbermaid container (with lid) to create my Zombie Apocalypse kit.

Keeping Our Dogs Healthy

As with everything that might impact my dogs' health, my focus is always to strengthen their immune system.  Keeping our dogs indoors is a big step towards keeping them safe, I'm thankful for the research I've done to learn what supplements are best to improve their immune system.  But I have a few tricks to make Life Inside better for our dogs:

• I've also been adding Ewegurt to their meals daily to keep them calm.
• I've also been diffusing a combination of Ho Wood, Frankincense, and Lavender during the day.
• I've created silly games for the dogs (I'm learning how to juggle) and breaking out the Fluff and Tuff dog toys, which we save for the shorter winter days.

It may seem like a great idea to give our dogs chews/treats on days when they have to stay indoors.  If it were just one or two days, it would be okay.  It's been nearly two weeks of decreased air quality and a week when the dogs were only allowed outside on short breaks.  I don't want to add additional calories to their diet when what they need is brain activity, hence, the silly games that we make up every day.

On my way to work today, there was a breeze and it was sprinkling a little bit so I'm praying that the wildfires will be going away soon.

Stay safe.