How to keep your dog healthy in the heat:

After noticing a rash in heat-related dog emergencies on the trails, the city of Boulder's Open Space and Mountain Parks department is urging dog owners to take the following measures to keep their pets healthy:

Walk your dog in the early morning or evening when temperatures are cooler.

If you have to walk your dog at midday, find a shady trail.

Stop often for rests.

Bring plenty of extra water for your dog.

Know the signs of heat emergencies in dogs, including excessive panting and drooling, listlessness, muscle tremors, vomiting, diarrhea, seizures, sitting down, stumbling or collapsing.

Take action immediately if your dog is in distress.

After rescuing more overheated dogs from open space trails than normal this summer, the city of Boulder is asking owners to be extra careful when taking their four-legged friends out for a walk in the sun.

The Open Space and Mountain Parks department has posted signs at popular trailheads urging owners to choose shady trails, hike in the morning and evenings and stop frequently to let Fido cool down.

"I was seeing so many of these heat-related emergencies that it was really getting to me, and I felt like somehow we need to get more information out there about this," said lead ranger Jean Koszalka.

Koszalka said when she's out on the trails, she often notices dogs that are having a hard time when their owners don't.

"When you talk to people on the trail about dogs and heat stroke, I just don't think it registers that the dog is wearing a fur coat," she said. "If a person put on a fur coat and went out running in 95-degree heat, that same thing would happen."

Koszalka did not have numbers readily available, but she said not all the rescued dogs have survived. Those that do make it can often thank volunteer rescuers, who help carry the animals out on a special dog stretcher.

"Rocky Mountain Rescue helps us out with the people resources," she said. "So we've got people who are leaving work and coming to help carry these dogs down the mountain after the owners haven't done the right thing."

Carisa Ralph, a veterinarian at Arapahoe Animal Hospital in Boulder, said she's glad the city is helping educate people about the issue. She said owners should remember that an animal may continue to follow its owner even when it's struggling with the heat.

"We're the alphas in the pack -- we are the pack leaders, and we need to recognize that," she said. "If we're leading the pack, we need to make sure the pack members are OK."

Ralph said signs of overheating include excessive panting and drooling, listlessness, muscle tremors, vomiting, diarrhea and, in the worst cases, seizures. Owners should also pay attention to their dogs if they sit down, stumble or collapse.

"Dogs should not fall. They have four legs," she said. "If a dog falls in the woods, there's likely an issue and they need to turn around."

Kate Crawford, who was sitting in the shade with her dog, Keegan, at Chautauqua on Monday afternoon, agreed that owners should pay attention to how their dogs are acting. Keegan, she said, usually likes to run around when he gets a chance to play outside. When he doesn't, she knows something isn't right. She also brings a lot of extra water with her in the summer.

"That whole thing was full of water," she said, pointing to a now-empty 96-ounce plastic bottle. "Keegan gets more water when it's hot, and we go slower. We take a break all the time."

Contact Camera Staff Writer Laura Snider at 303-473-1327 or sniderl@dailycamera.com.