Warning, Will Robinson! Danger approaching!

Last night at training class I got a good reminder of exactly how little heat tolerance French Bulldogs in general, and Dax in particular, have. We were doing some run-throughs in preparation for the trial this weekend. Dax is usually a happy girl in training - trotting around, busy and interested. Last night she was rather slow and seemed a bit frightened. Something was definitely off-kilter.
It occurred to me that even though the place is air-conditioned, it's been a bit warmer and definitely more humid. I offered Dax some tap water - no response. Looking around, another handler had brought a big bucket of ice water for her Goldens. I know you're not supposed to give ice water to a dog suffering from heat stroke, but I asked if I could wet her down. While I was asking, Dax helped herself! Stuck her big head in the bucket, slurped some ice water and I had a new dog! Happy, revived, active - ready to take on the world.
It's all the evidence I needed - I'll seriously consider the temperature whenever I'm taking Dax out. For the trial this weekend, even though it's in air-conditioning, I'm planning to borrow a friend's ice bed for Dax's crate. I'm not going to take any chances with heat stroke - it kills.
For an excellent rundown on the dangers of heat for dogs - read this post from the FrogDog Blog: It's time to watch out for heatstroke.