People are really mad about dogs and heat stroke?

Yes I agree completely, so patronising some people! I walked my dog this morning down to the river and he had a lovely time splashing around. Admittedly it was definitely too hot this afternoon but I think people love to get on their high horses! Also read something about not letting dogs run in grass because they may get bitten by an adder! Honestly feel like people will do what they’re doing with cats next and keep them permanently indoors!!!!

Agree, it couldn't have been more than that when my dog over heated. A gentle walk in the shade might be fine, but nothing vigorous

Absolutely, I realised that when our labrador went camping 🤣 14 degrees at night and he was shivering so much he ended up needing a huge blanket 🙈 definitely used to the heating haha

There can be, depending on the dogs size, age and coat. We don't walk our dog at anything over 19. She's a giant breed dog with a double coat and she does not cope well with heat.
You can eyeroll all you want.

It was 24C on our walk this morning but I used a cooling vest and re-cooled it with some water from a dog bowl in town....which was promptly shaken all over a woman's legs 😁. I've got portable air conditioning so we stayed in with that on for the rest of the day.

My dog was more lively than usual so will use the cooling vest even when it isn't quite as warm.

I did feel as if everyone was looking and criticising. Not everyone can get up and out of the house early due to poor health.

A few years ago DH took the dog out during warmer weather after dark.. we live in the north and doest even get particularly hot. He'd been throwing the ball for him and when he got home was panting uncontrollably, legs going weak etc. We ended up having to drag him into the front garden and pour water on him to try and cool him down. I honestly thought he was going to have a seizure or die. I was furious 😡 unfortunately he doesn't let the heat stop him running round like an idiot, so keep him on a lead or don't take him out if it's warm (gets to like 25 midday here, not 35)

My large, double coated dog normally goes nuts when I get in from work, she has DH at home all day and an open door into the garden, so can go out when she wants. Today only the slightest interest and a fill of her paddling pool and play with hosepipe and she was done.
She not used to the warm weather, she's built for 'northern' climate, she's not acclimatised for heat. Lets face it 'summer' doesn't tend to last long before endless grey starts again. We can play games and we do have a local private dog park a few miles away that's in woodlands as a last resort if the heat last more than a few days.

Mumsnet has been kicking off about it all week too. I didn’t know it was such a thing till I read it here. I’ve lived in much hotter countries and dogs go about their days as normal.

Obviously if you have dogs with particularly thick coats or whatever that’s different, but I’ve been surprised to discover it’s considered cruel to let ANY dog outside AT ALL in hot weather.

Particukarly as we mostly don’t have aircon here so in many instances it might actually be cooler outside under the shade of a tree than it is indoors.

I adore dogs and never walk my dog in the midday sun during a heatwave. However, I appreciate that some people don’t have gardens or their dogs will not toilet in their own garden (as they see it as an extension of their home). Sometimes they DO need a quick wee, or a car trip to the woods (where it can in fact be much cooler than the home).

I find a lot of people getting hysterical on Facebook moaning about hot paws and dogs dying of heatstroke are the types that NEVER walk their dog anyway. So, a heatwave gives them the perfect excuse to feel justified in their lazy arse dog owning ways.

Someone actually put a post up on my local Facebook page about someone leaving their kids in a hot car (windows open) but still, apparently they were gone for 20 minutes. The comments were mainly people telling the poster to mind their own business. No one got hysterical at all!

You’ve articulated exactly why it annoys me when people take it upon themselves to tell strangers off about this sort of thing!

What you did with your dog sounds fine to me

Breed dependent!

It’s good to be cautious when you live in a mild climate. Dogs will acclimate to wherever they are, so most dogs in Britain won’t be used to heat. Dog feet will toughen and soften just like our feet, and they can get blisters on their pads just like we do. Sled dogs’ feet get used to cold temperatures and miles of running on snow and ice and dogs in hot climates will be used to walking on warm surfaces.

That said, yelling at people on Facebook is always stupid and unreasonable regardless of the reason so YANBU. 😂

God some people need some actual real problems in their lives 🤦🏻‍♀️ imagine having the fucking headspace to worry about someone else’s dog burning its paws.

(And yes, I also checked the temp of the pavement with my own foot before we set out before anyone chips in about that…). Still feeling defensive as you can see.

'Yer but how ya gonna show ya bully off if you're not parading it round town??'

There was a total and utter stupid bitch of a woman at a fun fair I went to on Saturday. Had a bulldog there, mid afternoon, about 27c. The poor thing was really struggling. It's chest was heaving trying to breathe. Stupid, stupid bitch. She looked utterly gormless. Had a child with her as well so sadly looks to have passed on her useless prick genes.

These people should be sterilised for the benefit of everything that has to breathe the same air as them.

My dog won’t wee in the garden, rather than her getting upset I take her out for 10 minutes at 12 before the heat starts to peak at 3:00 so she can go to the loo before the temp starts
to drop again. Often I’ll get someone telling me off- it really makes things unpleasant and ruins my day. But I am not going to stop- she doesn’t understand why if she’s desperate for a wee I am ignoring her needs.

A dog may never have died from missing a walk, but some certainly get very upset, and it makes them harder to keep cool when they are getting anxious and upset.

I’m not sure what we’re due. It said hot in the forecast for today but I wore my fleece until about 11! Then it was really hot for about four hours. And then foggy again.
I will look out of my window and see what we’ve got when I get up!

Our friend’s dog also died of heatstroke after an evening walk in what they thought was a bit cooler temperatures. He was only a year old.

I’m on holiday in Cornwall at the moment and it’s been a much more bearable 22 degrees or so here not the 30 + degrees everywhere else is getting. Our golden retriever has still been panting for Britain all week, he can’t cope in it.

I do think people are a bit OTT with the messaging but equally you have to know your dog and their limits and plan accordingly. We’ve been walking early in shady streams areas. But my dog loves the sun- he will choose sunny spots to lay in until he gets too hot then move into the cooler areas. I have water bowls everywhere, and fans, and I’ll shut him in the cooler rooms if needed. I think cars are the hardest things- my car was registering 37 degrees this afternoon so I ran the AC for a few minutes to cool it down before he got in. It seems sensible to be that it’s the variability that must be hard for dogs to handle- I notice that on the first cooler day after a heatwave he will sleep very soundly. I wouldn’t leave him in the car in this heat even for 10 mins.

Ah sure, the vets are obviously lying about the dogs that have come in and died as a result...

Dogs in countries that are reliably and predictably hotter tend to be better acclimated, haven't still got a massive thick coat (Which two out of three of my dogs needed just a month back) and are generally much more used to managing dogs in the heat.
Quite crucially, in other countries they either have aircon or they have houses designed to stay cool in hot weather. We have neither, so your overheated dog comes home from his stupid walk, and into a hot house ... and still can't cool down rapidly, or usefully.

And dogs do still die in other countries, its not as if its ONLY here!

The 20c in the car - you realise that in 10 minutes its heading over 27 in a car parked in full sun, windows down or not.

Time yourself next time you hop out of the car to nip into a shop, chances are you think you're five or ten minutes and you're easily double that.

Most people do not have a car with a dog-mode aircon system, so to leave the aircon running they need to leave the engine idling which isn't legal here.

I ended up snapping at a woman this weekend over this - not my finest moment but she pulled up alongside me in her Range Rover to tell me off about walking my dog in the heat.

We were away for the weekend and couldn’t exactly just sit in the hotel room (which was hot anyway) for the entire weekend. I changed my entire plans around my dog’s comfort which meant mainly just mooching from one shaded area to another forgoing all original plans.

I’d just spent over an hour with her in the shade in a pub garden with plenty of water and was doing a maximum 5 minute wee walk before we got in the air conned car to go find another shaded spot to sit in somewhere else.

Despite agreeing with her ultimate view - it was so bloody patronising I couldn’t help but snap at her that I was “an actual fully grown adult and didn’t need her help”.

We live in the south of France it was 35 degrees today and has been 30s for most of June. I think it’s just about using common sense. I have a very fur healthy dog so walk him before 10am and in the shade of trees and a river to swim in, second walk is around 9pm. If I had a frenchie I probably wouldn’t walk it at all.
I probably also wouldn’t walk my dog without shade above 25 degrees but if people are taking a quick walk in the sun to get to the woods- fair enough!

Someone taking their dog to the vet-in an aircon cooled car-was screamed at. It's funny how the interfering ones don't bother to speak up about issues that really hurt dogs, such as dog fighting, people that don't look after dogs being allowed to breed/own them, banning them from off-lead exercise etc. These people don't seem to bother about children either. Now I like dogs, but children matter-there are many people that do things that hurt their children, but a lot of people don't speak up about that.

Flying around 😂😂