AIBU to be upset my parents walked the dog in this heat?

All these threads about walking dogs in hot weather seem to invoke hyperbole about "wearing a fur coat"!

Having fur is not like "wearing a fur coat", any more than having hair is like wearing a wig. (Believe me, I have to wear a wig and it is hot hot hot, in a way that simply having hair is not not not.)

Unless you have acquired a dog that has the kind of heavy coat intended for sub-zero landscapes (in which case, why did you do that?), or you are failing to clip a dog whose coat needs appropriate clipping, it is very likely that your dog's coat is providing him/her with insulation against heat in summer, as well as against cold in winter.

This is why mammals in hot countries are not routinely bald. (Shout-out to elephants and rhinos, though. I'm sure they have their own, distinct, strategies of protection against heat.)

Us usual on these threads, there are also several horrified mentions o of dogs panting! You might just as well be horrified by humans sweating.
Panting serves the same function for dogs that sweating does for humans. Both are a totally fine adaptation to heat, and are not, in themselves, a sign of distress.

I can't see in any of the OP's posts what breed her dog is, how old it is, what health problems it may have. So I'm assuming she feels that no dog should be walked at temps higher than around 20 degrees. I can't for the life of me think why this should apply to dogs in general, any more than it should apply to humans in general.

Unless the OP's dog is one of the unhealthy breeds, or is old or ill, I'm guessing that any temperature-and-activity combo that is comfortable for a couple in their 70s is comfy for the dog. If the OP doesn't trust them to make their own day-to-day commonsense judgements about the dog, it probably wasn't fair on them to ask them to take responsibility for it

Why did you go on holiday and leave your dog in this situation?

The dog should be a member of your family.

Where we live it is well over 40 degrees at the moment, and will go over 50 by the time the summer is over.

We walk our Maltipoo around 7am and 7pm. We keep walks short (he’s a lazy bugger anyway), try to walk mostly on grass, and take water for him. A lot of people put their dogs in shoes during the summer.

I’d be really upset and very worried about the rest of the holiday. You literally gave them the easier thing to do (miss the walk entirely rather than get up early). I would just never leave the dog with them again in the warmer seasons. Professional dog sitters/kennels wouldn’t risk pavement walks in those temperatures, especially if you had specified not to. They may even have access to shaded land/AC transport for such occasions. Dog businesses close to me offer this as there are woodland enclosed dog parks they can hire.

Me and DH (both in our 70's) walked our dog at 7am and then 11pm yesterday. It was far too hot to walk at 10.

Yeah and at 20 or even 26 the pavement will be just fine so ok to crack on.

20 degrees is an incredibly low cut off point for walking - unless your dog is elderly, brachycephalic or unwell in some way?

I’m with you OP totally unacceptable. Rule is you put your hand on floor (pavement will be hotter) and if it’s too hot then think about their paws! Some people are just pure selfish

It's not about the heat of the tarmac. It's about their ability to breathe under exertion in extreme temperatures. Like people, dogs can have heat stroke and it can happy quickly and be lethal especially if someone is unaware of the signs.

People aren't always educated about how much a dog can be put under strain when it's hot i.e. playing fetch, running, walking fast etc. If left to their own devices, most dogs will lounge in the shade or nap during the heat of the day. But, often, owners feel a strange compulsion to exercise their dogs when they should just be left alone.

It’s all got a bit ridiculous. How do people think dogs survive in Greece or Africa? Fine if tarmac is melting I see the sense then but a short walk around in 26 degrees is not going to harm your dog!

This!

If it's heading towards 30 degrees then fair enough - but that is usual temp for summer anyways. No - I don't think your parents are 'being rude' by walking your dog 🙄

I’m in Italy. It was 33 here yesterday.
yes we still walk the dogs.
usually in the cooler parts of the day - mornings and evenings.
mine go to a daycare centre ( basically a massive field) where they run around with other dogs while I work. There’s shade for them. They send me videos at work. Dddog could opt to lie in the shade but prefers to runs round in the sun with the other dogs, whom all seem to choose the same. Comes come happy and tired.

I walked mine at 6am yesterday but she won’t go to the toilet in the garden so at 4pm (33!) I had to walk her down a shady road.

You shouldn’t have left her with them if you wanted this much control. Either holiday where you can take her or pay someone to look after her.

I live somewhere hot and have a big black dog. If it’s a heatwave here we go out earlier or later in the day. I usually avoid 11-3 outside. I’m mostly worried about the heat of stone on his pads. Their fur keeps heat out as well as in, it’s the same concept as insulation so I’m less worried there. A quick once around the block, no big deal. A 2 hour trip, not great. Like PP said, in heatwaves our AC cools to 25 degrees as we try not to run up bills, and that is a pretty comfortable temp for all.

Curious about what temperature constitutes a UK heatwave now.

I'm in Australia (Sydney) and our heatwaves are 40 degree days. We probably wouldn't walk our dogs in that, mostly because the pavement would be way too hot. But my husband takes them for a run in the morning every single day when in summer it's high 20s or low 30s.

They are dalmatians, so short coat.

Our air conditioner is set to 23-24 degrees during summer to cool us down!

There is no need to be acclimatised from birth for a mammalian body to acclimatise to seasonal variations or even after relocation to a hotter or colder country.

is it not the principle though?

No. youre being rude, controlling, and hysterical with your lectures treating them like morons. Once you've realised you were doing all that- you've changed to it being about the PRINCIPLE of it all.

I wonder how they tolerate this nonsense from you. I doubt its a once off

YANBU re walking dogs in the heat
YABVU thinking that you can micromanage your parents, who aren't dog owners and are 70 years old, remotely and then complain about what they do

You sound ungrateful and entitled and with no sense of reality regarding what it means to leave your dog with others who aren't you.

I really do not get this thread or the graphic. It is safe to take a dog for a walk up to 35C at sea level. You just ensure there is shade and take a pop up dog bowl and water. If you’re walking on concrete, you put little booties on to protect their paws from the hot ground. If you’re high altitude, up to 40C is ok because there is big temperature difference in the shade. You just walk slower and don’t do things like throw balls or have them run. If you can walk where they can pop into a stream for a dip to cool off, even better.

The OP saying it’s too hot at 20C is ridiculous imho. I lived in Mexico for years where it hardly ever got below 30C even in winter and we still walked our dogs. What do you think people and dogs in hot countries do? Stay indoors?

If there were a similar thread about don’t walk your dog when it’s below 0C, Scots and Canadians would be making similar comments.

If 80 degrees was genuinely the absolute safety limit for all dogs, half the US and massive parts of the rest of the world would need to start operating on vampire rules from May through September 😭 Where I live it can still be over 80 well after sunset. Obviously use common sense and don’t drag a bulldog across boiling asphalt at noon, but some of these comments act like every healthy dog immediately collapses into decline the second the temperature leaves the sixties.

Wrong! It’s not the same thing at all. Dog fur helps to regulate their temperature and keep them cool, especially double coated breeds

And while we’re at it a human standing on a hot pavement is not the same as a dog doing it, the skin on their feet is much tougher.

Not saying we shouldn’t be sensible about walking dogs, but a shady walk at 26C is fine for most healthy dogs.

IKR? And lots of very hot countries have loads of strays just fending for themselves. You wonder how on earth they survive.

YANBU to be upset but it’s on you as well - you should have reminded them the day before. They are not dog owners themselves and I suspect that this approach is more recent so they just haven’t thought about it. Yes, you told them but they probably forgot because it’s not on their radar in general.
added : I don’t know much about dogs so I won’t even think twice seeing them out at 26 C .

They're doing you a favour remember. If you're not happy with their services find another mug.

While the dogs are more used to it, in the summer, in Melbourne, you see lots of people walking their dogs at 6.00.a.m. to avoid the heat. Some of them in their 70s!
An odd aspect of Melbourne is the hottest part of the day in summer is late afternoon, so it goes hot, then very hot indeed. Often it means walking at 7.00. I get round this by driving to wooded off-leash areas or down to the sea at 5.00. to avoid the burned paws.