People are still walking their dogs here

[Lazierdays]

It’s 29 degrees by the temperature app and the car says it’s 33.
I spoke to a man, whose staffy was being walked and had ran to a tiny bit of shade and lay down panting it’s head off, and told him he needed to get it cooled down and he told me it was ‘fine’ and to not be a ‘fucking snowflake’ .
I darent say anything else after that as he seemed menacing and I didn’t have any water on me to give the dog so couldn't be any help, and now I can’t stop thinking about that dog and the other dogs being walked in this heat.
It’s all over my friends Facebooks and local pages to not walk dogs in this heat and yet people still are . What on earth can we do to get the message out?

@AbsolutelyPatsy

So you would leave your dog in a car on a day like this if facebook disnt exist? No one to catch you, so would you leave your dog in a hot car?

You should not have a dog.

Fgs dogs pant when they’re hot.

As long as it isn’t an intense walk and they’re given lots of water, it’s very good for them to get out and they’ll soon acclimatise.

The graph a pp posted is really helpful. Some people on here sound hysterical.

@BiteyShark it was on the way back to the car park on a circular hour long walk. I had been sat resting on the grass - it was hot for a human let alone a dog! Man was texting and not looking at his dog who was near collapse. I was very polite and said something along the lines of ‘oh hey is your dog ok? It’s so hot here today you really need to get him cooled down’. He then swears at me! I think it’s crazy how people react, but like others say it’s possibly the guilt and maybe he won’t do it again next time. The thread was more about why isn’t the message getting out to people to not walk dogs in the 30 degree sun but hey. I don’t feel bad for what I’ve done today. I’ve not let my dog collapse and be at risk of dying or sworn at someone just being polite.
I was taught to speak up for those who can’t speak up for themselves and I will do so.

I’m going to leave it here now, some of the responses are puzzling to me but I am glad many others feel as I do. I hope you and your dogs all have a good weekend and manage to stay cool .

@bumblingbovine49

I often wonder what people.in much hotter countries do with their pets. My niece lives in a European country where the summers are 3-4 months of temperatures in the high 20s to high 30s, sometimes low 40s.

The vast majority of.dog owners live in appartments and seem to walk their dogs as normal when I've been there ( admittedly in spring and autumn when the temperature is more mid to high 20s). The temperature is often 28+ Deg at night . It only gets marginally cooler between about 1 am and 5am . Do all those dogs stay inside months on end? I know people and dogs do occasionally die from the heat but .they don't have mass deaths of dogs every year because of the heat.

Dogs who live in hotter climates will acclimatise to warmer temperatures than here - hence the dogs you mention being walked in the spring and autumn at temperatures in the 20's. I would be surprised if they could acclimatise to the extent that they could cope with high 20's and 30's though

I find this topic so interesting to read. 29 degrees is a normal summer temperature where I am and dogs are out all the time in this weather just fine (not locked in hot cars of course, but out for walks no problem). I wonder if dogs, like people, just acclimate to certain weather. To me 29 is not hot, its just average. And I have never seen a dog struggling in this weather.

It beggars belief doesn't it?

We have dogs;in this heat they are in the kitchen which is the coolest part of the house in the summer with a fan on circulating the air.We don't take them outside unless they are desperate for the toilet.When it cools down we then let them out.

@Brazilianut

Fgs dogs pant when they’re hot.

As long as it isn’t an intense walk and they’re given lots of water, it’s very good for them to get out and they’ll soon acclimatise.

The graph a pp posted is really helpful. Some people on here sound hysterical.

Whereas you sound spectacularly uninformed

OP, you said "oh hey is your dog ok? It’s so hot here today you really need to get him cooled down’." He then swears at me! I think it’s crazy how people react,...

I think I'd swear too, if someone not in authority lectured me like that

Like @YesIReallyDoLikeRootBeer we are living somewhere where 29 degrees is normal summer temperature and doesn't cause animals including dogs any particular issues.

I am therefore assuming that acclimatizing to the heat must be part of the answer.

I know in some states with much hotter temperatures there are laws about having to put boots on dogs feet for walking on pavements during some temperature spikes.

@paddlingon

Like *@YesIReallyDoLikeRootBeer* we are living somewhere where 29 degrees is normal summer temperature and doesn't cause animals including dogs any particular issues.

I am therefore assuming that acclimatizing to the heat must be part of the answer.

I know in some states with much hotter temperatures there are laws about having to put boots on dogs feet for walking on pavements during some temperature spikes.

I can't remember where I read it but I think I have seen something that said it takes about 3 weeks to acclimatise. Unfortunately in the uk we can go from low to a very high temperature in a day or two and therefore don't often have time to get used it it before it changes again.

and "The graph a pp posted is really helpful" - you mean the same graph (or table) which cited temperatures even as modest as 21 degrees as potentially harmful to some breeds and highlighted 29 degrees (the temperature the OP has cited) as either (4) “Dangerous weather developing” or (5) “Potentially life threatening heat” (whether it is 4 or 5 depends upon general health, age and breed of dog)

Make up your mind – if the ‘graph’ is really helpful then clearly you must agree with its recommendations and agree with the OP, so who is being “hysterical” Brazilianut?

I don’t have dogs now but when I did, walks in the summer hear were early in the morning and then once the sun had gone an it was cool.

Common sense, right?

So many dogs being walked on burning hot pavements

*summer heat

Exactly Biteyshark acclimatising takes time

I'm going to walk mine tonight. It is just too hot for them.

@YesIReallyDoLikeRootBeer

I find this topic so interesting to read. 29 degrees is a normal summer temperature where I am and dogs are out all the time in this weather just fine (not locked in hot cars of course, but out for walks no problem). I wonder if dogs, like people, just acclimate to certain weather. To me 29 is not hot, its just average. And I have never seen a dog struggling in this weather.

I was just about to post something similar. 29 degrees would not be considered hot where I live. In fact, that would be a pleasant summer temperature. Dogs are walked as usual at such temperatures.

Some years ago I lived in another location, and one summer the temperatures reached 38 degrees every day for nearly two months. I walked my dog in the morning or the evening, not in the heat of the day, but even so 29 degrees was about the coolest it ever was in that period.

You can’t argue with the stupid at least wait till this evening when the sun goes in .

Can you come and have a word with my dog. He's currently mooing at me because he wants to go back out and lay in the sun. He'd cook if I let him I swear 😩

Unfortunately no one appreciates unsolicited advice from a stranger.

@SmidgenofaPigeon

Aye, of course it was a staffy owner who was aggressive!

I always do feel awful seeing dog paws on hot pavements though

Is there something special about staffy owners? I wouldn't know - though have known a couple of people in the past who have had that breed of dog and they seemed ordinary enough.

It's a shame you were rebuffed op but I daresay the owner was aware that it wasn't a good idea and took his dog home. He was probably embarrassed about anyone commenting.

Over now, leave it behind.

Hardly 'retribution' @AbsolutelyPatsy, that's a touch of hyperbole right there.

@Lazierdays

It’s 29 degrees by the temperature app and the car says it’s 33. I spoke to a man, whose staffy was being walked and had ran to a tiny bit of shade and lay down panting it’s head off, and told him he needed to get it cooled down and he told me it was ‘fine’ and to not be a ‘fucking snowflake’ . I darent say anything else after that as he seemed menacing and I didn’t have any water on me to give the dog so couldn't be any help, and now I can’t stop thinking about that dog and the other dogs being walked in this heat. It’s all over my friends Facebooks and local pages to not walk dogs in this heat and yet people still are . What on earth can we do to get the message out?

You told a random stranger off for taking his dog a walk? You sound bonkers.

@Imnothereforthedrama

You can’t argue with the stupid at least wait till this evening when the sun goes in .

This. ^

@Imnothereforthedrama

You can’t argue with the stupid at least wait till this evening when the sun goes in .

This.. ^

Our vet shared the 'dogs don't die from missing one walk, but one walk could kill them' thing on Facebook - one woman obviously took it literally and asked 'if there's a run of hot weather is it ok for them to miss walks for more than one day?'. Honestly!?! You need to ask that on the vet's page? Some poor dogs never get walked yet are very much still alive. Does she think the RSPCA will take her dogs if they're not walked? Ours were out at 6.30 this morning, any later and it's too warm for them.