To tell MIL not to walk the dog in this heat?

[crazycatgal]

MIL thought it would be a great idea to take the dog out for a walk at 1pm when the temperature was 28 degrees.

DP and I have had to argue with her to get her to keep the dog inside. We've told her that the advice from the RSPCA is to walk early morning or evening, her response is that she's had dogs for 30 years so knows what she's doing.

Were we being unreasonable to tell her to keep the dog inside? We ended up in an argument because she couldn't accept that she was in the wrong although she eventually gave in.

He could have burned his paws on the pavements as it is so hot. Mine were walked at 8am and even then it was on lead instead of their normal free run.

I'd give your dog to someone who knows how to care for it.

Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun.

Here in the western U.S. summers are always hot and we (and our dogs) tend to keep to the shade at the hottest times of the day, unless we’re at the lake or beach.

www.lyrics.com/lyric/17462633/Noël+Coward/Mad+Dogs+and+Englishmen

She was vvvvvvvu!ask her to put her winter clothes on and go for a walk and see if she still thinks it's ok.stupid igorance.

YANBU. We have an 18 month old husky who has is panting from heat even indoors next to a fan (doesn’t help that he’s a twit who chose to sunbathe). Due to his breed and exercise requirements he has been walked at either 6am or 10pm but if I had a smaller dog/overweight dog unused to walks I would just make sure they had access to water and a garden and not walk them.

Shouldn't be walking dogs in this heat. They can't cope with it and the scorching ground will burn their paws.

you cannot male such a blanket rule.
depends on the dog, the walk and the time of day.

so many factors- how fit is the dog? how overweight is the dog? What colour is its coat? How thick is its coat? what is it used to? Where are you walking? How much shade? How much (if any) on pavements? How much access to river/stream t cool off?

My dog still gets his 1.5 hours. But he is young, very fit, slim, has a thin coat, is white, and we walk on grass, in shaded woods and paths, he dips in and out of the cold river, and we go out at 8 am. He is fine.

I'm not walking mine in this heat but the big lump insists on sunbathing. If I move the parasol over him he moves back into full sun. Bonkers!

YANBU
I passed a guy out jogging/ running at quite a pace with his black dog at 1pm today.
The outside temperature is 28 degrees.
I turned the car round, put the window down and asked if he had far to go.
I told him he was putting his dog at risk running in this heat and that it was cruel to make a dog run like that.
He told me he knew his own dog and that it was fine.
The dog didn’t look fine - black Labrador cross.

The lack of common sense and general stupidity just astounds me.
Have felt upset about the poor animal all afternoon - hope they got home ok and the owner doesn’t do it again.

Not walking my almost 13 year old Lab in this heat, way too much for him. He likes the idea of walkies, but he'd be flagging within a couple of minutes. Cant stand seeing people walking dogs in the heat of the day.

I am also in the depends on the dog and the walk camp.

Mine have been out every day since the ‘heatwave’ started. On the beach or in the shady woods and taking it easy but walked non the less.

If your clueless enough to walk a dog to death you shouldn’t own it in the first place.

@Fairgame84 mine is the same! I keep giving him ice cubes to try and keep him cool but he then goes back to lay in the sun!

Since the heatwave started I’ve walked my dogs at 7 am in the woods and taken the younger one back out at 8pm some evenings.
Always in the shade and shorter walks than usual.

My dog walker has said no to taking mine out midday and I trust her implicitly, she's been coming at 9am and even then, it's been 20+ so she's stuck to shaded woodland walks with a stream.

From what you've described, that dog should definitely not be out walking at dinner time. I've avoided going out myself - a) 38 weeks pregnant and b) I cannot bare to see people walking their dogs in this heat

YANBU

Today I drove home cross country, behind a landrover with 5 huskies in it. They ALL had their heads stuck out the windows and were clearly having a good time but it was around mid-day and 82 degrees. My Ddog needs his dew claws clipped and I'm reluctant to put him in the car just for the short vet trip. Think he'll have to wait til it cools down.

YANBU it's just common sense. I work in a vets and we've had 2 dogs in this week with heatstroke, both elderly, both brought in by dog walkers who thought it'd be fine to walk elderly dogs out on the hills with young fit dogs . One very nearly didn't make it, came in with a body temperature of 41.5c!.

YANBU. From what you've described the dog appears unfit anyway so putting more pressure on him to walk when it is so hot is cruel.

It's a risk no serious dog owner should take. I mean seriously, who enjoys walking in a heatwave anyway let alone covered in fur as a dog is.

These threads confuse me... I grew up walking barefoot on black tarmac when it was 28+ degrees out. Yes I kept moving, but it wasn't a huge problem when I was a little kid. I imagine many dogs have tougher feet than I did.

About 95-100 deg. F, the tarmac gets too hot for barefeet.

I work at a vets as well. We've had 2 suffering with heatstroke. One died, one is still alive but very ill.

Considering the dog is overweight and there's not much shade where they're walking, your mum is being very foolish.

Show this to your mum.

Sorry MIL not mum.

He's an 8 year old dog that is overweight and unfit (was only adopted a week ago and isn't used to exercise) and he has a long double-coat

Absolutely YANBU. Not appropriate given the above, or at all really. Why take the risk?

I used to work at a vets, started at the beginning of summer. Went home in tears every day for over a week. It’s a hard, horrible time of year for some pets. Seeing otherwise fit and healthy animals being brought in as emergencies that could have been entirely prevented, is absolutely heartbreaking.

A walk on the beach splashing in the sea or a nice cool dark wood is fine, a quick trot around the block to stop the dog pestering is also if the dog wants it, depends on the dog and depends on the walk.

People really hate being told what to do don’t they?

Our stupid dog keeps asking to go for a walk. It is too hot in the back garden, so he keeps asking to go out the front. He has the same issue in the rain. He hates the rain, so when he can see it is raining out the back, he asks to go out the front.

YANBU, I don't even have a dog but it's far too hot to walk them in this heat at the hot times of the day.
There's been plenty of warnings on social media/in the news about not doing it too so you'd have to be pretty ignorant to carry on doing it.
I was outside in the garden on the concrete the other day in bare feet pegging washing out and you couldn't have your feet on the concrete for more than a few seconds without an "ouch!" and starting to do a dance to keep them from burning!
(UK)