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.

You seem ever so irritated on this thread Pee. Is the heat getting to you too? ☀️

I think so too Rainbow. I'm very much reminded of my Mum who sulks, tantrums and takes it very personally whenever I parent differently or dare to say that advice has changed since she was bringing up children a few decades ago.

Our small princess hasn’t had s walk for 2 weeks just a pad around the garden and lying in the shade.

Unfortunately some people are arrogant arses and some of these arrogant arses have dogs they feel they ‘own’not love and as part of the family go care for like a child.

Good for you op. Your mil is an idiot.

I think if you ignore recent best practise and advice you shouldn’t have a fecking dog.

A dog won't die from not being walked.

Not worth the risk in this heat and humidity

the pavement is boiling hot for their paws!!!! uncomfortable, even painful

grass not so bad i would have thought.

anyway, RSPCA are spot on.

Sounds like he needs a trip to the groomers for a short hair cut and to be walked at dusk or dawn.

With plenty of water on hand.

YANBU.

My dog is old, slightly overweight and doesn't cope well in the heat. He loves his garden, the backdoor is wide open atm but he is asleep in the shady area of the living room.

The closest to the garden he gets in weather like this is laying on the kitchen floor, watching through the open door. Even then, that's an early morning and evening activity atm.

He would walk, he would happily walk, with his tail wagging and fat arse wobbling if I asked him. He would be wagging his tail right up until he collapsed of heat stroke. It's what dogs do. That's why so many of them end up sick and dying in this weather. They are bred to please us even to the detriment of their own health.

Apart from trips to the vet and a few gentle strolls around the block after 10pm, he hasn't been out since the hot weather started.

Frequency fat arse wobbling

Don’t you know booty Is in. How very dare you

Read as far as 2 comments saying depends on the dog.
No, no it doesn't!! It's just highly irresponsible to walk them in that heat!

it really really does depend on the dog, the walk and the weather where you are.
So, I don't walk in the middle of the day. Too hot.
I don't walk on pavements
I walk in shaded woods and by a stream.
My dog is young (but not a puppy) fit and slim, with a light, white coat.

He very clearly has different levels of panting, what you might call normal panting, and then serious panting. In all this warm weather, he has only got as far as serious panting once, and we looped straight back to the river, where he paddled and drank for 10 minutes and cooled off, and then we went home.

It is highly irresponsible to walk a dog in the context of the OP. It is highly irresponsible to walk a dog in a context where they will over heat.
But as many poster have said, when there is an appropriate walk, and when you chose your time and place for walking, walking is fine.

RSPCA warning article after "fit and healthy dog" collapses and dies in heat

www.standard.co.uk/news/rspca-issues-warning-after-fit-and-healthy-dog-collapses-and-dies-after-being-taken-for-a-walk-in-a3876551.html

I'm not even a dog person but surely it's better to be safe than sorry in the interests of looking after your animal?

In all this warm weather, he has only got as far as serious panting once, and we looped straight back to the river, where he paddled and drank for 10 minutes and cooled off, and then we went home

Please don't do this. Water kills more dogs than heat in this weather. Dogs are prone to water intoxication, which kills slowly and is symptom-less until the dog is already suffering organ failure.

If you must take your dog out in the sun, try to stick to shady areas, take regular breaks and offer small but frequent drinks of fresh water from a water dispenser. Avoid off lead walks around rivers and ponds.

Oh for goodness sake.

I'll just wrap him in cotton wool shall I?

He paddled. Up and down in the cool water. He drank some of the water. Not much more than he does in the middle of winter when he has been running.

No, he didn't over drink. No he wasn't in danger of water intoxication.
He was a warm dog. Not very warm, as we had been walking in shady woods early in the morning, but a bit warm, and he cooled off by standing in the cool water.

and in that RSPCA article, it talks about dogs being walked 'on the school run' ie on pavements at 3pm, very hot, and 'the hottest time of day is 4pm' when everyone on this thread who is saying you can walk the dog, has said early morning or late evening.

and it says to cool them down with cool water. (which is what the river is)

My black lab is still getting 3 walks a day as he's on a strict re-hab regime following elbow dysplasia surgery.

It's a massive pain tbh. Walking at 5.30am, lunchtime in completely shaded woods with stream (gets at least 3 times in stream fully submerged apart from head), and evening (either late or in woods again depending on heat). All car trips with max AC setting (so cold I struggle to tolerate it after about 15 mins). But it's just what you have to do.

I keep a very close eye for panting and tongue colour, and so far, he hasn't been struggling on walks at all.

Keep him cool at home by following the shade (front of house in morning, decking in afternoon) and dyson fan. Annoyingly, he won't go in the paddling pool or on the cool mat, but I try!

I will be very glad when it cools down and I can sleep beyond 5am and stop having to shift dog beds/fans etc (to the shade) twice a day!!

Of curse it depends on the dog! I 13 year old Tibetan Mastiff is going to struggle much much more than an 18 month old white Jack Russell. Same way that 8 month pregnant women, old people and babies struggle more in the heat than fit and healthy 25 year old life guards in Cornwall !

I have walked my Doberman in the giant ancient woods by me today for an hour and a half at 9.30. He cannot cope with direct sun. These woods are very very old and thick so there is literally no direct sunlight. It is 26 degrees where I live today and considerably more in direct sun light. In the woods I had to put my cardi on as it was so shady. I offered him water twice and he wouldnt drink it because he wasnt hot. AC car all the way there and all the way back, and he didnt drink water until an hour after we came home because he wasnt thirsty.

So yes Im sorry common sense has to be used. He wasnt hot, he didnt run about and wasnt thirsty. So you CAN walk your dogs - you just need to be very careful and make adjustments. I think if you called your vet and asked if the above scenario was OK they would be totally fine with it.

Thanks for all of the comments everyone, glad to see that most comments say IANBU.

Someone mentioned taking the dog to the groomers for a short haircut - if you cut a double-coated dog short it actually makes them less able to regulate heat and damages their coat.

DP and I have been taking him out at around 9-10pm when it's cooled down a lot and making sure he has plenty of water. MIL has not mentioned taking him out during the day again.

I know someone who, like some of the posters here, thought they knew their dog. The dog was 2 years old, fit and healthy. He was taken out at 10am a couple of weeks ago (so before it got really hot). He ran around for half an hour and collapsed. Rushed to the vet who kept him in. The next day he was dead.

I have had dogs for 40 years but I would not presume I know more than a vet. I walk my dogs early morning and late evening in the summer (every summer) 6am and 11pm. They were not walked at all last week and won't be this week either unless it cools down a lot.

As another poster said, dogs don't die from not being walked. I think too much of my dogs to risk their lives

As another poster said, dogs don't die from not being walked. I think too much of my dogs to risk their lives

Well said. It takes a very special sort of idiot to walk a dog in the day in this heat

DD1 and I bought Ddog a paddling pool today. he took one look and went back indoors... the little shit! presumably he will drink the contents...