Are you walking your dog in this heat?

[weleasewoderick23]

Just that really. My dog is desperate for a walk, but I'm really concerned about the heat. I took him to a river yesterday so he could stay cool, but by the time we got back he had dried off and was panting.
Shall I just keep him in and stick to the hosepipe to keep him cool? He's a Labrador so not a thick shaggy coat.

Yes but sticking to shady walks with water and going earlier than usual. He’s lying in the shade now.

Only v early or late when it’s cooler. Ive had to exercise him with the laser pointer inside!

At 5.30 am, yes. Anything past 18 degrees is too hot for my hairy spaniel!

Taking him either before 8am or to shady places with access to lake or river, and getting him swimming most of the time rather than walking too much.

Yes I’ve been walking her at 8am but this morning it was too hot then so it will be earlier tomorrow. I had hoped to take her in the evenings too but it’s not cool enough until after 10 and it’s not really safe to be out here at that time.

If she is going stir crazy do lots of brain work with her.

Mine goes out for her main walks early and late.

We were on the beach at 7am this morning and she’ll go down for a swim again tonight at about 8pm

She comes to work with me during the day though so we do have to go out for toilet walks - I work quite rurally so we have a quick run in the woods where it’s shady

No. It's way too hot for my dogs. They are on garden pottering only until the weather breaks.

Thanks for your replies.
We have a big garden so there is outside space for him go. The evenings are still really hot here so that's a no no, and I don't have time in the early morning. I'll stop feeling so guilty now and stick to the hosepipe.
Now I just need to stop him looking at me like I'm a piece of shit for not taking him out .........

No, she's 13. She can't cope with a walk in this heat. Even by bedtime is still too warm for her. She's happy having access to the garden as and when she needs it. The weather is set to break here in the next day or so, she'll be better off having no walks for a few days than pushing her in this heat.

Taking ours around 10.30

Deserted! Best walks. Mr fox popped out to say hi last night

No, dh took him out at 9.30pm last night and at 6.30am this morning. Other than that he goes into the garden occasionally.

We've been out at our usual time of 7am on the field so he can run if he wants. Our garden is shaded in the evening so he's pottered around out there instead of going out. I'm driving him to the big pet shop later as something different, plus it is great air con so we can all be cool.

Mines just a puppy so we don't do long walks anyway, but we've been going early morning and later in the evening. So 6am we're out doing a pavement walk on lead (training) for about 20 minutes, then we have a longer run around (30 minutes ish as he's still young) on a field at about 9pm. The rest of the time we're in the garden with a paddling pool and regular cool treats.

Our dogs were out before 5 am in a nearby forest for a walk, we keep them indoors unless they need bathroom trips to the garden!

Mine is 10 years old so a senior in this heat is not a good idea. He just doesn't know he's 10!

@weleasewoderick23 ours is the same, in her brain she's a puppy, but her body not so much! She regrets her excess the next day or two!!

Yes but early morning around 7am and then again at around 9pm.

Ours copes pretty well with the heat as she’s got a short coat and very fit. I keep having to bring her inside as she insists on sitting out in the sun.

We’ve got a paddling pool in the garden and a cooling mat although she’ll only go on the mat for a short period before heading back to the sun!

I’m walking my Labrador at 8am in the shade and 8:30-9pm at night also in shady parts. If it’s 22 degrees or under and the ground isn’t too hot to place my hand on I feel she can cope with a short walk. I also put her into the grass when I can, which is for about 70% of the walk so that helps.

I saw something on Facebook yesterday about this - no dog has died from missing one walk, but dogs have died from one walk in the heat

Mine is also ten and diabetic so we have to be careful of that, I take him out about 9pm and it's ok. The pavement is burning here right now.

@ginsparkles I know what you mean! If I did take him out he would be suffering when we got back. He keeps going to the hook where his lead is and I'm ignoring him!
He's fuming with me 🤣

We have been taking her out at 5am when it's still relatively cool, and the park is empty so she can run around and do her business.

Then during the day she's been spending time pottering in the garden, but only in the shaded areas.

We take her again at around 9:30pm for her evening walk.

I'm looking forward to the weekend when the weather will break and she will be able to have a play with her friends in the park. I think she's missing interaction with the dogs she knows well. But it's just too hot for any of us right now, so this will have to do for the next few days!

Never take your dog out in the hot sun. They can't cope.

In the summer of 2019 I took my two little dogs out every day just for a very short walk to stretch their legs really, and then they always had an ice cream in the car park before going home.
One day my older dog had a massive fit. Luckily the ice cream man had a container of water which we poured over her. A hard lesson learned.

@Anordinarymum
That's awful and so scary! I'm glad your ddog was ok.
I keep seeing people walking their dogs on the pavement at 1pm ish. It makes me really mad.