Dogs and this heat

[Lastqueenofscotland2]

AIBU to be stunned at the amount of people walking their dogs in this heat?!
I popped out at lunch, it’s 27 degrees here with not a cloud in the sky.
I saw several people walking dogs, including in a local playing field which has NO shade. These included long coated spaniels, an English bulldog and a husky(!!!) the husky in particular was obviously struggling.
I also saw two men stood in the street both with dogs that were sat panting heavily on the pavement chatting for at least as long as I was in the post office.

I wish I’d had the guts to say something to them, especially the husky owner… is it ignorance or is it people just not giving a shit about the welfare of their pet…

Ours was out at 6am and won't be going again he is absolutely wiped out.

All I can say is that at least on MN, people like @AdamRyan appear to be in the minority.

Weather like this lethal for dogs in the UK, even at the start and end of the day and especially for those with physical health conditions or are very young or getting on in life.

The pavement heat test is helpful but bottom line is if its warm enough that people are keeping to swimwear and flocking to pools, its far too hot for dogs to be out.

Dogs need shade, cool breezes, iced water, cool mats, light meals and air conditioning just as much as we do - if not more.

I've always found that the heat saps our dogs energy anyway so missing a walk really doesn't affect them in the way it usually would.

My dog “won’t poo in the garden” either but we’ve only taken him out on early morning walks the last few days so guess what? He’s done some poos in the garden.

lots of focus on burnt paws on this thread which is of course awful but it’s more the fact that they can’t control their body temp as we do and can overheat and drop dead. This literally happened to a close friend’s fit healthy young dog a few years back, so so heartbreaking.

Air con for dogs 🙄. I love dogs but this is seriously fooked. We don't even have air con on the NHS ward where I work.
Then we wonder why we have global warming .

Your dog is acclimatised not the some as Benjy in London when it's this hot for a few days a year.

Bloody hell, my dog had a 45 minutes walk at 6, a play with her dog walker in the shady garden and then has spent the day lying in front of the fan with her bone. Far to hot for anything else.

She has growled if anyone tried to touch her cold wind up bum blower!!

We have 2 very active, young collie cross dogs. One in particular would go out and play catch all day even in the heat but would suffer later if we did it. We get up very early and take them to the woods in the shade but not for as long as we normally take them out for. They then spend the rest of the day in front of a fan (or on my lap making me even hotter)

All the advice is to not take them out in the heat. They can live without a walk for a day or 2.

The utter stupidity of your remark is mind blowing. If this is really what you think then I sincerely hope you are not a dog owner. No dog ever ended up needing vet treatment or dead through not being walked when its too hot. Litmus test for pavement walking your dog, if you cant comfortably hold your hand palm down on the pavement for more than 10 seconds then your dog shouldnt be walked as they will then burn their paws. Dogs sweat through their paws, if they are burnt and blistered because of some fuckwit owner, then this can contribute to them not being able to regulate body temperature leading to them being over heated and dying. If it is hotter than 20 degrees, you should not be walking your dog. The day in question the temperature was in the late 20's/ 30's. For the love of dog, educate yourself about dogs and walking in the heat.

I'm in Italy right now. It's more than 32°c and getting hotter.

There are dogs everywhere. Big dogs, hairy dogs, small dogs. Being walked. Taken into shops, restaurants.

Do you think it's different for these dogs because they are acclimatised? I've seen Rotties, Ridgebacks, loads of terriers. A dog that looked like a long haired rottie. Lots of panting by the dogs and no one is running around that's for sure.

I walk my dog early morning, home by 8am as that’s when it’s coolest. I wouldn’t dream of taking him out in the daytime in this heat. I’m always surprised though how few other dogs we meet that early in the morning.

Thank you to those who have reminded me to think about pavements! I must admit I had forgotten.

In my defence my French bulldog doesnt get walked at all in this heat, its too much with the humidity at any time and he prefers to loaf about at home.

I did take him for literally five minutes on a slow amble up the street for a sniff of something other than our back garden yesterday and I felt awful that someone might see us and think I was taking him on a proper walk! But now I might stop doing even that because of the pavement.

Wow, as an ex-vet nurse AND a husky owner myself, you are so WRONG. An irritated husky at home is better than a dead husky. And I have SEEN lesser coated breeds die from less.

Yea, if it is too hot to walk in bare feet then it is too hot for your dog to walk on too. Yet people still walk their dogs in the day on scorching pavements.

Every time I've been out in the afternoon the last few days, someone has been walking their dog. Usually a few of them. Some when it was 31 degrees last night. It's mad. The local Facebook groups are full of fights about it. The people that walk their dogs in this heat are well aware and see some reason why it doesn't apply to their dog. No point arguing with stupid.

My dog is a fluffy breed similar to a husky and from snowy Japanese mountains. He is not happy right now.

@AdamRyan is unfortunately a dog owner and he thinks 27 degrees is not ‘too hot’ to take a dog out.

It is too hot for dogs in this country who are not used to the heat.

Not helpful for people in other countries either to say ‘oh my dog loves it in 30 degrees.’

Dogs in this country are not used to this heat! They are not acclimatised and will suffer.

Go out early morning and late at night or don’t go out at all.

I’m always amazed by the number of people who take their dogs out at the hottest part of the day in this weather.

I’ve been getting up at 6 to take mine out for an hour. By 9ish it’s already way to hot for her. I wouldn’t take her if I couldn’t go with her while it’s a bit cooler in the earlier morning.

Yes. It is different. Just as it is for people.

Maybe because I do not cope with heat I understand more. I get heat stroke. My threshold is similar to that of the temperature chart for dogs upthread. I can't go on holiday to places that are regularly hotter than the UK as I cannot cope with the sudden change in heat.

If I do go then it takes me about a week before I begin to feel more comfortable, able to cope. And that's with a whole raft of interventions on a daily basis!

The kinds of interventions I am relying on right now - for me and the dog!

I'm a woman not a man

And I think OP is unreasonable for thinking she can judge owners who are out with their own dog

Obviously I'm not taking my dog and throwing a ball for him in the beating sun. That would be stupid. But it's incredibly judgemental to say people like me are bad/cruel owners for nipping out with the dog for 10 mins for whatever reason.
Upthread someone said their walker is limiting walks to 30 mins because of the heat. They didn't get piled on, even though they actually were saying they took the dog out.

Most owners are responsible and don't need randomers telling them how to look after their dog.

I said "Spaniels and huskies are high energy dogs who need mental stimulation, staying at home all day because it's hot might be worse for them than a walk." AKA its up to the owner to make a judgement not me or anyone else

And i said "Also long nosed breeds are much less at risk than short nosed breeds. And this is the UK so it isn't even that hot."

AKA blanket rules that "its too hot for dogs" at some arbitrary temperature isn't useful.

For my dog, a 20-30 min walk in the shade at the moment so he can do a poo is fine. It might not be for someone else's dog.

Fed up of being told I'm ignorant and stupid by frothers who didn't read what I actually posted.

@CanaryShoulderedThorn

letsplanaholiday
Completely agree. My dog goes to a daycare kennel when I'm at work, I'm off today but I've still put him in daycare... because it's air conditioned! I almost asked if I could just sit with him in his lovely cool kennel for the day! 😆

Didn't walk him yesterday as was too hot, did brain training games in the house. Will maybe take him out for a walk tonight after 9pm

"Air con for dogs 🙄. I love dogs but this is seriously fooked. We don't even have air con on the NHS ward where I work.
Then we wonder why we have global warming .*"
*
It's seriously fooked that when a local business designed their kennel they thought about the welfare of the animals and installed an aircon unit for weather exactly like this?! Damn them and their considerate nature!

But well done for slipping in that you're a poor hard done to NHS worker. If it makes you feel better I work for the police and we don't have aircon at our station either. And on Sunday when it's scorching I'll be wearing a heavy stab vest. I resisted the virtue signalling of putting that in my initial post. I don't hold this against the kennel for having the forethought to install aircon!

Staying at home all day is not worse than a walk

It’s been 26-31 degrees… it is THAT hot

dogs die from heat stroke not because they didn’t get a walk for a few days.

@AdamRyan YABU the OP isn’t

The length of the walk and the time of day is in direct correlation with how hot your dog gets. So if you’re worried about how to keep him cool then you really shouldn’t be walking him. Your dog walker should also know better! Walking a dog for 30 mins during the day in this heat is dangerous. Your dog is at risk of heatstroke, even more so if it is over-weight or is a higher risk breed. Being less worried about the walk is part of the problem.

Ours goes out during the day, but it's a drive in an air conditioned car to a glen with water and shade or a 5 minute walk on a shady road to a glen with a beach at the end of it. But she's still a hot little dog in the house and is sleeping more. And we are only going to hit 25 max.

I still take mine out as they won't poo at home and will literally be in agony and whimpering holding it otherwise but they go swimming in the stream rather than walking, it's only 5 minutes across the field.

So that chart says "avoid prolonged outdoor activity"
It does not say "keep your dogs inside/at home 🙄