To think people walking dogs in this heat are twats?

[Wombat100]

Just that really. It totally blows my mind. If you’re one of those people who has been walking your dog during the height of the heat in the last few days - I’m
genuinely interested to know why?

We took the dog out to a woodland walk yesterday and the tree shade was lush. My dog hates the sun tho, even at 8pm when it was cooling down, we had to stick near tree shade.

I did leave my dog in the car with windows wide open at 7.30pm the other week and some arsehole dog warrior decided to leave a note on my car. I had been gone 10 mins into the shop with the baby and empty fridge..

@Terribletooths ”arsehole dog warrior”? Maybe they were just concerned about the dog. Even with windows wide open a car can become unbearably hot in a few minutes, especially if you’re wearing a fur coat and can’t sweat.

Why didn't you leave your dog at home? It was 20+ degrees in my car at 7am the other day.

Was taking him out for a evening walk in the park across town where it's more woodlandy

Because as much as you think some ppl are twats, some people are arsehole dog warriors.

It was the evening, cooling down and windows were open to allow airflow..and as it's unlikely people spend over 15 mins in the shop.

Went for an early morning walk with mine. Currently she is sprawled in the sun. Daft dog! She is a Romanian rescue though so perhaps adapted.😎

Just seen on a local nature park FB page that at least one dog has been treated for heatstroke today and they are asking dog owners to stick to cooler times of day.

I suppose the Ranger who leapt in and treated the dog should have kept their nose out, according to some on here . That’s not the Ranger’s usual job btw, helping dogs not die because their owners are thick twats. But they are dog owners themselves so I’m sure it came naturally to help.
I can imagine the gobfull they’d have got from some people if they tried to advise in person. “But there are TREES and a RIVER!………I’LL DECIDE IF IT’S TOO HOT FOR MY OWN DOG!!!!” 🙄

@Saucery 👏 well said

You should have gone to the shop first and then gone back home to pick the dog up for a walk in the woods. No excuse for leaving him in a hot car for 10 minutes.

Would you have left your baby in the car in the heat like that?

I just cannot fathom how stupid you would have to be to take your dog to that park in the middle of the day @Wombat100 .

If I see a dog in distress being walked in 30 degree heat in the middle of the day then I will speak to the owner
But that's not what you're original post is saying. You made a generalisation that any dog outside during the day is distressed. Some might be, and indeed, if they are refusing to move, looking ill, the owner is shouting at it to move etc...it might indeed be a case of the dog being in distress.

If the dog is slightly panting, walking happily, and showing no sign of being unhappy, then it is likely not in distress and anyone saying something is indeed nothing else then virtual signaling.

Not sure what you saying something to the owner of a dog in distress is going to accomplish though. in this instance, I'd take pics, follow them and then report.

I've yet to come across such scenario, thank goodness.

Dogs get walked throughout the summer where I am in Tokyo and summers are very hot here (no, they don't all have thin coats, either).

My dog owning friend walks hers early or late in the day and looks for shade (but any human walking about would want to do the same in a Japanese summer). Her dog is literally a dog variety that lives feral in Okinawa, so it would be a bit odd if it couldn't manage being outside in summer, given that they literally live outside with no human help at all in the very hottest part of Japan.

Of course, it may be a bit different for people who choose to own stupid breeds (I don't think dogs should be bred like that in the first place though), but normal hardy dogs should be fine with walks outside in the summer as long as owners show some common sense about times and places.

I have said in one of my later posts that I should have made it clearer in my original post that I was talking about people walking in the broad sunlight/no shade etc.

We’ll have to agree to disagree re your comment: “Not sure what you saying something to the owner of the dog in distress is going to accomplish though. In this instance, I’d take pics, follow them and then report”. On one occasion I felt compelled to speak to an idiotic owner who had left her dog locked in a hot car with the windows cracked open. Had I followed your suggestion - ie. take pics, follow them and report - the dog would almost certainly have died. And sadly in my experience reports to the police about pretty much anything result in nothing being done. The RSPCA are also useless.

I suppose the Ranger who leapt in and treated the dog should have kept their nose out, according to some on here
You were not there, who knows. Someone posted on our local town FB page that their vet had told her that she's seen many dogs with heat stroke last week and engaged in a patronising rant about twats who walk their dogs in the day. As it is, I asked my neighbour who is a vet assistant in the biggest local vet practice. She said it wasn't the case and that it is quite rare that they see healthy dogs suffering from heat strokes.

I know whose statement I trust most!

But as has been explained hundreds of times, dogs in hot countries are used to the heat and have acclimatised to it.

Dogs in England have not, and therefore they struggle a lot more and many die every year because their owners insist on walking them in hot weather.

@greenteafiend I get what you’re saying but surely a feral dog in Okinawa is more used to the heat and maybe more adapted to coping with it than a pooch living in London.

@vivainsomnia this isn’t some random post on a FB group. It’s the page belonging to the park’s cafe and information centre, where the Rangers are based. I don’t recall ever seeing them comment on any sort of behaviour by dogs, their owners, cyclists, illegal fishermen on the lake……etc. So I have no doubt this happened today and having seeing some of the dog owners who go there on a sunny weekend day I’ll be surprised if they are the only example of selfish knobheads who shouldn’t be allowed to own a dog for its own safety.

If it makes you feel better to stick your fingers in your ears and say it never happens then crack on.

I very much doubt that UK dogs are endangered by a walk in the woods in the later part of the day when the heat is fading (as long as they're not a silly breed that can't cope with life in general). A normal dog is not a newborn baby, nor are they made of glass!

The judging and hysteria on MN dog threads reaffirms my general impression that a lot of people get very very "into" dogs because they fundamentally don't like humans very much.

I have said in one of my later posts that I should have made it clearer in my original post that I was talking about people walking in the broad sunlight/no shade etc
But if you see a dog in the sun, how do you know that he was only so for 2mns out of a 1/2h walk in the shade? How do you know that he isn't out for just 5 minutes? How do you know it's a dog that just moved from Spain who used to much higher temperatures?

Of course anyone should act of they see a dog in distress, and I too would break a window if I saw a distressed dog locked in a car and would check how long a dog was in a car in got weather and would act after 15mns or so.

However, this applies all year round. I would also report someone hitting their dog viciously. Yet, it's the sane every year, comes hot weather and the dog warriors come out pointing their finger at any dog they see out during the day. That's pathetic.

(I also think COVID panic has broken a lot of people's brains on here, and people are literally looking for the next health panic to post about, to be honest. Heat is dangerous if you are silly. If you show common sense, you and your dog will be fine. End of)

Well; unfortunately it happens every year and healthy dogs do die of heatstroke.

It won't drop below 26 degrees here until about 9-10pm. A temperature of 24-27 degrees means extreme caution and a high risk of heatstroke.

I mean, you can doubt whatever you like but dogs still die here every year because idiots insist on taking them out when it's too hot.

It’s the page belonging to the park’s cafe and information centre, where the Rangers are based
So the ranger took the dog from its owners and took it to the vet?

That would be a bit of an unusual situation.

Heads kicked in! Bit much.

:Well; unfortunately it happens every year and healthy dogs do die of heatstroke.

From a walk in the woods at 5pm?
Really?
Doubt that very much.

I mean, you can doubt whatever you like but dogs still die here every year because idiots insist on taking them out when it's too hot
Well yes, sadly it happens. Just as kids die from irresponsible parents.

Is it as common as the media tries to convince us? No it really doesn't. Just yesterday, I must have seen over 20 dogs outside during the day. The likelihood is that all 20 are perfectly fine!