Would you judge me for this? Be honest please!

[Biggestandbrighteststar]

Hi! Just looking for some honest opinions on whether I’m acting weirdly and if you would judge me for this!

I’ve had family dogs before as a child, but im in my early 20s and my dog is my first dog that’s actually been mine IYSWIM. I’m a bit of an obsessed dog mum who spends the majority of my time with my dog and making sure she’s ok. But I’m getting better haha.

anyway, my dog is a large breed double coated dog who really, really struggles with hot weather. We can usually get away with walking very early and very late but with the heatwave recently they have been miserable even with that and even walking at 6am has been too hot for them.

however, I’ve found a good window between 2-4 where it’s perfectly cool enough for them. So we have been going to bed at 10, then walking from 2-4, then going back to bed and sleeping until the morning. I can be extremely flexible with my work (I don’t work 9-5 for example) and I’m feeling fine with the routine. I’m still getting enough sleep I’ve just rejigged my day to accommodate it all and it works.

I don’t particularly like being out in the middle of the night but my dog absolutely adores it so I take a torch, charged phone etc. During the day she gets to plod around the house and chill in her pool but it means she also gets exercise too.

i briefly mentioned it to some friends who snorted, rolled their eyes and said I’m being ridiculous walking about during the night and that it’s unsafe and I’m being selfish disrupting my dogs sleep. But she was so depressed not being able to be walked and this solution works for us both. But I don’t know if me being an obsessed slightly neurotic first time dog mum is clouding my judgement and I’m being silly? Just to clarify I wouldn’t judge others for not doing this, it’s just something that works well for me and my dog

@lcl exactly that: leave the coat as it is, no shaving or such nonsense on a Retriever. They are perfectly created as they are for the British weather (past and current).
I wish people would stop advising trimming dogs at the drop of a hat, it is not suitable for a lot of dog breeds.
Regular, proper brushing keeps their coats in optimal condition to protect the dog - far more important in my opinion than cutting their fur.
Puddles and the like are a different story obviously.

Absolutely! Nothing else matters.

It sounds like the breed isn’t suited to where you live.

If it works for you and your dog then keep doing it - but it is verging on the slightly odd! Dogs can miss a few walks especially in this heat. Is your dog normally walked at the same time every day? Be careful not to set a new routine if they do.

I wouldn't do it but it's fine to do! I've been taking my cocker spaniel out at 6am rather than 9am due to heat but I can't get up earlier than that!

I normally walk my dog late at night even in winter. So peaceful and she loves it. Go you xxx

It's a bit weird going to sleep then getting up and going back to sleep, but you do you. You could just walk at 10pm before you go to bed. It's not hot enough at that time of night to cause a problem. Also make sure the dogs undercoat is regularly blown out and it will help. Also, a double coated breed should still be able to be walked at 23⁰... If she struggles you should have her checked over by a vet or comfort groomed.

TBH you are being a little bit first time mum. Your dog would get used to a 10pm walk. It really isn’t that hot. Dogs live in extremely hot countries and 5am and 10pm is ok.
but it’s really all down to you if you’re happy then so be it.

I never said I live in a hot country, just that we get more hot days than the UK does. People are carrying on as though the UK is normally the coldest country in the world - parts of my country get colder than some of the UK in the winter so their dogs have to deal with extremes and they manage. Anyone would think that the UK gets the hottest temps in the world in summer by some of the posts on this thread. OP can walk her dog whenever she likes, but it is never going to get used to summer temps if she keeps walking it at the time she does.

If her ‘getting used to summer temps’ involves walking her at times where she is at risk of heatstroke (which yes, she is at temperatures above 20) and having her miserable, frantically panting, and not feeling well then I don’t want her to get used to the summer temps. Luckily she has an owner who doesn’t care for a rigid sleep pattern and will happily walk her during the night if she’s more comfortable.

the temperature of your country and dogs ability to walk there isn’t particularly relevant since she is acclimatised to this country. So when it suddenly goes up to 30 degrees in a heatwave week, of course she can’t and shouldn’t have to cope with it. And just because she would probably be fine with the temperatures at 10pm or whatever- I can’t be any clearer with this- SHE clearly finds it too hot. Because she’s an animal not a robot and she has her own needs and preferences. She finds it too hot. Just because technically it’s not too hot for her I’m not putting her through a walk where she is miserable when I could simply walk her at a time she is much happier

I think it’s fine on the whole since it clearly works for you and your dog is happy. Far better than those idiots you see running with their dogs in the midday sun.

5am would probably be just as cool at the moment. I was interested and checked our local forecast and it drops from 16 at 3/4 am to 15 at 5 am. So it might be better to do that time for safety and to avoid getting up on the night? Maybe keep the 2am walks to the proper heatwave temperatures? Obviously up to you but it’s really good for our body clocks to go out early in the morning but not so sure about the middle of the night.

You are being a very thoughtful dog owner though!

Yeah I completely agree with you! Thankfully it’s got cooler over the last few days and we can comfortably walk around midnight or very early morning rather than during the night! The 2-4 walks are definitely only for during the heatwave and high temperatures haha :)

Well that’s fine and sensible then. I have a dog that hates the heat - he’s just about ok
being walked early morning. He’d probably love a middle of the night run around!

As I said you can do what you like with your own dog, but maybe you ought to get her checked by a vet if she really can't cope with mid-twenties heat. I very much doubt she is the only Golden Retriever in the UK, and I haven't seen any other owners on this thread agreeing with you. How on earth will she cope if you have temps in the 40s for a day or two (and no, I'm not suggesting you can walk her in that sort of heat, but she will have to live through it). Several people have suggested you get her checked out, but you persist in this nonsense that mid-twenty temps are too hot.

To be fair, your dog does sound a bit like many MN posters, who can't deal with any temps over 20 degrees either.

Can you read? Multiple people have agreed with me! Maybe look a bit harder before laying into me.

and she copes fine in 40 degrees. Because she isn’t being walked. We have air con in the house for her and a pool in the back garden. But obviously she misses her walks when it’s too hot to walk her. So walking during the night helps. Is it reallly so hard to understand?

and she has been checked by the vet. As I asked earlier? Can you read? I’ve already mentioned getting guidance from my vet.

It's a Golden Retriever 😂

They're literally FROM the UK.

My Labrador can’t cope with mid 20s
heat. It is a bit frustrating but that’s how he is. He looks very distressed and starts panting. That’s walking in it in full sun. Which we don’t do.

He’s ok up to about 22/23 for a sniffy/slow walk but no more.

YANBU I take my dog out around 1am a lot as I usually work late and my dog is quite happy to be out then. She hates the long gap in between on the hottest days but we always make sure she has her long walks. I feel so guilty if she doesn’t get proper walks too.

I used to have a GR, great breed for a first dog.

I think you are slightly bonkers walking in the middle of the night but if it works for you and the dog then it isn't anyone else's business.

We used to get our GR clipped super short in the summer. His coat was dense enough to still protect from sunburn. He never got burnt even though he loved to lie on the lawn in the sun. He was clearly much more comfortable with it clipped off. He definitely got walked in temperatures over 20C but during hot weather like this we'd take him out around 7am. Certainly not in the full heat of the day even fully clipped.

He lived to a ripe old age and never had sunburn or heatstroke.

People who anthropamorphize their pets elicit an eye roll from me, and yes, I think you're absolutely rediculous to rearrange your life to accomodate a dog. It's a pet. You're not it's mother. In fact, hearing people refer to themselves that way is all kinds of creepy. You asked so I told you, but really, what does it matter what I think? You do you.

I'd smile and say "That's nice" if I knew you, while privately thinking that "Children of Men" is starting to seem more and more like a documentary every day.

The UK is rarely hot enough to cause issues for dogs unless they are silly breeds (flat-faced ones that can't breathe); labradors often function as working dogs and should be perfectly capable of going outside at normal times unless there's an actual heatwave going on.

Sorry OP, I didn't realise this was one of THOSE threads.

OP literally asks "Just looking for some honest opinions on whether I’m acting weirdly and if you would judge me for this!"

Posters judge and offer honest opinions that OP is indeed acting weirdly

OP gets huffy and rude and says she knows far more than anyone else who disagrees with her.

I mean, the OP has not offered any evidence that her dog is being harmed by heat when walking in the morning or evening like most people do, only that the animal appears to "feel hot" at some level at such times, and given that it appears to be a bog-standard lab (not some exotic Arctic breed, as I initially supposed), it does seem unlikely that walking at a more normal hour would cause the dog to keel over, given that that's exactly what everyone else does with their bog-standard labs.

I can imagine that the dog sometimes "feels hot" when taking a walk at a more normal hour when the weather is warmer than average. But "feeling hot" sometimes is just part of life, rather like "feeling cold" at times, and sometimes having aches and pains in your legs after a long walk, and having a bit of backache after an hour of heavy housework, or having shopping bags cut into your hands if they're very full and you have to carry them for a while, or getting a headache if you've had a stressy afternoon or are in a noisy environment.

I'm not a hard-hearted person, but I can't imagine rearranging my life in such an extreme way so that a pet never felt a moment of slight discomfort ever. I don't even do it for my kids! We observe heat safety in hot weather, but a bit of feeling hot and sweaty at times is normal. In most families it's accepted that every single thing cannot revolve around one family member's desire to feel perfectly comfortable and always be at a 100% ideal temperature.

I think you are being a very responsible dog owner. It's a bit of an adventure to do something different too.
In fact, I've been having to keep my collie in and I might just do this tomorrow night/morning.