To tell you not to bring your dog out in the extreme heat

[MarySmit]

It's over 30c during the day here, and yet people are still taking their dogs out during the midday heat. This includes brachycephalic dogs, like French Bulldogs and pugs, who are particularly vulnerable. I know a vet nurse, who has seen dogs die recently of heat stroke. Yet people still take them out.

& a fur coat!

People that 'know their own dogs' are often surprised when those dogs turn on children, adults, cats etc.

"Ooo yes never done anything like that before ..." is a phrase I hear all too often from people that 'know their own dogs'

I wonder if it also goes for:
'People should know their own kids. If they say they're ready for piercings and tattoos at 9, you should let them'

I wish someone would tell my 3 year old collie cross that it's too hot to play ball at midday right now. She's up for it whether it -6 or 30 degrees.

It is only about what you think, and providing you with a wonderful opportunity to judge others and be the centre of praise and adulation. You have no idea why those dogs are out, or where they are going - you don't know these dogs, the people, or length of time they are outside. You have a snapshot of seconds, and are building a narrative of hours. They could be on the walk to the vets, to the pet sitters, or some other necessary thing. Their owners could have water bottles with them, treated their paws with heat protector... You know none of these things because you know nothing about them.

This is nothing more than another MN "Looooook at me, aren't I so virtuous" judgemental thread. Some people may act irresponsibly or stupidly in the heat - with or without dogs - but you cannnot tell so much about them just by looking at them.

Now if you'll excuse me, me and my assistance dog are going to walk to the GP surgery because we need to go out, and he is more than well protected against the heat, despite the fact that you wouldn't notice it when walking past with your nose in the air.

@RedPony1

I've just come back from Spain where it averaged 35c and there were loads of dogs out and about in the town on the pavements the pavements weren't hot and the pavements haven't been hot here either. Like another poster said my dogs know when they don't want to walk. They don't like rain so refuse but they had a lovely run through the woods and fields yesterday and swim and were happy as Larry.

Some dog owners are lazy and/or stupid. Too lazy to wake up early enough to walk them before it gets hot and too dumb to understand how it can end in tragedy.

Brain training can replace a walk too. It’s absolutely fine for a dog to miss a walk or two.

The pavements ARE hot here. what planet are you on?!

i don't even ride my horses till gone 9pm, because, you know, its hot and they arent used to it. it's unfair.

Have you walked on the pavement without shoes ?? If you did , you would know that the pavements are indeed very hot. I’m not sure if you’re aware but dogs don’t tend to wear shoes .

One of my JRT's is the same! Luckily i know the dangers, which he doesn't, so i just ignore him and he gives up 😂

Woodlands are actually a fantastic place to walk dogs in the heat. Partially because there is shade but also due to transpiration. Water vapour evaporating off the leaves. It cools the surrounding environment. During heat waves they have found the temperature on the forest floor can be up to 15 degrees cooler in comparison to direct sunlight.

@RedPony1 my terrier is a bit of a Goldilocks. Won't go out if it's too hot. Won't go out if it's too windy. Won't go out if it's too wet. She will however sit in the rain and watch the chickens 🤷🏻‍♀️

I think it's a bit more nuanced really. Some breeds are used to extreme temperatures. Some houses can be hotter indoors than out. It really depends on your circumstances and your dog.

My other one is like that!! She won't even fetch her ball if she deems the grass is too long. Mine are polar opposites to each other😂

Watch this

Anyone saying that their dogs are fine, heat is fine, walking them when I'd shit is fine.

Watch it. All of it.
Then remember, you're choosing to risk the same happening to a dog you supposedly love...

@takemeouttown

I did before I took them out yesterday and the ground wasn't hot. They walked about 5 steps to my air conditioned car on ground that was tepid. Again you're making a big deal out of nothing, judging all dog walkers the same.

@RedPony1

I'm in the south and the ground wasn't hot. Anyway who just walks their dogs on pavements?? How boring for the dogs.

@Ascendant15

The ones moaning are the ones who normally just take their dogs on a quick stroll round the block on pavements and wouldn't dream of taking the time to walk them anywhere interesting where it's shady and cooler or has water to cool down in.

They were running their golden retriever on a field on a hot day in Australia.
It's very different to waking your dogs in the shade on a mildly hot day in the uk.

Obviously, British dogs won't be properly acclimatised to warm weather and most British people have no clue about how to manage heat so it stands to reason that they won't know how to keep their dogs safe in that weather either. So I agree that people shouldn't be walking their dogs in the hottest part of the day.

However, yabu to describe the current temperatures as "extreme heat". 30 degrees is hot but it really isn't that hot!

I often wonder this while its very warm and I haven't walked out dog, he is a foreign dog bread with a single coat and his native country is hotter than the UK. Surely the dogs are walked there

I’m in a hotter country. You don’t see dogs being walked in the daytime. In fact, you don’t see many pet dogs at all.

Lots of cats.

I live in Spain. I was so worried about taking my dogs and keeping them cool. They have spent all morning outside on the hot tiles sunning themselves in 34 degrees direct sunshine on hot tiles on the terrace when they have full access to our air conditioned apartment.!!

Lots of dogs live in apartments so if they didn't go out in the heat they wouldn't be able to have a wee so they are always out and about. They all seem to very well I guess they're used to it and they adapt

You just need to be mindful, the sand is incredibly hot so I wouldn't take them on the beach and we try to pick the side of the road with shade etc

Dogs are hugely diverse. You can get dogs that are hairless and weigh a couple of kg to massive shaggy things that weigh 100 kg. Some can run for a hundred miles in a day. Others can barely walk three. You can add on to that the fact that things like heat tolerance varies massively with age and other health conditions.

Humans are much less diverse than dogs, yet we have a wide range of heat tolerances too. You only have to look at all the AIBU threads about people complaining it is too hot to realise different people have a wide range of different heat tolerances.

Unless you are an expert on all dogs an know the health history of all dogs and their heat tolerances and the way they behave at the end of the day you just have to trust that the owner knows best for their dog.

I don't see any harm in getting the message out there that heat can be bad for dogs and making people aware of that and making sure people pay attention to their dog in warm weather and when it may be distressed or ill.

But when it moves on to that to people in the street going round yelling at people to get their dog inside when those people have no knowledge of the dogs heat tolerance and health history and ability to handle heat then it has gone too far.

I'm sorry, but I don't understand the relevance of all of this to what I said?

I just think it's all fascinating how far people will go to justify their behaviour and their belief that they know what's best and it could never happen to them etc. I suppose they think that all the dogs that die from heatstroke each year have been killed in purpose... when personally, I think, the dogs dying from heatstroke probably had owners who thought it'd never happen to them because they know best..

I wonder how many of these owners thought it wouldn't happen to them?
https://www.peta.org/features/dogs-and-other-companion-animals-suffer-heat-related-deaths/#deaths

"Oh but most of those were in hot cars..."
At least that shows some thought process... is there any more?

would you give your dog 500g of almonds?
hell no, it'd make him sick.

would you give your dog a big dairy milk bar?
dont be ridiculous, it could kill him.

would you let your dog off lead near a main road?
no, of he ran across, he might get hit.

but walking them in hot weather they're not used to?
oh yeah that's fine. No bother there at all.