People are really mad about dogs and heat stroke?

[Brayndrayn]

In Italy there are dogs out in the midday sun with no shade with their owners for bloody hours. Personally I walk my dogs very early in this heat but it is kicking OFF on the local FB page about dogs being out today. People shouting at those with dogs as they go past in a car etc. Nobody knows others’ circumstances or where they are going or for what reason. Yes I know about paws on hot pavements but by Christ those pavements/sand in Italy were boiling and the dogs didn’t seem to care. My dogs also ran out of the house onto my patio and wanted to stay there this afternoon. I’m not saying there is no risk but this country loses the plot over dogs to point of being really very rude to other people about it. Realise I’m probably going to get flamed…

@Brayndrayn I’m with you that people shouldn’t be shouting but lots of the comments on here about how dogs can’t get heatstroke at x temperature makes me think that lots of people are actually quite clueless when it comes to what temperatures are actually safe.

Every summer I see people out with hot, panting, reluctant dogs whose owners will claim are absolutely fine - if people really knew their dogs, they’d know that dragging them along the pavements in 26 degree heat clearly wasn’t acceptable 🫣

Yes much cooler, ours are white tiles and we keep our shutters down as soon as the sun comes around too. We have a lot of big windows so it turns into a green house.

I don’t think the people getting angry care. I think they have wound themselves up so much on facebook and mumsnet that they are delighted to see someone in real life they can hurl some abuse at and then report back that they’ve done their bit to make the world a better place.

If the genuinely cared they would just say hello, like a normal person and then say something along the lines of “oh they look hot, are they ok?” or “they look hot do you need any help?” Both of which don’t require you to call the owner a cunt.

Lots of people fail to understand that just because dogs in Italy or Spain are okay, dogs in the UK aren't.

One of the reasons I didn't have dogs when DH and I lived in Rome was because English bred dogs do not cope with the heat. Several of my colleagues have taken dogs overseas (Middle East, Central Europe even South-East Asia) and almost all of them have had to send their dogs back, or admit they should never have done it.

So yes, whilst dogs can cope with hot weather, dogs not bred to cope and those used to much cooler temperatures do not cope well. It's like comparing apples and oranges.

And watching a dog die of heatstroke is bloody awful.

How cold is it? The heating?

🤣🤣🤣
#alsonotthepoint

There was an article on the BBC site this week from a man with a guide dog. He leaves his dog at home as it's too hot for them to work and uses other methods such as his partner guiding him instead.

I completely agree with this post!
Its not the fact that people are concerned, it’s that they want to gain kudos for shouting at strangers.

I absolutely detest this culture of filming ordinary people going about their business in order to post in online and have a good bitch about it - especially if all that context was missed!

Dogs with flat faces suffer more in the heat because they faces are for aesthetics, not for canine comfort and health.

I dont believe that. The stats on this are vanishingly rare.

You don’t believe my friends dog died from heat stroke?

Maybe we should start shouting at these owners every time we see them out with their dog then?

There’s definitely a middle ground - obviously walking in the midday sun on a pavement in 30 degrees yesterday would’ve been bad for a dog, but the mithering usually starts up on our local facebook when it hits about 20 degrees and it seems excessive to me.

Also surely there’s a degree of common sense that needs to be applied, I drove my dog to the woods yesterday post school run. Straight into a shady forest (not pavement) and down to the stream for a paddle/swim. No manic ball chucking or racing around with other dogs. Surely that’s fine???

If the dog didn't have insurance, there wouldn't be "stats" though, would there? Animal cause of death is not categorised in the same way as human deaths are, so I don't know where you expect to see the evidence...

No, you aren’t alone. Dull and cloudy here.

There's a woman on our village Facebook page who keeps posting in caps lock that no-one should walk there dogs when it's 20°. That's about the temp it needs to be before my Spanish dog will sit out in the garden.

I've seen many dog die of heatstroke (ex vet nurse) and the one that sticks in my mind is a neighbours beautiful springer who got heatstroke when it was about 20 degrees but they had let her run around too much, we battled for hours to save her to no avail. So yes I will be that person that goes on about it, it's just so avoidable and I'm sick of seeings twats walking their bracheocephalic breeds in a heatwave and then moaning about their big vets bill and having a dead dog

20 degrees is too much for some dogs @Lemonyyy How many times does this need to be repeated?

No I dont.

There are a handful of cases each year that die of heatstroke, out of the millions of dogs in the UK, and is always because they were left in a hot car for hours on end.
Its the latest moral panic, and its utter nonsense. Just a way for busybodies to criticise others.

Im sorry to be so blunt, but I call bullshit on all of it. But i had st bernards in queensland australia, without a moment of worry or anyone criticising me. Its cultural and in Oz we find it quite baffling and hilarious. And believe it or not we have seasons too - and dogs miraculously don't die! lol
The 'I was hot and I was wearing a hat and I dont have fur' brigade do amuse me. You aren't a dog love!

But that is your Spanish dog, there is no comparison between that and my English bred Pyrenean or my neighbour's Scottish bred Malamute ffs 🙄Some dogs struggle at 20 just as some people do.

She was a boxer taken out for an hour on a hot day with a dog walker. She started to struggle to breathe and collapsed. it’s not the sort of thing I’d lie about. That said it’s the only dog I know who has died of heatstroke. Presumably if people were less careful the numbers would be higher.

According to a study a couple of years ago around 50 dogs a year die in uk from heatstroke. (A lot more are treated for it though. ) It’s not huge numbers but it’s still a real thing that happens .

Hotter countries dogs are use to the heat, in UK hot days are rare so dogs just don’t have the same tolerance.

Well exactly SOME dogs, not ALL dogs, so the shouting on facebook groups as a general rule is stupid.

I agree, people just love to get on their high horses and having a judgy field day. I know some people are stupid, but surely most use their common sense. Someone was asking the other day if they could drive their dog in their AC car to a shady forest with streams for a short walk? eh yes if you think your dog would be up for it, no need to bloody ask internet strangers.

My dog doesn't like the heat at all and will firmly plonk himself down if he thinks it's too hot. He loves a walk though and doesn't get why I break his routine.

Why don't you try reading the full thread and see what is being said about dogs that are born and bred in hot countries compared to dogs that grow up in a cool climate but are subjected to sudden short heatwaves? Because there is a very big difference.
I have a LGD breed that is worked in very hot areas of the US. That doesn't have any bearing on the fact that my British bred dog of the same type struggles to cope with 20 degrees. Dogs in places with extreme heat or cold acclimatise to the temperatures, just as people do. In the UK that doesn't happen because extremes are rare.

But this woman is going bonkers at ANY dog being walked at 20° not more vulnerable dogs. Way over the top. Yeah don't walk your sick/ elderly/thick coated/brachycephalic dog but a most healthy dogs will be ok with a walk at that temp even if shorter/different route than usual. I can walk my dogs over fields without touching tarmac or paving and that isn't too unusual in a rural area like ours.

I have read the thread and I dont agree with it. I agree with the OP.

I am basing this on the fact I have had dogs all my life. I was raised in UK, I live in the UK now, I had 4 dogs in outback australia all different breeds - absolutely fine in temps in winter that went into the minuses and summer than went into late 40s!!! I have had dogs here, and its the same deal. Dogs adapt. They are dogs.
You can tell if your dog is struggling, so you give them water, and take them home, or they find somewhere cool themselves and rest. Its what dogs do.
Its not any different where the dog was born and bred. That's a total myth. Spanish dog indeed lol.
Brits are totally batshit about this stuff.