IDIOTS walking dogs in heat.

[Sitdowncupoftea]

It's 34C where I am and idiots are walking dogs. Are these people totally stupid. My dog hasn't been for a walk since Friday due to the heat. I am shocked 😲 at the stupidity of some people.

But there are people who live in flats/have no gardens who also don't drive. So they have to take their dog out. I would not take for an actual walk though just let him/her do their business and straight back inside

Early morning
Later evening

Just come in from a walk in the park under the trees. 11am . All good. Wouldn't go later than this.

Probably go back out about 8pm like last night.

No panic.

We went out at 6am today. It was very pleasant. I could almost get into the habit of rolling out of bed so early tbh. We won’t go out again today, but he can go into the garden and have a splash in his pool once it’s a bit cooler.

I'm even avoiding taking them out for a wee where possible as our garden is all slabs and an absolute sun trap, no shade whatsoever from lunchtime til sundown. They're walked at 5am and then regular (short) garden trips until their last wee before the sun comes over the house and we lose the shade and that's their lot until the sun has dropped and the slabs have cooled.

We have grass out the front where it's shady in the afternoon but they won't use it, they will only wee/poo on grass during walks or in their own back yard, awkward buggers. They're sleeping all afternoon in this heat anyway and aren't asking to go out so the routine seems to be working, I'm just glad I'm here all day so I can work around the heat for them. They're spark out on a cool floor with a fan with a bowl of ice packs in front of it blowing on them atm so suspect they're cooler than me!

Ours went out at 9:30 last night and 7am this morning. Both times in my pyjamas and I don’t even care! Last night I nipped to the shop about 5pm when it was hotter than during the midday sun and I saw a guy standing outside with a pug who was wearing what can only be described as the kind of head dress that Arab men wear. WTF?? It would have been cute and funny if it hadn’t been so dangerous. What about his little paws? And surely a pug is the worst type of dog to take out in the heat??

I work with dogs. I see it with my own eyes every summer
So you work with dogs and see many affected by the heat. My neighbour works in a vet practice and doesn't. So who knows.

I can only speak for my dog. She went out this morning at 10am the front door and was very happy in the sun on the pavement. I had to drag her back in. I wasn't going to take her out then but she clearly didn't melt and endured torture. Her paws are absolutely fine.

There is definitely hysterics about it but then there is so much hysterics about the weather as soon as it hits the high 20s. It's a British thing indeed. You don't hear about this in the North if France, Belgium or Germany.

Well, yes, two different people in (probably) two different parts of the country are always going to have different experiences and opinions, lol.

For me, we only get this kind of heat for a handful of days each summer, if that, so I don't see an issue with any dog skipping a couple of days of walks. No dog will die because they're kept at home for a bit - they might be a bit restless and annoying, but it won't kill them or hurt them in any way.

Whereas dogs do burn their paws and die of heatstroke every year. And once your dog is displaying symptoms, it's too late, so I'd personally rather not take the risk. Of course, what other people do is up to them. As a dog walker, I can only make the decision to close and cancel walks, and put the message out there that I feel it's too dangerous, but ultimately what owners do in their own time is their choice.

As for other countries - no, you don't hear about it there because the heat lasts for weeks/months on end and happens every year, so the dogs are used to it. It's two different scenarios, so I don't know why people keep insisting on making that comparison.

I can only speak for my dog. She went out this morning at 10am the front door and was very happy in the sun on the pavement. I had to drag her back in. I wasn't going to take her out then but she clearly didn't melt and endured torture. Her paws are absolutely fine.

Same really. My dog always trots in the shadow areas.

Dogs burning their paws:
I have spent, in the course of my life, years in the tropics and other hot climates.

I never, ever heard of a dog burning its paws on the pavement. Yes, feral dogs tended to stay in the shade, but would happily cross the super-heated tarmac if food was in the offing.

They absolutely can and do burn their feet on the pavement. The seven second rule is sensible.

www.thekennelclub.org.uk/health-and-dog-care/health/health-and-care/a-z-of-health-and-care-issues/hot-pavements/

I'm embarrassed to say it has happened to one of my dogs 🥲 She has particularly sensitive/thin skin (including pads) due to long term steroid use for skin allergies and I honestly didn't realise it was hot enough to burn her but I walked her the 5 minutes it takes to get from home to the vets a few weeks ago and her poor pads were a mess, exactly like the photos you see on FB posts about hot pavements. I feel horribly guilty about it and will certainly never do it again, the vets were surprised it was hot enough too but it obviously was.

For me, we only get this kind of heat for a handful of days each summer, if that, so I don't see an issue with any dog skipping a couple of days of walks
So if it's only hot on rare occasions where you are, how can you see so many dogs with heatstroke and burnt paws?

I wonder if posters would have said something to me seeing my dog running after a ball by the sea? To get there, we had to cross a road and walk on the pavement for 10mns. Of course what they wouldn't know if that we carried him from the car to the beach.

It's so easy to make assumptions and criticize behaviour just for the sake of it.

By the way, north of France, Belgium and certainly parts of Germany are not hot countries!

Maybe the dog can't go that long without need to do its business.

Maybe the dog can't go that long without need to do its business.

Take them out again then.

It'll be fine if you're not hanging around on a hot pavement for ages.

My DP took ours out at 7:30 this morning and said he's never seen so many dog walkers! Will take him out again around 9pm tonight. Went at 8pm last night in a shaded park. Still warm but he needs to go to the toilet at some point.

Could be a reason..?

I had my dog at a river from 10am till 5pm yesterday as we were staying in a yurt and it was roasting hot .

The dog was way safer at the river constantly in the water and shaded in riverbank than in a giant tent

My dog came and woke me up at 6am this morning for his walk (he usually has a lie in!). We had a short shady stroll on the lead for him to open his bowels (he won’t go in the garden) and then when we got back, he had a lie on the shady lawn whilst I had my cuppa. It was pleasantly cool. It isn’t now - we are on a red warning but it was perfectly safe for him this morning. I know my dog far better than randoms on the internet and I am neither an idiot nor a cunt.

So if it's only hot on rare occasions where you are, how can you see so many dogs with heatstroke and burnt paws?

Because people aren't used to it and don't seem to think it's an issue to just carry on walking their dogs as normal. Our local vet had a dog in with burnt paws just today, in fact.

I'm not here to convince you (or anyone else), I'm just giving my experience.

I'm sorry that happened to you.

But had anyone in this thread with a fit healthy dog had this happen?

I very rarely go barefoot, but I've just walked back from a swim in our local river, 200m on tarmac, some in shade, some that's been in the sun all day. If my feet can take it, I'm fairly sure my dogs' paws can.

But they got driven in air-conditioned splendour to the shade in the woods.

Seen so many people out with their dogs in the middle of the day. Don't know what they are thinking. We've been going out at 8am to the woods and stream. Not super early but shaded and cool enough.

But had anyone in this thread with a fit healthy dog had this happen?

Not me personally but yes, I've seen it happen in fit, young, healthy dogs. If the pavement is hot enough to burn paws, it doesn't matter how fit or healthy your dog is.

@coffeecupsandfairylights fair enough, though the pp who had it happen to her dog did say the dog has thin skin.

It must be bloody unusual though, given that I've seen dogs in very hot countries walk on tarmac and hot ground with no apparent ill-effects.

Not as unusual as you'd hope.

But again it's acclimatisation. If you're a dog that lives in a hot country and has always walked on hot pavements, your pads adjust and thicken - in the same way human feet get tougher the more you walk barefoot.

www.akc.org/expert-advice/home-living/dog-paws-hot-pavement/

This explains it pretty well.

@coffeecupsandfairylights I found the same page last night.

85F is a little under 30C. So yes, potentially yesterday some surfaces would have been too hot for some dogs. But the 'your dogs feet will INCINERATE' squad were out on my local FB last week when it was about 27C max.

Call me picky, but I prefer facts and sensible guidelines to screeching hysteria.

21 degrees is a pretty normal summer temperature even in the UK, surely? My spaniel wouldn't turn a hair at 21c. Seems a bit extreme to say never walk a dog in 21c or above - we'd be at home for all of July and August in that case.