22/23 degrees sunny and no wind - walkies?

[hollyblueivy]

It's hot in the garden and I'm a relatively new dog owner - medium sized breed

Do we still walk at this temperature- would an hour be ok?

Walked my 10 month old working terrier lunch time today. I took water and she had a little bit mid walk but she barely broke a sweat.

Of your dog is very young, very old, overweight or flat faced then you need to be very careful but otherwise then enjoy the sun. Humidity is much more dangerous.

Depends on the dog. Giant dogs and brachy dogs struggle more. As do very hairy or overweight dogs. Or elderly dogs. I walk early or later in the summer.

Of course. Mine had an hour between 1.00 and 2.00 then the younger one had half an hour of training in the sun. They both had a little drink and are flopped out in the shade.

I walk mine at that temp as long as there’s a stream/lake or at the beach so he gets wet. He runs a lot though, not one for a sniffy pottering walk!

This is a handy guide.

When it's hot could you not walk your dog earlier or later in the day rather than when the sun is at its hottest? The internet/vet websites/RSPCA/Dogs Trust websites are absolutely full of this kind of information.

I took our spaniel out at 3 for an hour to the park so mostly shaded and on grass with access to a stream for at least half of the walk. She was fine, once it gets to 24/25 degrees and above we'll wait until evening to walk.

At what temps are the pavements likely to be too hot, does anyone know?

Again depends on the dog. Most dogs that are pavement or beach walked have tough pads. Some breeds are tougher than others too. So it’s not like human skin. My dog can run on sharp shingle and not get cut whereas I walked across it after a swim and my feet got shredded (that was a painful few days!). So again it’s very dog dependent. Know your dog, watch their behaviour and keep an eye on their feet!

I worry less about the heat on pavement
and more about the fact they can’t sweat like us to cool down and have fur coats on. But if I can’t walk around barefoot then that is a red flag for me.

They don’t have fur coats. Their cooling system is different. We sweat from everywhere. They only ‘sweat’ from mouths, pads and ears. A bit from the stomach. Dogs are not human. They’re physiologically different. Yes wetting them will take a bit of heat away but nothing like a good gum surface area will.

Dogs work all year round. Police, guide dogs, herding dogs etc. They can cope with far higher temperatures than we realise but you do need to be sensible and choose your breed carefully if you want them to be heat tolerant.

@Newpeep they are covered in fur! Literally coated in it. Dogs can cope in higher temperatures BUT it takes them a while to acclimatise to them. And we don’t tend to have massively extended periods of very hot weather.
Far better to avoid walking dogs in the hottest part of the day than risk discomfort or potential overheating.

Yes they are. But it’s not the equivalent of us wearing a fur coat. It’s completely different as they’re designed to cool around it whereas for us we’d be covering up our cooling system. We are not dogs and dogs are not physically little people. Cognitively yes similar to children. Physically obviously not.

Of course. Why wouldn't you? 22-23C is not hot!

I've been getting my dog out at 6am. He's only just turned 1, so this is his first summer experiencing going out for proper walks and I've kind of followed his lead - and he seems to struggle with the heat, even this early on in the season. When I take him out in the evening I stand shoeless on the black tarmac path outside my house for a minute or so, to see how comfortable it is.

He's a medium/large poodle mix. When we are in the garden he's a shade seeker, and I've had to have his lovely, long fleecy coat clipped because he seemed really uncomfortable.

He is a little hot potato though - he's never been one for lying on his beds, preferring the cold tiled floor, and he chooses to sleep in the shower every night, all year round.

Yes, I would. But when it gets a bit hotter I start to consider my route, ie using routes with dirt paths/fields rather than pavements and when it is hotter still, shaded routes in woods keeps the local temps much lower later into the day.

See if there's a woodland walk near you, preferably with a stream they can cool off in. That's a good compromise.

Yes they are, and their coat protects them from the heat. It's not comparable to a human putting a fur coat on and going out in the heat.

I understand how a dog’s coat works. It’s why my breed is hand stripped and never clipped. But dogs can still overheat far quicker than humans.

I'm just more careful with where I walk... woodland , riverside with access to water. Mine's double coated and it actually protects her (and she loves to sunbathe!!) ..I wouldn't go on a long pavement walk at 22+ and at 24 we don't..we go out early and late.

I wouldn’t walk my giant ones above 20 but my german shepherd would be perfectly happy in the low 20s somewhere like the beach or along the river.

I think it depends where you go, how intensely they are running about, how much shade there is, can they cool down somewhere etc.

It depends on the breed, location of the walk, humidity etc.

I'm a dog walker and have a couple of dogs I won't take out over 20 degrees as they have health conditions that mean it wouldn't be safe.

Some days it feels too hot and humid at 20 degrees but other days it's fine at 23 degrees. I won't walk above 24 degrees though as that's where it generally becomes risky for all breeds and it's difficult to keep multiple dogs safe and calm when all they want to do is play. It would be different if it was a solo dog on a lead.

As a general rule I switch to shaded walks at around 21 degrees - we have a huge woodland area near us for walks so we tend to go there in summer, or to the lagoon so the dogs can swim.

What if it's more than low 20's for your shepherd?

Just thinking how walks are done during the height of summer.

In the height of summer you need to walk first thing in the morning and last thing at night.