Should you 'force' your dog to stay cool? Or let them trust their own instincts?

[PucketyPuckPuck]

I know all the general guidance for dog-safety in hot weather. Don't walk during the day, mind their pads, water, no cars etc.

But at home - how much do you 'force' your dog to stay cool?

Ddog has numerous cool places to relax. But we have the patio doors open all day and she often chooses to go and lie in the garden in full sun in the middle of the day or to walk around on the patio sniffing etc. I looked up earlier and she was stretched out full length on the patio, belly touching the patio slabs and they felt fairly hot to touch! Yet she seemed quite comfortable, a sight pant but not much.

Do you trust your dog that they'll move out of the sun themselves if too warm and leave them be? Or is my dog just particularly dense and I need to save her from herself, block off the patio doors etc?

My family’s cat loved to sunbathe. But she literally burnt the tops of her ears off doing it one year. And my dog got so hot last week (sitting in a sunny window watching the neighbours) that he vomited.

Even humans get heatstroke and sunburn despite having the understanding to avoid it.

I'd absolutely leave my dog to make his own decisions in this sort of situation. All three dogs I've had in my adult life have sunbathed to the point of being hot and panting and then hurled themselves down in the shade to cool down. It's natural and fine unless the dog has some sort of inbread inability to cope with the heat.

I think this question is evidence of the fact that a lot of people are getting (I don't know where from) inappropriately cautious advice about dogs in hot weather. Except for dogs with specific vulnerabilities it is absolutely fine to walk them on an ordinarily hot summer day. And I have never come across excessively hot pavements, etc, in the UK. I checked local hard surfaces when I was walking my dog yesterday, having read about this concern on MN. None of them were more than pleasantly warm.

I can't trust my dog to not eat socks and then throw them up so I'm not really sure if their instincts count 🤔🤣

I remind myself that these are animals who can classify a sock as food.

And then make the silly buggers stay in the shade.

I live in a hot country. My dogs have free access to outside and indoors. They are usually sunning themselves in the heat walking around on the hot tiles In stead of being cool in the air-conditioned home

I used to worry so much about them when I lived in the UK. However. Walking them in the hot sun I avoid I think the self regulate but shouldn't be forced to exercise

Perfect timing!

Bit of both here. No longer a dog owner but our husky used to bake herself in the sun. She never panted too much, and would always lay in the soil which I think was cool on her underside but she got the heat on the rest of her. She would pick herself up and trudge off to the shade eventually, if it was too hot we would bring her in but she would be put out about it the daft sod.

It depends on the dog. Dog1 is very sensible. She’ll move into the shade and find water when she’s too hot. We could take her a walk in heat and she would make sure to find water and let us know when she’s too hot.

Dog2 is an idiot. Not just with the sun but generally. But yes he will just sit in the sun until he dies if we didn’t intervene. We’ve said he’s here for a good time, not a long time. So it’s a constant battle to stop him killing himself in some stupid way.

The cats in this house hide under hedges, the car, and treat the front door like its a staff operated revolving door. They have a cat flap! They sort themselves out🤔
The dog has the whole bungalow and constant garden access. The kitchen door is left open and lays in the shade or indoors on the hallway floor when it's hot. She definitely has the brains to work it out.
The only daft thing she does is pester for a walk as soon as I get home from work. I've had to ignore it until later evening.

My old boy loves son bathing, he’s got a thick coat. He does move into the shade of his own accord. If I’m in the garden with him I do make a point of bringing him in with me when I go inside.
Most dogs aren’t that daft but it’s always best to bring them indoors when you are inside too.

The dog trainer at our puppy class told us to be watchful and make the decisions for the dogs in this weather as some/most don't have the sense to know they are too hot and by the time they realise it's too late and they will cook themselves.

I do limit how long ddog lies out in the sun as she's an old flat faced dog and I'm sure it's not good for her. She has various places around the house and moves between them sometimes choosing to lie where she can catch the sun and at other times choosing the cold tiled floor. If it is hot she plonks herself in front of the fan as well.

Black lab, two years old - I think you know your own dog but for us our puppy trainer drummed into us the importance of being your dog's advocate because sometimes they don't know what behaviour they're getting into. We've seen that he hasn't got an off switch when off lead running/playing or swimming so we are cautious to monitor this and especially in the heat. We walk him early or late when cooler and by choice he will flop on the cold kitchen tiles or his cool mat. Last summer he quite enjoyed sitting right by the fan and his ears flapped about. That was cute.

My whippet loves a sunbathe but will get up and move inside when he becomes too hot.

They've always had a swim on the beach early morning in a heatwave then lie around the rest of the day mostly indoors. One lab enjoyed a dribbling hosepipe over him when it got really hot. Never had one that would use a paddling pool

My dog and cats seem to enjoy basking the heat, but after a while they'll move into a shady spot or come back inside. I trust them to regulate themselves. If the dog was there for ages I'd probably call her in. The cats are experts in making themselves comfortable so I'd leave them to it.

Humans get heatstroke sunbathing in temperatures they aren’t used to all the time, with the benefit of frontal lobes and public health guidance. Of course dogs can cook themselves into woozy confusion lying in the sun and get past the point where they realise they’re too hot and need to cool off. Maybe some younger healthier dogs are “not stupid” on a 22 degree day, or won’t end up vomiting even if they overheat a bit, but any blanket statements that animals can take care of themselves are foolish. They’re not wild creatures living in a natural environment, they’re domesticated dependent weirdos living in an artificial environment with unnaturally hot surfaces.