Dogs in southern Europe

[DreamyCyanFinch]

Dear Dog lovers,
Please help, sorry if I seem silly.
My dogs 1 4 years, 2nd 1 and a half are in southern europe for 2 weeks.We have nearly 40 degrees today.
Dog number 2 is a rescue and was now house trained but has pooed inside.We were worried about it being too hot outside, there is shade in the garden.
It was our fault as we were worried about the heat.

How can I leave my dog outside or at least get it outside midday or afternoon.
Tips from people in hot places.What do you do?

Thank you

That sounds stressful! Your rescue is probably stressed as well which is why he is reverting to toileting in the house.
When we lived in a hot country, we had to walk the dogs before 6am, and then much later in the evening normally after 10pm, with short supervised trips into the garden every couple of hours. We never left them unattended in the garden for more than 5 mins in the middle of the day.

Sorry but I wouldn't be leaving them outside even with shade. Do you have aircon? You need to do maximum to keep them cool. Put damp towels down for them to lie on. Wipe faces and ears with cold wet flannels. Fans on, place trays of iced water in front of fans for greater cooling.
Don't wish to alarm you but I have two different neighbors whose dogs died left in gardens in hot weather. One was confirmed heat stroke the other is undecided between heat stroke and heart attack. So sad.

Oh yes and I second namechange's advice of extremely early walks! Don't worry about accidents in the house, they are a temporary inconvenience no more.
If you don't have aircon, get up at 4am and open all windows and doors to let cool air in. Then close everything, windows shutters and blinds, by about 8 or 9 am. House will stay cool for most of day.

If they're not used to 40 degree heat then they need to stay indoors unless they're going to the toilet - when you can just take them on lead to a shaded grassy area and then back in again.

The pooing indoors is likely a combination of stress, different water and heat.

Thank you, I won't leave them outside alone.Possibly go out 2pm to try and get them to pee.
Ice cubes in the water, for outside good idea or not?

You need an indoor wet area (damp towel) and lots of water. No walks - if they’re not used to the heat then you absolutely cannot walk them - and keeping them inside. Dogs aren’t intelligent - they will lay in the shade then potter around in the heat. You can’t risk it.

TBH I’d go home. 40 is way too hot for a dog not used to it and your dogs sound horrible stressed and unable to cope.

You absolutely can't leave them outside! They need to be indoors and as cool as possible.

Are you even allowed to leave them unattended in this holiday accommodation?

They are not acclimatised to the weather and temperatures unlike local dogs, and you can't speed that process up so you have to work with it.

We are staying with my mother, so it's not a hotel.Think we will stay because moving onto the Brittany in a week and it's cooler there.Thanks for the advice ,we are keeping thedogs cool.

Good news. I'll be in Brittany with my labradaughter in two weeks time. She is given to making weird decisions like lying in the hot sun when there is cool shade two meters away. She will absolutely overcook if left to her own devices.
After what happened to my friends' dogs, in hot weather we do our walks before the sun is up and she's not allowed outside unsupervised.

I wouldn't be allowing them out long enough to be drinking water etc. out there - it's too hot for them.

Dogs in the UK aren't used to the temperatures you get on the continent - it's why they sadly get heatstroke at 24/25 degrees. They're just not used to it and never get the chance to acclimatise as our weather is so varied.

These dogs need to be inside all day - walks (if absolutely necessary) at silly o'clock in the morning only.

The summer weather where I live is like this, and my dog is uncomfortable in the heat (as am I).

We walk from 7 am to 9 am max, and almost always go on the river walk so that she can jump into the water to cool off.

Back home, we sit in the garden in the shade until the thermometer (in the shade) goes over 30°C, then we move indoors (blinds down on windows getting direct sun, all windows shut). I take her out into the garden every hour or so; if she has a wee or poo, fine, if not, also fine, but we don’t stay out there. I would NEVER leave her out there, and ice cubes in water would last 10 minutes max, i.e. pointless. The evenings here are never cool enough to walk (also, mosquitoes).

All windows open at night to cool the house down, then shut again (and blinds dropped if receiving direct sunlight) before we go on our next 7 am walk.

it’s quite regimented and limiting, but it works and it’s only for a couple of months a year.