Dogs and heat - what is wrong with people

[honeyandbutterontoast]

I know this topic has been talked about a lot but I will never understand why people go out in the heat with their dogs.

DD has just phoned me in floods of tears over someone she has just seen out with their dogs. In a very nice part of London (not that it should matter I know), in about 32 heat. A woman striding along with 2 black pugs on the pavement, not on leads. One was visibly distressed but trying to keep up with her, the other quite a way behind who was drooling and stumbling. There were quite a few people staring but nobody intervened.

Why have a dog if you are going to cause it this kind of suffering?!

Whilst I agree and during the last week I’ve walked my dog very early morning and late evening I try not to judge other people, sometimes you get caught out not realising how hot it is.

I definitely do judge people who buy pugs though, that is supporting animal cruelty imo.

Even first thing in the morning? Or last thing at night?

And yep, I remember one of my DC being obsessed by pugs when she was about 9 and desperate for us to get one, and me telling her at the time that they were deformed and shouldn't be bred due to the health issues it caused them. She's 23 now so that was a while back!

I'm in Spain at the moment & there are plenty of local dogs being walked at all times. Do their paws get hardened to the hot pavement if they have always lived here?
I also saw one in the sea on a kids inflatable earlier too actually, being pulled around by a small child 😂

It’s both cruel and idiotic. And it’s in no way comparable to dogs in hotter climates. Firstly, they have grown up in such temperatures and are acclimatised and secondly, they are not walked at midday.
I’m not surprised your dd was upset, there is literally no need to walk them when the weather is like this. Or if you must walk them, get up really early and do it when it’s cooler.

It’s called empathy try it some time

Im so sorry, I'm not trying to be combative here, but surely you mean 'I'll hold my hands up, I didn't do enough research at the time' which i would respect a lot - but to say there wasn't the knowledge generally is just not true, if you had done any research at all into the breed, and I mean a single page of Google results, this would have been on there. Again, I'm not trying to be horrible here, and I do respect the fact you have said you would make the same choice now, but to imply that it was a general lack of knowledge at large just isn't true. Pugs rose in popularity before that time due to celebrities and youtubers getting them and it was well talked about then.
To the issue at hand: I also would have been very upset, those poor dogs. It reached 30 here on Friday and saw a man walking a golden retriever on pavement - if i had been able to stop to say something i bloody would have done.

We drove past a women dragging her eldery lab down the road. Poor dog was panting and couldnt move! Totally irresponsible!

Yes I’ll hold my hand up and say that. I didn’t google tho, I spoke to dog breeders and vets and our dog groomer and some dog walkers. And I got mainly positive feedback!
I know a lot about the breed now, but then despite getting knowledge I had no real idea of the costs and worry that would be involved.

I think it also depends massively upon individual dogs. I have two dogs. One of mine is a light-coloured, very lean, young, fit spaniel who copes fine in the heat. She also loves the water which makes it easier in hot weather. She comes back, has a drink and is fine within five minutes. My other dog is a stockier, dark coloured, older terrier who suffers a lot more in the heat so I'm far more cautious with him. Having said that I do carefully consider where I walk in hot weather and I'll avoid the park with minimal shade. If the temperature is over 25 degrees I won't walk them between 8am and 8pm. Below that we will go out but just take it easy. I'll still go out at over 25 if it's after 8pm- 25 + feels very different at 8pm than at 12pm.

Having said that, I did see a man earlier throwing a ball launcher for his thick coated Border Collie when it was 26 degrees which I would not have been comfortable with if that had been mine.

I do have a strict cut off of 20 degrees for canicross though and I will not run mine above 20 degrees regardless of time of day.

No matter what you say @honeyandbutterontoast I don't think you'll convince many people you made anything but a poor decision when you bought a pug. Sorry.

But
"DD is a student, living away from home. What exactly could she have done? Confront this person? Taken the dog? Both things I might have considered doing."
I respect you for this.
It's pretty awful what you see some dog owners doing. And it's not confined to hot weather. Gets to me too.

Dogs work all year round. Most are fine up to 25 degrees and then over that you need to take precautions. The flat faced are an exception.

Humidity is far more dangerous than dry heat as they can’t cool by convection. I trained my dog in 25 degree heat this week but the humidity was very low. Short bursts of activity then in the shade to rest. We had paddling pools, cool coats and cool water on standby but all the dogs were fine. The most they managed was light panting. The humans struggled!

Dogs like humans are individuals. It’s about knowing yours and taking precautions. It’s virtually unheard of for a dog working or competing to go down with heat stroke.

Well it was just an incident she saw pugs being outside perhaps they were needing the toilet your Dd needs to take a breath.

My dog is from the global south and he sensibly lies under a table when it’s hot. He even lies under the dining room table inside! Which I think means shade-seeking is probably hard-wired.

Oh ball throwing. No. They can’t lose heat if they’ve lost their main method of convection!

Mine is from the Scottish Borders. She’s laying in full sun. They’re all different.

Whilst I wouldn't usually choose to walk my dogs in the middle of the day, the social media hyperbole is insane as soon as it gets over 20 degrees.

It's currently 28 degrees here and my labs are sat out, not even panting. The only time pavement has been too hot for me to walk on barefoot in the UK was when we had 40 degrees weather a few years back.

Some people just don’t think or use common sense! I think it’s useful we have more info about this now, so the aforementioned people consider their dog before taking them out if it’s too hot. I have Spanish rescues. They love the heat - to lie in. They go out early or late if it’s too hot - pretty simple really.

YANBU but unfortunately some people are absolutely selfish dickheads. Let them walk on the hot pavement in bare feet and a fur coat. Poor dogs, I would be upset too but I would have probably said something to the stupid owner tbh.

Sounds exactly like the humans from those respective areas!

A couple of weeks ago, I took my dog for a river swim while one of my teenage DC was sitting a GCSE. I picked teenager up afterwards and called in to the supermarket on the way home - parked in the shade and left teenager and dog in the car together with the windows half open. Someone actually stood watching the car and came over to me when they saw me return to tell me my dog might be overheating. Erm no, she was fine. Sound asleep and still soaking wet.

Apparently, despite their eagle eyes, they had somehow failed to notice the adult sized human being also sat in the car in jeans and hoodie and reading a book...also not overheating.

Such drama over fuck all. I half expected to see my photo on the local Spotted:Town FB page 🤣

I know nothing about owning a dog, but even i know that’s out of order.
Are people really that clueless, or do they take the dog out simply because that’s the time they always walk the dog?

And they can’t see any problem with that when it’s 30°-odd??

Yep they stick to the shade

I think you should also hold your hands up about saying you know ‘a lot of vets and vet nurses who have pugs’ and also you got mainly positive feedback from vets. Vets historically have not endorsed pugs due to their various associated health issues…

😂

tbh, most pugs I see look like they’re struggling - in any weather.