to take dog to the woods or leave at home,

[EleanorReally]

due to be 26 or 27

she will be left for about 4 hours but is not reliable in the house
are the woods likely to be too hot?

I always take the dog out to the woods when it’s hot. Get out the car to a wall of dry heat and then it’s lovely and cool once under the canopy. We have lovely ancient woods with a meandering river for dips. Dog absolutely loves it.

If your home is likely to get as warm, or warmer, than outside then I’d definitely take her with you. You can take lots of water, dampen her fur if she needs more cooling than panting can provide.

I think the dog would be fine sitting in the woods in the shade for a couple of hours at mid-20s. Just don't exercise the dog and it won't be any hotter there than at home surely. Just make sure you bring water to drink and maybe a cool mat if you have one.

This. Especially if there’s a stream and you have air con in the car.

Although I think there is a lot of ott advice about walking dogs in hot weather, I'm with clare balding on this one. I wouldn't leave my dog shut up in a stationary car for a single second in this weather.

My DH and I sometimes do sequential shopping at Tesco if we have the dog, taking it in turns to amble about with him or sit in the wide-open car with him.

Unfortunately I’ve seen lots of people walking their dogs lately when it’s been that temperature. 😞

Why is it that people think that dogs in general (not just old or ill dogs, or flat-nosed breeds or heavy coated breeds, but dogs in general ) are less able to cope with hot weather than humans?

Both species have the ability to respond to hot temperatures - we sweat to lose heat, they pant. If a middling fit middle-aged woman feels ok walking in 25 degrees or so, why would she think her dog isn't?

She is 12, that is heading for elderly which puts her at higher risk in this heat.

Put puppy pads down. Leave her at home

I get it, I think the difference is that one is being led on a lead where the one wearing shoes wants it to go, and can't talk. A human will stop if they start feeling the effects of heat exhaustion, and seek help. Dogs rely on their humans to either not put them in that position, or be able to spot it early and deal with it immediately. I see humans going for a run, in situations where a dog would choose to be lying still under a tree given the option. In "hot" countries dogs literally don't move for most of the day.

I would certainly drive my dog in an air conditioned car to a woods and amble about in the shade of trees. I honestly can’t see the issue.

Social media I think. It gives the impression that your dogs will die if you step out the house when it's 22 degrees.

Mine had a wander in the woods yesterday morning when it was about 23, refused any offer of water back at the car. Then sat in the shade at the pub when it was 25 degrees, which was 1 degree cooler than it was in my house at the time. All chauffered about in an air conditioned car.

There are some very thickly wooded areas near where I live and we walk with our dog there in summer. It's much cooler in the woods there than at home, in fact. Usually we are out walking around 7pm but we have done the woodland walk earlier in the day before, on a hot day. And seen loads of other dog walkers doing the same. You can park in the woods so the sun isn't beating down on anyone at all. There are streams in the woods that he can go into when needed.

You have to use your common sense, really. Know the area, take water with you.

Pavements baked by the sun are bad news for a dogs paws but our woodlands are cool and damp currently, can't think of a better place for the dogs to be.

Couple of boys walking their dog up the road locally, dog was in obvious distress ,breathing poorly and gait very unbalanced , they got to the local shop and it collapsed , local people tried to revive it with water etc but the poor bugger died of heat exhaustion , police involved , This was mid afternoon a couple of weeks ago when it was slightly cooler than it is now
If your dog can stay home with water then that is the kindest solution

I think it totally depends on the dog and the area. We live in an area where you can totally avoid the path, they can have a dunk in the pond and play on the woods. They love it.
If your dog struggles with heat or there's no shade then you shouldn't. The woods are a lot cooler than our on the street

She voted with her feet I wet her stomach and she ran upstairs, to lie on my bed
gave me the opportunity to suss out the woods without her, lovely and cool , I know for next time

Far too hot, especially for an older dog. My two (8 & 4 years old, older one a brachycephalic rescue) were out well before 6am this morning and probably won’t go out, other than in the garden, again today.

My local woods has lots of paths where you can get off the main path (which is in full sun) and go deeper into the woods where it’s lovely and shady and cool, plus lots of streams and ponds for swimming and paddling so I happily take my dog when it’s hot.

I usually walk her early morning/late evening but she’s at work with me today so we’ve been for a lunchtime bimble in the woods. It’s much cooler there than it is in my office, I didn’t let her charge around, she mooched along with me and went for a swim in the pond. I needed a cardigan

If any of these woodland walks with streams are within an hour of Derby would anyone care to share the location? Always on the lookout for hot weather options.

If the dog is lean, fit, close-coated and not flat-faced, a very large breed, ancient, very young, or ill, it should be absolutely fine for a gentle walk.

It will be cooler under the trees, you can stop and sit on a fallen log or whatever, offer the dog water and so on. I wouldn't go for a 4-hour hike, but a gentle stroll should be fine.

ETA, if the dog has been walked at 22/23/24 degrees over the past few weeks, it will have begun to become acclimatised to the current temperature. We have been walking ours; I waited until a bit later than normal yesterday, but they were fine: hot, but absolutely coping.

I think it’s decided now but I was going to say leave her. Twenty mins stroll in wood ok but two hours on a hot day is too long for an older dog. If she goes indoors just clean up. It’s not that big a deal.

Maybe because humans don't walk barefoot on very hot pavements and don't go out in the heat wearing a fur coat!

Ask a vet how many dogs suffer heatstroke/sunstroke when it's hot or even die

thanks all very much.
i did go for a walk in the woods on my own, i say it was cool but going for a walk was quite hot, the beach afterwards was marvellous with a breeze but i wouldnt have felt happy taking a dog there
ddog was happy when i got back,i had to give the floor a clean, and she has gone back to sleeping at my feet

Hi everyone - I know the OP's query is now out of date, but for everyone interested, here's a site about heatstroke in dogs, run by academics who do research on heatstroke in dogs: https://heatstroke.dog

The tl/dr bit is that the single biggest cause of heatstroke (which does cause death very regularly in the UK, because dogs here aren't acclimatised to heat, so this isn't overblown, and evidence from abroad is irrelevant) is exertion, meaning walks. One of the other major triggers is travelling in a hot car. Some dogs are far more vulnerable than others: flat faced dogs and Golden Retrievers, for example. Also older dogs, sick dogs, double-coated breeds, puppies, and adolescents. The reason we're okay and they're not is because we have entirely different heat loss mechanisms; and it takes about 60 days to acclimatise, so heat-related deaths are much more common here as we generally don't have 60 days of warm weather in a row.

There's also a lot of bad advice out there. If your dog starts overheating, don't faff about wetting their paws or draping them in towels; soak them in water that's colder than the dog, then get them to a vet in a cold, air-conditioned car.

26/27 is just a regular summers day where I live. Our animals are outside most of the day. I think a walk in the Forrest would be lovely. Even better if there's a stream to splash in.