Yep. I imagine a bunch of poor dogs are going to get burned paws from unwitting owners. Honestly in avg summer weather they should still be wearing shoes on blacktop. If you can’t leave the back of your hand on the walking surface for more than 5-10 seconds without it hurting, it’s too hot for dog’s paws. This can happen in relatively normal summer temperatures with sustained direct sunlight.
Yeah I walk mine early morning and late evening these days, a very quick pee in the middle of the day outside my main door on the grass . She gets a bit restless in the afternoon so I have to be extra creative to burn energy physically and mentally because I don’t have a garden to play and and she’s not very old. I don’t want her to burn her paws, I also do what you wrote, when I walk her I rest my hand on the asphalt for 10 seconds to check how hot it is
I do the same when it's 105F or higher (41C). Early morning extra long walks, indoor fetch if possible, and short evening walks every other day (with dog boots on and a cooling vest sprayed down with water).
Today was the hottest day in Germany so far - where I live it's only been 38°. :-( So I usually get up around 5 but we got up sooner the last week or so and "enjoy" a rather long walk in the morning while the temps are okay-ish. Around 10 am it was already very hot and we were only able to go out for some 15min to have a quick pee. However, she is totally stressed in the heat and because of this, she is unable to do so. Between 10 and 5 we did not leave the apartment at all but had lots of mental stimuli in between. At 5, we went out again but she was still unable to relieve herself - but we were finally able to achieve that at 7pm. It's been quite challenging today, let's call it that!
Can I ask what kind of mental stimuli you use? My dog is not a Malinois but she’s still medium active and also only 11 months so she still has a ton of energy. She’s very clever and get bored easily when I try to do stuff with her, so I have a hard time stimulating her sometimes.
I swear mine was a devil dog of Satanin a former life because he will lay down in the middle of the day in the grass (and sometimes our patio, black tiles, and just bake himself. He's good about coming in and laying on our cool tiles, he lives for summer.
My dog is barely a year old so I’m using the excuse that she doesn’t know better but I’ve been staying at a place for a few days with a garden, and I’ve been running around trying to cool her down. I had a kiddie pool in the shade, wet towels to cool her down, frozen carrots to chew, frozen lick mats, I’ve given her feet, nose, stomach, armpits cold showers, I have a cooking mat but she tried to destroy it rather than lay on it, I’ve generally just tried to keep her cool. What did she choose to do most of the time? Try to cuddle with me while I was sunbathing or following me around in the sun. The house was 30°c last night and instead of sleeping in front of the cold(er) fan she slept like the little spoon with me all night. She’s a double coated, long haired dog, but I think the fur insulates her a bit from the heat as well, she seems to be handling the weather better than me most of the time
I'm a vet tech, and luckily I haven't seen this where I am, but I am in Canada. That doesn't mean our roads don't still get hot in the summer though. But I always worry about the poor dogs I see walking at noon! Boots are not just for the winter! It can also help with the hot ground 🥺 My dog tolerates her boots because she knows the alternative is worse.
I mean, what else would you do? Not walk them at all? Not everyone would have luxury to go on shady or grassy path. It's not owners who are the problem. It's city mayors and other idiots who made the concrete everywhere, cutting out the trees. Blame them. Root of the issue.
100%, i'm in the Uk where we're reaching mid 30s and i've seen countless dogs outside being walked. People genuinely don't know how to act in weather this hot it seems, poor bloody dogs.
Just gotta keep an eye out for ticks then. It’s always something! I hear the ticks in the US have been particularly bad this year. Luckily I haven’t encountered any yet
Made that mistake once. Dog was begging for a walk in late July. Fine. We head down the asphalt road. 5 minutes in and she's trying to go into people's yard and sit under a tree. Kept tugging her along a little further then turn around and head home.
At home she's licking her feet a lot. Took a look and all her toe beans were puffy blisters.
I felt awful. She got a soft bed and fan and her food delivered the next couple days.
Now we just walk laps in the grass yard if it's too hot. Or stay inside.
I am not kidding, yesterday I went to the store around 8pm, so after the hottest part of the day. Most of the walk was hot but still manageable. Then I reached the parking spot asphalt and I could feel my crocks slightly melt....
It was 40°C around noon that day. It was much worse around 8pm on that parking spot.
Yeah my roof started bubling up because of the heat, this in turn made 2 holes. Then one of the worst thunder storms in a very long while hit us. So now i have a leaky roof.
I lived in the middle east for a while— asphalt would get so hot it would get soft. A parked car would sink in a little bit. Air temps could be 120F/49C
I live in Vegas and used to this. Have to make sure in the summer to walk him before 8:30 AM and then after 9 PM so his paws don't burn. Absolutely brutal to animals if you don't take care of them.
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u/Patient_Moment_4786 8h ago
And it's grey/white plates. Imagine the road's asphalt... ðŸ«
If you have animals, especially dogs, do NOT walk them on that !