It’s 8:33 PM and it it’s still about a squillion degrees at Casa de Kolchak.
We are in the throes of a heat wave. It it’s hottest today, it was over 100 degrees. Now, as the sun starts sinking behind the mountains, it’s still 85 degrees. It’s hot. I’m hot. The dogs are hot. The apartment is hot, but nothing is as hot as it has been outside. You guys, it’s too hot to go out there. I just want to hide in the moderate coolness of the house and wait for the heat to subside.
Too bad that, even when it’s hot out, bathroom breaks still have to happen.
Living in an apartment, you don’t have the option to let the dog run out into the yard for a quick potty break. Walks are a necessity and when your dog has got to go, they’ve got to go. You can’t wait until the sun goes down for a bathroom break! The key is to know how to make walking dogs safe on a hot day and we have a few ideas that can help.
Choose the time carefully – If you can, save your major walks for the coolest parts of the day – early morning and late evening, when the sun is low in the sky. Avoid walking during the hottest part of the day. If you must go out during peak sunshine hours, use your common sense and show some caution; make the walk short and take steps to protect your dog.
Location, location, location – Where you chose to walk is important! Whenever possible, we choose grassy locations. Grass doesn’t hold the heat like pavement does making it much safer. Seek out the shade and walk on the shady side of the street. If you live near a body of water, like a river, a lake or an ocean, there is often a cooling breeze to take the edge off the heat.
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Protect those paws – Contrary to popular belief, dogs do sweat – through the pads of their feet. Wacky right? Now imagine that those paws are walking on hot cement. They can’t do their job very well. On a hot day, the air might only be in the 80s, but the pavement can be over 140 degrees. Holy woof. Ground that hot can burn your dog’s pad quickly leaving them painful and difficult to heal. Always check the pavement temperature my pressing the back of your hand firmly on the pavement in the full sun for 7 – 10 seconds. (The one-mississippi kind). If it’s too hot for you to put your hand on the cement, it’s too hot for your dog to walk on it. Protect your dog’s paws. Here at Casa de Kolchak, we use Musher’s Secret, a breathable wax that forms a thin protective layer on your dog’s pad, but in hotter places, you might need special boots made for dogs to keep them protected.
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Stay hydrated – One of the best things you can do to make sure your dog stays cool is to keep them hydrated with fresh, cold water. We always have a water bottle with us, even on short walks. Frequent drinks will help your dogs keep cool and in an emergency, if your dog gets overheated, you can rub the cool water onto their legs and stomach to relieve some heat.
Get wet ‘n’ wild – One of the easiest ways to cool down a warm dog is to soak them to the skin with cool (but not cold) water. I will often wet my dogs down before we go for a walk. The water soaks into their fur and slowly evaporates keeping them cool longer. You can even get products designed to help them stay wet longer – You can get bandanas, harnesses and body wraps designed to be soaked in water to keep your dog chilled.
A Ruffwear Swamp Cooler can help your dog chill out <-affiliate link)
Teach a Potty Command – During the hottest part of the day, you want to get out and get back in quickly! You can teach your do that “go means go” by heading over to Smart Dog University, where trainer Laurie Luck will tell you everything you need to know.
You can’t always control when your dog has got to go, but with a bit of caution and common sense you can make sure your dog is protected from the heat.
Do you ever have to take your dog out when it’s really hot? What do you do to make those walks safe and comfortable?
This is why I’m so thankful we no longer live in an apartment and now have a back yard. It can be really tricky to make sure your dogs get the outside time they need safely. Excellent tips!
I waver back and forth. There are days when the apartment is perfection – for example when I wasn’t mowing a 1/4 acre of lawn this weekend, other times we definitely miss the space!
Welcome to my world! It runs in the high humid 90 to 100+ most of the summer. We don’t do walks but do attend various outdoor functions. Mushers wax and a big water bottle for drinks and wetting down are musts. We also have a pool in the backyard and a fan on the deck. Even so Kirby let’s us know if he wants inside or a swim.
I absolutely adore that Kirby asks to swim. What a precious little fluff.
I hope people share this all around. When I tell my friends that the pavement is too hot for their dogs’ paws, they think I’m overreacting. Maybe they should take off their shoes and give it a try!
I’m always the one standing barefoot in our drive way, hand pressed to the pavement while the dogs pull on the leash and tell me to get moving! Better safe than sorry!
Even though we have a yard, we tend to go for walks because they are better exercise. However, Summer in South Florida is all about finding the right time to go out…like early morning and late evening when it is cooler. I get a very quick potty break in the afternoon in the yard because it is too hot. This post has great information about how to keep pets safe, hydrated and cool in the summer heat!
Florida sounds HOT HOT HOT!We love a walk just after dusk though as everything is cooling off and there always seems to be a nice breeze!
It is stupid hot here too! The boys go out in the back yard many times a day to poop, patrol, and look for squirrels. We have to choose our walking times carefully. Mornings and evenings bring throngs of mosquitoes. In the middle of the day, we’ll be drenched in sweat just going out for a few minutes. Why can’t spring last a little longer? I am going to have to look into some booties for Bentley. I don’t know if he’ll walk in them.
Do you have a bug spray? I use the Pet Naturals Flea+Tick for the boys and it also repels mosquitos. I’ve even used it on myself on buddy days!
Also, The first few times I put shoes on Koly he kicked up a fuss, but I held my ground and now he wears them just fine.
We take our long walks early, early and then just a couple short ones later and they involve lots of grass to walk on. Not fans of summer and the heat at our house. Sometimes we take a dip in our pool before we head out or we wear our Kool Kollars.
We love summer, but this is getting to be too much! Mama is MELTING
This is definitely relevant to me living in Australia! I’ve trained my boy Leo to go on command ‘go wee Leo’ works a treat at reducing the time we spend outside.
I’m super jealous of your location; it’s such a beautiful place, but I don’t think I could handle the heat!
I am sharing this!
Thank you Carol!!
100 degrees? Wow. The highest temperature we’ve had here was about 85.
I love the “go potty” command. Except for Chester’s occasional REALLY LONG poopy dance, both dogs go in less than a minute or so after I tell them to…unless, of course, I am in a hurry 🙂
Dogs have a sixth sense for that, don’t they. When I am running late is always when Kol needs to go out for a potty break NOW.
Isn’t that freakishly hot for you guys? Speaking as someone who deals with 90-100 for four or five months a year (sometimes six, if we’re having a bad weather year), I’ll add one more tip: don’t assume that the grass is cool enough to walk on. It’s better, sure, but thin/dry grass or sandy dirt can still be uncomfortably hot to stand on.
Smart tips. Maya and Pierson get to walk on grass so we don’t use shoes. But we follow the other tips. Time, location, hydration, wearing cooling collars, and Maya knows the potty command. I’m still working on that command with Pierson. He’d rather watch squirrels.