August 9, 2024, 6:43 am | Read time: 6 minutes
When temperatures rise to 86 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer, many dogs suddenly don’t feel like going for a walk. No wonder! Hot asphalt, blazing sun with perhaps a thick coat don’t make it easy for our four-legged friends. PETBOOK editor Saskia Schneider has already experienced a few hot summers in the city with her miniature spitz and shares her best tips for walking in the heat.
When the thermometer rises to over 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit), my Pomeranian, Yumi, suddenly “loses” her ability to walk. Going for a walk in these temperatures? You must be crazy. Many dogs are like Yumi. However, not all of them are as stubborn as a dwarf spitz simply refusing to move. Some of them follow dutifully behind their owner and don’t even grumble when the asphalt under their paws is over 60 degrees (140 Fahrenheit). But there are a few things we dog owners can do to make walking in the heat more bearable for our dogs.
This is already my fourth summer with Yumi. In big cities like Berlin, the heat is particularly extreme because there are so many paved surfaces. For dogs, walking in the midday heat becomes an imposition. But what if you can’t just get out the door quickly and have to walk a longer distance? We don’t have a car. So I had to come up with some ideas …
Use the morning and evening hours
The easiest way to avoid the heat when walking is to take longer walks in the morning or evening. It is usually much cooler at that time of the day, and the sun is not so bright. However, you also have to adjust your own daily rhythm. For example, I usually prefer to go for a longer walk at lunchtime, as Yumi is a morning grouch.
Check the asphalt
Many people wonder why their dog doesn’t want to walk, even when the temperature is still quite pleasant for us, like 25 degrees (77 Fahrenheit). If you live in the city, it could be because of the hot asphalt. This heats up to over 50 degrees (122 Fahrenheit) from an outside temperature of 15 degrees (59 Fahrenheit), as the animal welfare organization Vier Pfoten explains on its website.
How hot the asphalt gets also always depends on how sunny the day has been, whether it has rained in between, or what the ground is like, i.e., whether it is made of bricks or tar. However, as you don’t usually have a thermometer with you when you go for a walk, the so-called “seven-second test” for heat applies: the back of your hand is placed on the ground. If you can’t stand it for seven seconds, it’s definitely too hot for your dog to go for a walk.
Take water with you
If the dog and I are out and about for longer on hot days, we take an extra bottle of water with us, at least one liter (0.26 gallons). Not so much to drink, however, but to cool Yumi down if necessary. Because dogs also benefit from evaporative cooling.
However, it’s not advisable to simply douse the dog with water (a common mistake!). With long-haired breeds such as dwarf spitzes, this wouldn’t do any good anyway, as the dense fur means that no drops can get onto the skin.
It is better to moisten the parts of the dog’s body with water where the coat is lighter or less dense. These are usually the belly and the insides of the legs. As larger blood vessels also run here, the cooling effect is noticeable.
Plan to cool down in between
To make walking in the heat more bearable, I plan stops where possible to cool down. This could be a pond in the park, a fountain (which is usually forbidden for dogs, but the city of Berlin is usually very tolerant), or even a lake. However, you should always check the water quality beforehand.
No games at high temperatures
If it’s hot outside, it’s better to avoid any play sessions where your dog runs around. Especially when playing ball games, dogs get into a high gear and quickly reach their physical limits.
Do not assume that your dog will recognize when it’s had enough. Some have so much fun or have even developed an addiction to ball games that they keep going until their circulation collapses. Therefore, no matter how much the dog whines and the daily game is part of the routine on their walk, it is better to leave the ball and co. at home or go to the lake to play.
Don’t force your dog to run
Most dogs let you know when they get too hot on a walk and can’t — or don’t want to — go any further. As the owner, you should respect this and not force them to run. This can be frustrating the first few times, as you often have other things planned in addition to the walk (taking out the garbage, fetching bread rolls). Over time, however, you should get to know your dog and know at what temperature no more than a short walk on the grass is possible.
Look for shady paths
Even if you get particularly uncomfortable in big cities like Berlin, there is one advantage: there are lots of street trees, tall buildings, and many paths leading to your destination. It is usually enough to change sides of the street to walk in the shade. This is also more pleasant for the dog and a way of covering longer distances when walking in the heat. Sometimes it’s even worth taking a detour through a park and perhaps letting your dog cool off in a pond or fountain.
Watch out for these signs in dogs
Not all dogs show their owners so clearly that they are too warm and don’t want to go any further. Particularly with breeds such as pugs or French bulldogs, which pant a lot anyway. Many owners don’t seem to notice that they are moving around under extreme stress. Some even interpret the slow falling back as dawdling and even scold the dog. If the dog is panting at a high frequency, this is a clear sign that it is too warm. This should always be taken seriously.
Dogs love ice cream too
We humans love to eat ice cream in summer. Even though it may not actually lower our body temperature and could, in fact, have the opposite effect according to science, it still provides a sense of enjoyment during the summer. This also applies to our dogs.
However, as milk, cream, and even water ice are rather unhealthy for dogs, you should either use special dog ice cream or simply make it yourself.
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“Why don’t you shear the dog?”
When I’m out and about with Yumi, I often get the question: “Isn’t she warm under all that fur?” The answer is yes and no. Because the double coat of undercoat and top coat not only protects breeds such as Spitz, Husky or German Shepherd from the cold. It also insulates against heat to a certain extent.
If the dog is sheared, this can not only lead to the animals getting sunburned. The function of the coat structure is also sometimes irreversibly impaired. This can even lead to hair loss and bald patches. So the same applies to long-haired dogs in the heat as to humans: just put up with it.1