Wednesday, May 8, 2013

advice: especially for my fellow dog lovers.

diddle, abby, dutch

i'm not sure when i learned this, but it's something i had never really thought too much about.  now that i know, i can't believe it never crossed my mind and i feel sort of foolish.

please, please, please, be smart about walking your dog on a hot afternoon this spring & summer, not only because of the hot temps, but because of the hot pavement.  heat travels through the pads of their feet and can ultimately overheat the dog and kill him or her. if you must walk them, try the grass.

in the summer i normally walk dutch in the mornings because the roads and sidewalks are still cool from the nite before.  about eleven or so, they really start to heat up and stay warm until the nite.  even some evenings they can be pretty hot. i always reach down and touch the sidewalk with my palm to see how hot it is before we set out on our journey.

this really isn't something that most people probably think about, but i know a person who accidentally overheated their dog and he ended up dying.  isn't that terrible?!  this person felt awful, but he never thought walking on a hot sidewalk would be a bad thing.

we can wear shoes, but unfortunately dogs pads take the brunt of it all.  i have seen doggy shoes for times like this, but it's smarter just to walk in a cooler environment. 

there is my bit of advice for the day.  hopefully this is something you can use for the upcoming months to protect your pooch!





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3 comments:

Ashley said...

That is great advice! And not something a lot of people think of!!!

Janna Renee said...

That is very good advice! We forget that dogs are basically little humans and the things that bother us can affect them as well!

Kristen said...

Very true! I wish people took more care in the summer. I've called the police on people who leave their pets in their cars in 90 plus temps. If you wouldn't do it to a child, you probably shouldn't do it to a pet.