How hot is too hot for dogs?
High temperatures kill dogs. Heatstroke causes a dog’s major organs to fail and send the body into shut down and even if we cool the dog off again, it is often too late. It is always better safe than sorry so this blog is about how to keep your dog safe in warmer weather.
How hot is too hot?
12°-15° – It’s all good at this temperature. Enjoy your walk!
16°-19° – Generally, we’re still safe at this level. However, be mindful that older, overweight or brachycephalic (flat-faced) breeds may start to struggle.
20°-23° – At this temperature, we’re getting dicey. Particularly for the dogs mentioned above as well as large and double-coated breeds and puppies. Avoid rigorous exercise (no ball throwing!), stick to shade and make sure your dog has constant access to fresh water – take a bottle with you if needs be and offer regularly – every 5 minutes.
24°-27° – It’s getting dangerously hot. These temperatures are uncomfortable for all dogs, regardless of age/breed and heat stroke is a very real risk. Avoid walking at all at this time of day and if you must be outside, stick to shaded areas, don’t let your dog’s paws touch the pavement and keep the walk slow paced.
28°-31° – Too hot to take a dog outside, even when sticking to the shade and by water. Temperatures are now life-threatening. Do not walk your dog at all in these temperatures.
32°+ – See above!
Your dog will not die from having a few days without a walk, but dogs do die from having a walk on hot days – and this happens a lot. It’s not worth the risk.
How to exercise your dog when it’s warm
Stay at home! Give your dog enrichment activities, such as:
- Scent work – scatter feeds, article searches, hiding a ball
- Licking – an entertaining and soothing behaviour for dogs, use kongs and lickmats
- Chewing – give them a frozen carrot, rabbit ear, cow hoof, meaty bone etc
- Shredding – cardboard boxes, junk mail, lettuces
- Play – tug, hide and seek
- Training – run through your dog’s known cues or try something new
You can also walk your dog at the cooler times of day – namely before 8am and after 8pm.
Car travel
We all know dogs die in hot cars. Don’t leave them in the car unattended, for even a matter of seconds. It takes less than a minute for a car to begin to heat up like a greenhouse so there’s no time to pop back inside for something you forget or to grab something from the shop.
If you have air conditioning, get this going for a good five minutes before putting your dog in the car.
You can keep your dog cool by dampening their coat with water before getting in the car (evaporation will reduce the heat in your dog’s body). Make sure they have access to fresh water at all times in the car.
If you don’t have aircon and temperatures get hotter than around 20°, then you may need to avoid car travel with your dog at all, if you can’t guarantee you can park in the shade. Even with the windows open, cars get too hot for dogs.
Pavement walks
If it’s hotter than 20°, it’s not safe to have your dog’s paws on asphalt, concrete etc. If you can’t comfortably hold your hand on the floor for 30 seconds, then your dog’s paws are at risk of being burnt and having the top layer of skin ripped away. Avoid, avoid, avoid.
It takes dogs around 6 weeks to get used to a change in temperature. In the UK, we only have a few weeks of hot spells a year (and these are often sporadic) so it’s not long enough for a dog’s body to adjust to safely exist in the heat. This means we need to be taking precautions. Heat related illnesses are almost always entirely preventable.
Luckily (or unluckily, depending on if you like warm weather!), we have very few days in a year where hot weather is going to mean we need to adjust our schedules with our dogs. Take precautions, educate those around you and stay safe.
