How often do you give your dog water outside in this heat?

[Daria]

It's near 100 degrees here this week.  This morning, my son took our dog out for a walk.  We live in an apartment building that's across the parking lot from a strip mall that has a 7 11, it's probably a 3 minute walk from our building to the 7 11.  My son walked to 7 11, tied him up in the shade, and ran in to pick up something.  He could see the dog the whole time.  When he came back out, some yelled at him for not leaving water.

 

Because we live in an apartment, the dog is never outside without one of us and a leash, unless he's at the dog park which has a water fountain for dogs.  My general rule is that we're outside long enough that I need a drink, then he gets some.  So, if I'm carrying a water bottle, I carry a bowl and give him some whenever I stop to drink.  If I stop to get a drink, I get him one too.  But on a 10 minute walk, I wouldn't carry water so it wouldn't occur to me bring some for him. Am I wrong?  Do dogs need to drink more than humans?  

[Daria]

Well, I don't put out water at all. The dogs can walk 30 feet and drink out of a running ditch! There's a calf bucket in the shed with mommy dog that's dumped and refilled twice a day. She can also just jump over the fence right next to the ditch. 

 

10 minutes out? They don't need a drink. 

 

I think your dogs have a little more freedom than mine.  If he walked 30 feet he'd have to cross either a busy strip mall parking lot or a 6 lane busy road.  LOL. 

[KungFuPanda]

Ummmm, we don't take water on short walks. Nobody is going to dehydrate in 30 minutes and everyone drinks when we get home. The "spectator" was overreacting.

[Daria]

Ummmm, we don't take water on short walks. Nobody is going to dehydrate in 30 minutes and everyone drinks when we get home. The "spectator" was overreacting.

 

That's what I thought.  I suspect they stumbled upon the dog when my son was in 7 11 and thought he'd been there longer than he was, but the entire trip is under 10 minutes.

[Daria]

Well, when the ditch right behind the house is shut off, they probably have to stroll 100 yards to the next one! When THAT one is off (in the winter) they'd have to go further, to drink out of the sheep tanks.  :laugh:

 

If your dogs knew how my dog lives, in a little apartment with no such freedom, they'd probably join PETA.  The only time my dog gets to stroll somewhere for a drink is if my teenager leaves the toilet seat up.  

[PrincessMommy]

Ummmm, we don't take water on short walks. Nobody is going to dehydrate in 30 minutes and everyone drinks when we get home. The "spectator" was overreacting.

 

I agree.  I hate busy-bodies. 

 

[Joker]

Our dogs go on at least two 30 minute walks a day. The morning one is often closer to an hour most days. They have water when back home and have never had issues. This was the same when we lived in hot, humid FL (we're now in the Midwest).

[hornblower]

A 100 F??? 
Holy cow that's like 37C right? 


Ok, so I probably would not be walking my dogs much in that weather. For one thing, pavement can burn their feet at those temps. 

When we go on summer vacay to the sunny and roasting hot part of the province, the dogs get long walks very early in the morning when it's about 20C and then in the rest of the day if it's that hot, it's just short pee breaks and walks down to the doggy beach. 

I probably would leave a dog at home rather than take them for an errand such as this. 

It's illegal to tie up dogs outside in my municipality. If you do it outside a store and Animal Control sees, they will take the dog & you'll have to pay a ticket. 

Dog friendly stores all have water bowls set out. 


Also, it depends on type of dog. Any brachycephalic dog I would be extremely careful about taking them out in such weather. 

[Daria]

A 100 F??? 

Holy cow that's like 37C right? 

 

 

Ok, so I probably would not be walking my dogs much in that weather. For one thing, pavement can burn their feet at those temps. 

 

When we go on summer vacay to the sunny and roasting hot part of the province, the dogs get long walks very early in the morning when it's about 20C and then in the rest of the day if it's that hot, it's just short pee breaks and walks down to the doggy beach. 

 

I probably would leave a dog at home rather than take them for an errand such as this. 

 

It's illegal to tie up dogs outside in my municipality. If you do it outside a store and Animal Control sees, they will take the dog & you'll have to pay a ticket. 

 

Dog friendly stores all have water bowls set out. 

 

 

Also, it depends on type of dog. Any brachycephalic dog I would be extremely careful about taking them out in such weather. 

 

He has to pee so he gets walked.  He hasn't complained about the sidewalk, the place he gets tied up is under the roof of the store, so it's well shaded.

 

I would describe my dog as a mutt who is probably a mix of a border collie and something smaller, calmer, dumber, and fluffier. He has a border collie shaped head and coat but is the size of a cocker spaniel.  

[Shellydon]

Mine have free reign on 1 acre with water available at all times.  It has been over 100 for a week here, I would not walk a dog in 100 degree heat.

[hornblower]

He has to pee so he gets walked.  He hasn't complained about the sidewalk, the place he gets tied up is under the roof of the store, so it's well shaded.

 

I would describe my dog as a mutt who is probably a mix of a border collie and something smaller, calmer, dumber, and fluffier. He has a border collie shaped head and coat but is the size of a cocker spaniel.  

they don't complain about the sidewalk until they've burned their paw pads off... ie until it's too late. 

 

There's a handy way to tell if it's too hot.  https://www.thedodo.com/how-to-tell-if-the-pavement-is-too-hot-for-your-dogs-feet-1242363093.html

 

Definitely good idea to stick to shady and grassy areas in this heat. One thing is that when left alone to do what they want in this weather, most dogs will hunker down in a shady  spot and not move. They will get up, pee and go right back to lie down in the shade. So yeah, while I understand apartment living requires a pee break, I'd make daytime ones very quick & do your longer walks at pre-dawn or post-dusk. 

 

 

 

edited to fix link ...again...

Edited July 27, 2016 by hornblower

[rebcoola]

This was what 5 minutes of walking and another 5 of laying in the shade sounds very reasonable to me.  Of course its at least 100F everyday of summer so that might affect my perception.

[frogger]

I remember taking my dog with us when we biked since we were heading for a back trail, mountain bike type thing not on the road. It was probably in the 80's (F). I had brought water and kept trying to give him some and he wasn't interested in it. About half way through the trip I realized dogs don't sweat. I realize they lose moisture from panting but really  I think humans go through water faster. Maybe I'm wrong but he seemed content with a lot less than us. 

 

My guess is the busy body had no idea how long the walk was, etc. If you had been in a restaurant for an hour that would be different. 

[Pawz4me]

I totally agree with Hornblower that I would be much more concerned about his paw pads on hot pavement than I would be about providing water for that short period of time. Our weather has been similar to yours. There's no way my dog's feet would be touching pavement except for very early in the morning (we're heading out for our walk in just a few minutes) or well after the sun has gone down in the evening.

 

ETA: Concrete sidewalks are usually okay. They don't get anywhere near as hot as pavement.

Edited July 27, 2016 by Pawz4me

[TravelingChris]

Asphalt gets really hot.  Concrete or stone don't .  

[Daria]

I'm not worried about his feet.  Most of the walking we do is on concrete, and the place where he waits outside the store is both covered/shaded and made of concrete.  We do have to cross a driveway, and a small section of the parking lot about the width of a street, but in the 8 years we've had him we've crossed them or similar distances every day on walks and never had a problem.  This is not unusual weather for us.

 

Of course, for the 8 years we've had him we've also never taken water on a 10 minute walk, so I'm not sure why I'm worried about that!  

[MercyA]

they don't complain about the sidewalk until they've burned their paw pads off... ie until it's too late. 

 

There's a handy way to tell if it's too hot.  https://www.thedodo.com/how-to-tell-if-the-pavement-is-too-hot-for-your-dogs-feet-1242363093.html

 

 

The link isn't working for me, hornblower.

[zoobie]

The hot ground is the first thing that worried me about the temps too. I burned my feet on my wood deck yesterday! Neither of my dogs would be pleased (read: would go crazy bananas) with being tied up and left. They're suburban mutts though. I worry about dogs I see tied up unattended, but I wouldn't yell at a stranger over it! (Or much of anything.)

[dirty ethel rackham]

The hot pavement would worry me more than not having water for 10 minutes.  I do think that person was overreacting, but the dog may have looked hot.  Plus, sometimes, a short errand can unexpectedly turn into a longer one. 

 

I plan for my dog to need water much more often than I do (and I am a total wuss about thirst.)  I figure he gets much hotter than me because he has fur over nearly 100 pct of his body and I can choose to wear lighter/looser clothes. Plus, he doesn't sweat ... he can only cool off by panting.   If the dog is outside in over 85 degree weather, we have water available.  If we are going for a walk (which are almost always over 30 minutes) we have water if it is above 75.  If I forget, Bear will just lay down in the shade somewhere (usually about a mile from home) and refuse to move.  I can't carry a 65 lb awkwardly lanky dog home so we wait until he feels ready to move on.  Sometimes a homeowner will see us sitting in their yard and take pity on us and bring the dog some water.  Sometimes, if I have someone at home, I call for a ride home.   

 

Some say that they just don't walk their dog in this weather.  Our dog needs usually needs to walk to poop (he will poop in our yard if absolutely necessary.)  Plus, if he doesn't get at least 2 walks a day, he is a royal pain ... constantly begging for us to play with him, give him belly rubs, barks at every leaf that moves outside (and he's usually fairly quiet.) 

[hornblower]

The link isn't working for me, hornblower.

 

try this https://www.thedodo.com/how-to-tell-if-the-pavement-is-too-hot-for-your-dogs-feet-1242363093.html

[December]

 I figure he gets much hotter than me because he has fur over nearly 100 pct of his body and I can choose to wear lighter/looser clothes. Plus, he doesn't sweat ... he can only cool off by panting.  

 

This makes me wonder, does panting lose as much water as sweating?  It seems like sweating would take more water...but maybe that's just because the water loss is more obvious... But still you are losing water from all over your body instead of just through your mouth...anyone know?

[hornblower]

Dogs dehydrate much faster than people. I don't know if anyone has ever tested it but I think panting makes them lose much more water. 

the thing is, sweating doesn't require tons of water - it just needs a bit to get on your skin & then the evaporation is what cools you. Dogs cool almost exclusively by panting (though they can also lose excess body heat by convection, by laying down on a cold tile floor for ex). 

They pant, they drool. They're also almost always smaller than us and are working much harder than us. Our stroll is frequently their jog (or with a small dog, it might even be a trot). 

Exercise induced dehydration and hyperthermia can quickly lead to death in dogs.  Hard panting, red gums are danger signs to stop, get in the shade and get the dog cooled down. If gums appear grey or purple and/or the dog looks uncoordinated or confused, that's an emergency requiring immediate race to the vet.  

Even milder heat exhaustion can trigger a blood coagulation problem which can be fatal several hours later.... http://www.agilityfusion.com/2014/07/how-to-avoid-heat-stroke-for-you-and-your-dog/

[TravelingChris]

There was a heat warning for dogs last week where a woman with a bracephalic  dog, I think a French poodle, in England, went for a half hour walk with her dog and he died.  I know about the dangers of overheating and those kinds of dogs because when we first moved to Belgium in the summer, another military family was looking for a home for their elderly English bulldog.  The airlines won't ship bracephalic dogs in the summer.  We took him in and he lived a nice life till he died about four months later.  (He was already older than most English Bulldogs live when we got him so we knew he wasn't going to live very long).  Those people who had him thought he would have died before they moved.

[Rosyl]

i have a dog who gets very excited/stressed(high maintenance) and needs to drink water more than my other dog.  When we walk in our parks, I drive there.  she gets excited in the car so when we get out we water her.

 

It has been very hot here.  yesterday she needed water before and after our 2 mile shady walk.  If I had taken some she probably would have wanted more during the walk. 

 

the week before that we walked in a mostly sunny area and she drank every 1/4 of a mile...she is high maintenance.

 

If we were to walk a mile to the store and she came with us I would expect to water her before the return trip.

 

I also have a puggle who I won't walk in this weather because he can't handle the heat. It affects his breathing.

 

That said I am REALLY tired of others thinking that they know a better way to do something and whatever another person is doing it is wrong.  It is ok for them to keep their mouth shut.

Edited July 27, 2016 by Rosyl

[hornblower]

 

 

That said I am REALLY tired of others thinking that they know a better way to do something and whatever another person is doing it is wrong.  It is ok for them to keep their mouth shut.

I sort of feel like that but it's hard when you see something dangerous enough that it could cause death; like if you saw someone bikejoring with a pug in hot weather - how can you not say something? 

 

Another really contentious issue is dogs in cars. Some of us drive & drive responsibly with dogs in cars, arranging for appropriate ventilation, using AC even when the car is parked, using ventlocks, shade cloths, temperature monitors etc. But there's this vigilante move on now to break car windows on all cars with a dog inside.... (eta, because there are idiots who leave their dogs in cars & kill them) 

 

It just seems hard to find the mid road, kwim? 

Edited July 27, 2016 by hornblower