We’ve got summer dog walking tips today. You all know we prefer winter, but summer comes every year and we have to be prepared. There are many dangers out in the world in the summer, and you should be prepared when you walk your dog.
Summer Dog Walking Tips
Watch Those Paws
Our paws are always in danger in the summertime. Precious puppy paws are even in more danger since they are new and the pads haven’t been exposed to much yet. Asphalt gets so very hot in the sunshine! When Olivia goes on a short walk during the hot part of the day, Mom keeps her on the cement between the curb and asphalt to protect her delicate paws, or sometimes she prefers to bound along in the grass. Remember to that puppies should only be doing short walks in the first place.
Bailie and I will often walk on grass or shaded trails in the midday to stay cool. If you must walk on hot asphalt, be sure your pup has footwear to keep them from burning their paw pads.
Short dogs also get overheated quickly from walking on asphalt. The heat radiates up, and they are so close to the ground. Always pay attention to how hot the asphalt really is.
Be Wary Of Water
Swimming is a great way for pups to cool off on a hot day. Even on early morning walks we will sometimes stop to take a dip in a stream to get our furs wet. Wet furs keep us cool. Make sure the water is safe before letting your dog swim. Blue algae can kill a dog very quickly. We are only allowed to swim in small streams, creeks, and a few real clear bodies of water. Moving water is often safer than standing bodies of water.
When dogs get too warm, they want to drink water. Don’t let your dog drink from puddles or water running down the gutter on the street from sprinklers. The water may be full of chemicals, oil from cars, and other garbage. If you think your dog will need water bring some along with you.
Beat The Heat
Our favorite thing is our early morning walks all year round. By walking early, you will beat the heat. We also walk in the early evening when the sun has started to go down.
If you prefer a midday walk, try walking in the woods where there is ample shade to keep your pup a bit cooler.
Always keep an eye on your dog. If they appear to be overheated, stop walking, find a shady place and let them rest up for a bit.
By taking a few simple, common sense precautions, summertime walks can be fun and safe for you and your furry friend!
We are joining our friends at Living Laughing and Barking in Our Backyard is for their Nature Friday blog hop.
It sure can get hot out there so taking every precaution is the best plan!
Hot and humid. Remember, we are winter lovers, so we really don’t like it much.
Great reminders. We had the hottest May on record with very little rain. Finally we are having our daily rains/thunderstorms which is making everything green. I do not like to swim, but yesterday my mom took little Puffin in the pool. She seemed to like it, but she is too little to get out of the pool on her own. The steps are so deep for her itty bitty body. Have a wonderful weekend! Gotta go play with my sister! XOXO, Sparkle
We love to swim, but we don’t like human pools, they are weird. Have a fun weekend!
fabulous tips!!! curretnly we need a life jacket and a boat for walk… it seems the rain will never stop… and the fireplaces have to work today… in june…. but we hope for a real sommer… and then we will remember the wet days and the cold wind and regret that we complained once lol
We have had way too much rain and so many storms too. Now it is hot and humid. Not fans of summer at our house.
These are great tips. Thankfully we don’t have to worry about hot pavement where we walk. Luke never tries to drink out of puddles or anything, unlike all the other dogs we’ve had.
That is one thing I like about the warmer weather, unlike you; I like to walk early but not when it’s really cold! So I’m happy to have the warmer weather so we can get out earlier and be comfortable. 🙂
When we go out around 6am, it is not too bad, but by 7 when we are almost home, the sun is up and it is already starting to feel warm. We know most folks like the summer weather, but we are not fans.
Ladies what extremely wise walking tips and actually can apply to 2 leggers too. This morning I was about ready to wad in the meandering waters of Crabtree Creek to cool off. So humid.
You 3 are so pretty. You are my first ever GBGV friends…I’ve seen your breed in dog shows. I’m enjoying learning about you.
Hugs Cecilia
It’s hot and humid here too. We took our run early but it was still humid out. GBGVs have only been full AKC since January 2018, so you may have seen us, but often people saw the PBGV’s and think we are the same, but we have our differences 🙂 Have a great weekend.
Great advice. When we had our precious Little Bit we were ever so careful about summer and walking.
Have a fabulous day and weekend. Scritches to the pups. ♥
The heat is hard on us pups.
Great tips, girls!!! Lucky for us, our back yard stays about ten degrees cooler during the hotter months…makes it even safer than trying to walk along the side of our busy road.
We always go for two walks a day. In the shad in the yard it is a little bit cooler in our yard too.
Great tips, always good reminders.
Thank you.
That is such great advice, and we will bear it in mind should we ever move to a country that actually has a summer….
Toodle pip!
Bertie.
PS It was actually pretty warm in our part of Scotland today – definitely over 60ºF…
Yeah, you all don’t have it so hot usually. Not sure we would like the cool damp weather so much.
Wonderful advice girls! Although we don’t get hot up here, we need to remember these tips when we travel!
xoxo,
Rosy, Jakey & Arty
Especially when you travel since you are not used to the heat.
Great tips girls! We walk at 7am every morning so we definitely are beating the heat!
We are usually getting home around 7, but we can feel the heat heating things up already.
Great tips – once again!!!
Thank you.
Coda has booties to wear, and she is so funny practicing walking in them. We know she will like them once she gets accustomed to them.
We always have to relearn out booties in the winter when it is below zero out.
Those are great tips and we are very careful with our heat and humidity. Short walks during the coolest part of the day.
The heat really zaps the fun out of a walk, unless we are soaking wet from a swim.
Sadly Mom has decided our beach walks are over until Fall it is just too hot. We still get to walk (OK I Fenris run) around the pond though. I (Fenris) am a good dog and have earned the right to walk off leash on our property since I stay on it so I get to run poor Tuiren is stuck walking since she is on a leash and Mom hasn’t run since dinosaurs roamed the Earth.
We all have to be on leash unless the area is fenced, but we are lucky because Mom needs long walks and also runs a few mornings a week. Enjoy running around your pond.
Pawsome Summer tips.
We are lucky to have the woods behind our house & many trails near by.
HuMom doesn’t walk me on the road very much in the Summer. My epilepsy meds make me susceptible to overheating when it’s hot out.
Enjoy & be safe🐾💜🐾
Glad you have good, safe places to walk in the summer.
Thanks for sharing the wonderful tips. We been having this week a lot of days where it’s hot and really humid. Always have to be careful during these days. Time to get the doggie pool out for some swimming. Have a great upcoming weekend.
People really have to look out for pets in the heat. We can’t cool down like you humans do. Happy Friday.