How do you decide when it’s too hot to walk your dog?
With the warmer weather I’ve realised there’s a lot of conflicting advice online.
Some people say anything over 20°C is dangerous.
Others happily walk at 28°C.
Then you’ve got pavement temperature, humidity, UV, breed differences, age, weight and fitness all affecting the risk.
What surprised me most while researching this was that veterinary studies suggest around 70% of canine heatstroke cases happen during exercise, not from being left in cars. Even more worrying, around 1 in 7 dogs with heatstroke don’t survive despite treatment.
The more I looked into it, the more I realised there isn’t really a single “safe temperature” for every dog.
A French Bulldog, Husky, Labrador puppy and Border Collie can all have completely different levels of risk on exactly the same day.
That got me thinking…
Wouldn’t it make more sense to look at the whole picture rather than just the weather forecast?
If you decide it’s too warm, what do you do instead?
So far I’ve had good success with:
Snuffle mats
Frozen Kongs
Scent games
Hide-and-seek treats
Short training sessions
Puzzle feeders
I ended up building a small iPhone app called DogSafe because I wanted something that considered more than just the air temperature. It combines weather conditions with your dog’s breed and profile to help judge whether it’s a good time for a walk, suggests safer walking windows, highlights hazards like hot pavement, UV and seasonal risks, and also gives indoor enrichment ideas when staying home is the better option.
I’m genuinely interested in how everyone else makes this decision though. Is it based on temperature, experience, your dog’s behaviour, or something else?
If anyone wants to take a look at DogSafe and give me honest feedback, I’d really appreciate it:
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/dogsafe/id6783847517
(It’s intended as a decision-support tool for owners, not a replacement for veterinary advice.)