Walking on a hot pavement

[LmJanes]

Today I went to Wal mart and saw a man walking with his dog on a pavement. I wanted to offer him a ride, but I didn't. When I saw his dog walking on the pavement with no boots, I had to cringe. I wish he left his dog at home. It was really hot and the temperature reached 100. Last week a man who lives in Phoenix walked on a pavement with bare-feet and had to go to the hospital because he had second degree of burn.

[Fundog]

Believe it or not, dogs feet can tolerate somewhat greater temperatures than our own feet can, either warmer or colder. The degree of tolerance does vary from dog to dog, and even then there are limits to what the "average" dog can take, or what is even safe. That being said, 100 degrees may not have been overly hot for that man's dog. I myself took my own dogs out for a walk in the heat of the day (about 90) and they were fine. Granted, we went to the park, and whenever it was available, I walked my dogs on the lawns, where it was cooler. But we still had to traverse quite of bit of pavement, both concrete and asphalt, to get to and from the park.

Being from the desert southwest myself, I know firsthand that the old adage "hot enough to fry an egg on the sidewalk" is no joke! And even when I lived in that region, I tried not to take my dogs on the hot surfaces in the hottest part of the day. However, even in the evening when it was still 100 degrees out, the sidewalks carried a great deal of heat, and they tolerated it just fine. They drank a lot more water, but they did alright.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is, unless the temperature reaches in excess of 100 degrees, and when the sun is at its highest point in the sky, most dogs are okay without boots, and there is no need to think poorly of their owners.

[LmJanes]

Yeah some dogs can tolerate the weather, but I live in Arizona. We always get 100 or higher. Just because it is only 100 doesn't mean the pavement is measured at 100 F and it can get up to 140 F or higher. My dog can't stand walking on the pavement during the day because I have seen him lift his front and rear feet up and prefer to stand and walk anywhere in the shadow.

[Fundog]

Believe it or not, I know exactly where you're coming from. I just recently moved from southern Utah (just a two hour drive from Las Vegas) to southern Idaho. Even in southern Utah, the summer temps have been known to reach 118 degrees! Like I said, some dogs have a greater tolerance than others. My own dogs seem to have really tough feet. Of course, down there, I never took them out in the hottest part of the day. It was always in the dark of night.

[LmJanes]

I have been to Las Vegas and it's DAMN HOT! I walk my dog late at night and in the early morning too to avoid the heat.