Summer Heat & Dogs: Preventing Burnt Paws on Hot Surfaces
by Lynn Stacy-Smith
Most of us can remember at least one incident in our lives when we’ve removed our flip-flops and stepped onto hot sand or pool cement in our bare feet and felt the searing pain caused by the summer sun on our delicate feet. In fact just a few years ago my husband broke a few toes while on vacation as he ran across searing hot sand and accidentally kicked a beach chair on his mad dash to the water for relief. Your dog feels the summer heat on their paws in the same way when the temperature soars and can easily sustain very bad burns as a result of hot surfaces like asphalt, bricks, rocks or cement.
In an article on AZFamily.com, meteorologist Kim Quintero shares results of tests that she performed when the temperature was 96 degrees outside. Here is what she wrote, “While the air temperature was below 100 degrees Fahrenheit, the thermometer recorded a temperature of 122 on a patch of green grass. Black asphalt was 138 degrees. A nearby rock path was 133. The pavement was 131. A wood dock reached a temperature of 164.”
Depending on your home and yard situation, you may or may not be able to skip walks entirely. For those of us with fenced yards, our walks are strictly for fun and for both physical and mental exercise. Here at my house, once the temperatures go above around seventy degrees, our walks come to a stop and we play in the yard and then inside when it really gets too hot.
If you do not have a fenced yard and you must walk your dog for potty breaks, try to go in the early morning and evening for longer “poop” walks. It helps if you can get your dog on a somewhat regular pooping schedule and teach her the “hurry up, go potty” phrase. Of course your dog is a living/breathing creature and not Sheldon Cooper with his bathroom schedule, but if you can feed your dog at set times of day that will help in getting her to poop on a more regular basis versus sporadically throughout the day. Also try to stay on as much grass as possible if you must go out when the sun is out.
Dog booties can help protect your dog’s paws from blazing hot surfaces, but make sure you do plenty of research and purchase booties that protect in summer weather, making sure they are made from a breathable material like mesh since dogs do have sweat glands in their feet.
Although not related to the weather, I always recommend giving your dog’s paws a thorough rinse with water and apple cider vinegar after every outing on roads or sidewalks or chemically treated grass. There are a lot of chemicals and toxins in the world and the last thing you want your dog to do is to lick their paws after walking through these substances.
Since most of us do not have the ability to measure the actual temperature of the various surfaces upon which our dogs walk, a good way to determine if the sidewalk or road is too hot for your dog is to place the back of your hand on the surface for seven to ten seconds or stand barefoot without socks. If it is too warm for your hand or bare feet, it is too warm for your dog’s feet.