Summer Walks

June 8, 2025 - The beautiful days of summer in most parts of the country also bring hot temperatures and special precautions when walking your canine clients. Be sure to follow these tips to ensure that your walking buddies get plenty of exercise without suffering any harmful effects of the summer sun.

A). Do not take dogs for walks when it’s over 80 degrees and don’t walk them on hot pavements that are too hot for your own bare feet.  Dogs can’t tell you if their paws are blistering up on the road or sidewalk.  On all warm days, let them walk in the grass as much as possible and time your walks so that you will be home before the temperature gets too uncomfortable.  If you are delayed and feel that the pavement may have gotten too warm, keep them on the grass and get them home as quickly as possible. Call someone for a ride if necessary.  (My husband has picked me and my clients up more than once!)  I’ve even carried dogs over asphalt to ensure there isn’t a problem with their paws if I felt it was getting too warm outside.  It’s a small price to pay for keeping them healthy.

          B). Bring water with you for any walk a mile or more or on any hot day.  Bring a collapsible bowl and at least one bottle of water for water breaks if water fountains are scarce in your community.  And, as much as I greatly appreciate those people who leave water bowls out by the water fountains with water for pups and other critters that come by, I do not let pups in my care drink from them on the off chance that someone may come by and poison it.  Maybe I’m paranoid, but I won’t risk it.  I pull the dogs away from it, empty it, and then rinse and refill it for any other critters that come by.  For my pups, though, I pull out my bowl and let them drink from it.  If they want to drink from the community bowl after I’ve rinsed and refilled it, that’s fine, too.

When it is going to be hot out, be sure to walk your buddies as early in the morning as possible or later in the evening after the air temperature has cooled to a reasonable level. When it comes to hot summer days, play it safe and find a cooler part of the day to get make your walk more enjoyable.