Is It Too Hot to Walk My Dog? A Dog Walker's Guide to Summer Safety

Not sure if it's too hot to walk your dog today? Here's how dog walkers make the call. As a general rule, once the air pushes past the mid-80s, or the pavement is too hot to comfortably hold your hand on, a walk becomes a real risk and should be shortened, moved to a cooler hour, or skipped. Heat is one of the biggest safety problems in summer dog walking, and dogs are not good at telling us when they have had enough. Here is how to walk a dog safely in hot weather, what to watch for, and when to call a walk off.

Check the pavement before anything else

Dogs walk on bare paws, and pavement runs a lot hotter than the air around it. On an 85-degree day, asphalt in full sun can climb past 130 degrees, which is hot enough to burn paw pads. Before any hot-weather walk, use the seven-second test: press the back of your hand flat on the sidewalk or road and hold it there. If you cannot keep it there comfortably for the full seven seconds, it is too hot for your dog's paws. When that happens, move the walk to grass, dirt trails, or shade, or push it to a cooler part of the day.

Timing matters more than anything in summer

The simplest way to keep a dog safe in heat is to walk when it is not hot. Early morning and later in the evening, when the sun is low and the ground has had a chance to cool, are the safest windows. The middle of the day, roughly 11 to 3, is when dog walkers should be the most careful, because that is when both the air and the pavement peak. If a dog is a heavy panter or has a thick coat, an early morning walk is almost always the kinder choice in July and August.

Water and shade are part of the walk, not an afterthought

On hot days, keep water close and plan routes with shade in mind. A walk under trees is a completely different thing from a walk on an open, sunny sidewalk, even at the same temperature. Keep the pace easy when it is warm, too. A slower walk in the shade does a dog more good than a brisk one in full sun that leaves them overheated. Bringing a collapsible bowl and offering water partway through a longer walk is a simple habit that makes a real difference.

Warning signs of overheating to watch for on every walk

Watch for heavy panting that does not slow down, a tongue that is wide and hanging low, a dog slowing way down or wanting to stop, more drooling than usual, or a dog hunting for every patch of shade. Those are the early signs a dog is getting too warm. If you see them, stop, find shade, offer water, and let the dog cool down before doing anything else. Heatstroke in dogs is a true emergency, and it comes on faster than most people expect, so it is worth knowing these signs before the hot days arrive.

Some dogs feel the heat more than others

Flat-faced breeds like pugs, bulldogs, and boxers have a harder time cooling themselves down because of how they breathe. Senior dogs, puppies, overweight dogs, and dogs with thick double coats all heat up faster and cool down slower. Dark-coated dogs soak up more sun, too. If a dog falls into one of these groups, plan shorter, slower, shadier walks when it is hot, and be quicker to swap a walk for indoor time on the worst days.

When it is just too hot to walk

A dog's safety comes first, always. On a dangerous heat day, the safe call is to shorten the walk, swap it for a potty break and some indoor play, or move it to a cooler window. A short, safe outing always beats a full walk in conditions that are not worth the risk. If you use a dog walker, they should always let you know when they make a change like this, so you are never guessing about what happened on a hot day.

What you can do at home in summer

Keep fresh water down and full. Stick to grass and shade when you are out on your own with your dog. Never leave a dog in a parked car, even for a couple of minutes, even with the windows cracked, because the inside of a car heats up shockingly fast. And if you are not sure whether it is too hot to walk, it probably is, and a shorter outing is the safe call.

Hot-weather dog walking on the North Shore

If you are on the North Shore and want a walker who treats summer heat this seriously, that is exactly how Jenny works. Every dog gets one-on-one dog walking, never a pack, so the pace and the route can be adjusted for the weather and for the dog. Jenny covers Middleton, Topsfield, Boxford, West Peabody, and North Andover, and every new client starts with a free meet and greet. A 30-minute walk is $25 and a 60-minute walk is $40. To set up a meet and greet, start with the get-started form and you will hear back within one business day.