Ways To Protect Your Dog in the Summertime Heat
It’s that time of the year again, and whenever summer rolls out, you can expect the heat to become a real problem for both you and your dog. Depending on your dog’s breed, they may have serious trouble staying comfortable throughout the day, and if you don’t give them enough care and attention, they won’t feel too good.
To make sure that your dog stays cool and happy, you’ll want to take a few measures to ensure their safety. This includes buying them the right accessories, keeping them in a cool environment, and so on. These are some tips you should definitely remember.
Dogs and Summer Heat
The breed of your dog heavily determines how well it can handle the summer heat. A dog with a thin layer of fur, for example, can handle the heat far better than one with thicker fur. Some dogs may also have been domesticated in tropical regions, and these breeds are less likely to be bothered by the heat.
Unfortunately, many of the most popular dog breeds feature thick layers of fur, and it’s likely that your own dog has similarly thick hair. If you want to make sure that your dog doesn’t feel uncomfortable this summer, you’ll have to take some precautions.
Things To Do for Your Dog To Beat the Heat
Trim their fur
Giving your dog a good trimming is a great way to start the summer season. You don’t have to completely shave your dog naked — that’d just be mean. Instead, what you can do is trim your dog’s fur by just a bit. It doesn’t have to be anything too striking; as long as they’re trimmed sufficiently, they’ll feel a difference, and they won’t feel as hot and uncomfortable as they would have been without the trim.
Give them dog shoes
One of the biggest mistakes a dog owner can make is to take their dog for a walk in the middle of the day, especially during summer. This is because dog owners often have a misconception of how hot the pavement actually is during the middle of the day. Weather forecasts give you an idea of the atmosphere’s temperature, but that temperature is very different from the temperature on the ground.
You see, pavement absorbs heat quite well. So well, in fact, that it retains that heat for a good while. This makes the pavement much hotter than the air above it, and while you’re all comfortable with your shoes, your dog will feel pain in every step. If you must bring your dog with you for a walk in the middle of the day, you’ll need to give them a pair of dog shoes.
Dog shoes for hot pavement and other similarly hot surfaces are great to have if you live in the city. In the event that you need to walk your dog while it’s hot out, the dog shoes will absorb the heat in place of their paws, so they won’t feel any pain as they walk about. The shoes will make them look a little silly, but any smart dog owner will notice it and respect you for it.