What does your dog walker do when it is this hot?
Surely they do not still take the dogs out

mine takes fletcher out, but the heat determines the length of walk, if its roasting only 15mins round to the park and then back to the house to play with the hose and just keep him company

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Corrine

I'm a dog walker and I'm afraid to say rona that I do still take the dogs out. Our routes are changed to ones that are in shaded woodland with continual access to streams, rivers and lakes. We take things much slower and don't cover the same distance, instead we mess around in the water and have plenty of calm rest times in the shade.

It's far from ideal but most of them cope very well with this arrangement. The owners continue to expect their dogs to have a break at lunchtime, regardless of temperature, so I take it upon myself to be the one who monitors the dogs well being, as best I can within those perameters.

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Some days you're the dog: some days you're the lampost

When I feel blue, I start breathing again

I know a dog walker who refuses to take dogs out when it's this hot, she spends time with them at home.
If any of her customers want their dogs walked, she tells them to find someone else, because she will not be responsible for the possible death of their dog.
The problem is that the dogs are walked and heat can continue building in the dogs body, long after the walker has left

the local dog walker here has set up a gazebo in the park lol, with a paddling pool underneath it! She walks the dogs to the park (no more than 5min from any area in the estate) they play in the shade with the water - watering cans etc and in and out of the pool, then walk home again.

Poor woman sets all this up every morning and takes it down every night - but the dogs seem to love it.

Wow that's fabulous!! I'd pay someone to do that with my dogs in this weather!! Well with Sidney at least!

im a dog walker and i go up to the lake in our local woodlands when its hot then i make sure were all back before it getting to hot as well normally by 10.30am to 11am but also they are nice and wet at this time so cool. ok my van smells like a pond but that soon washed out and as i dont like the heat like the dogs dont.

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Stryder the Utonagan


www.carolscaninecare.co.uk

http://www.nuadalseurope.co.uk/

I hear what you're saying and it is definately far from ideal, but when you are responsible for more than one dog at once, you can't spend time with each of them at their own homes in the timeframe people expect. Playing at home can cause just as much heat build up and the dogs seem delighted to get out of the house/garden to a place where there is a fresh breeze and access to cooling off paddling water. I am extremely cautious, honest! You're welcome to come out with me and watch how a hot-day-walk works!

You'd be very dissappointed to see how many dog owners are also at my local haunts, exercising their dogs in the middle of the day... these people choose to come down to the river/lake to give their dogs chance for a swim and cool down.

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Some days you're the dog: some days you're the lampost

When I feel blue, I start breathing again

Our dog walker hires a field. In that field she has a barn full of sofa's and toys and outside paddling pool, a daisy that attaches to a hose and spray water.

She forces them to spend time inside but if they want to play its water play.

I was concerned wtih my two being squashed faced they hate teh heat but there is a provision for them to just be around but in the cool with no compulsion to exercise.

I use a dog walker one day a week and they took Charlie out on Tuesday. I came home from work at lunchtime and he was dropped off when I was there thankfully!

Charlie is walked in a pack of 8 (I've only recently signed up with these walkers and the lady told me he would be walked with one other!!) and when he got back I was actually quite worried about him as he was so hot. The walker said that he had run off while on the walk and they found him in the woodland area sitting on a tree stump - I think he was just trying to find some cool shade.

I did think that the walkers would either phone me to see if I still wanted him walked in this weather or at least take the dogs to somewhere that was cool - swimming or something.

Charlie did have a very thick coat which I have since been able to get him to the groomers to have this removed and this would not have helped, but I was a little surprised that the walkers carried on regardless of the weather. I will look at the weather next week and will cancel his walk if it is still this warm.

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