It’s another hot day here on the Derbyshire / Nottinghamshire border. All the dogs who had early walks this morning managed to get their full walks, but as lunch time approaches it’s starting to get too hot for dogs to walk safely.

There are two main problems with dog walking in hot weather. Firstly dogs are furry. I know it sounds obvious, but they can easily overheat. Imagine if you had to wear the same wooly jumper and overcoat you wear in December all summer long.

The second problem is the temperature of the pavements. It may not be obvious to us humans, but hard surfaces, particularly concrete and tarmac really heat up in the sun and it’s very possible our furry friends could burn their paws. Tar is particularly bad because it can start to melt and stick to paws, continuing to burn. That’ why here at Andy Walks we are always very aware of both the air and ground temperature. The solution is that when the weather gets too hot to walk we automatically switch to doing home visits instead. This means your pet still gets a visit and some fresh air, but we don’t walk them down a burning street. Some, like Freddie above, much prefer the idea of chilling out for an hour in a shady corner of the garden.