Alanis: This was one of the most unbearable weekends I have ever experienced!
JJ: There is little doubt that it was for me – it was so scorching hot that I wasn’t able to go for a walk – not even for 30 seconds! I had to get all my exercise done indoors!
Alanis: That was “fun” for me!
JJ: Thankfully for you, I am maturing a little – which means I am probably 5% less crazy than I was even a few months ago.
Alanis: So you are down to 215% is what you are saying?
JJ: We still went outside to take care of business, and you even stayed out there for a little while. Why is that?
Alanis: I was driving Daddy crazy – standing in the middle of the yard, taking in the 112 Real Feel! The truth is this: I am a dog. Being outside is something I want to do sometimes. I was only out there for a few minutes, but I needed to be out there for a few minutes. I came in when I was called, and that is ultimately what matters.
JJ: Yeah, silly humans. As long as we aren’t exerting ourselves, we can be outside for a few minutes! Sheesh!
Alanis: They are just trying to protect us, as silly as it sounds. I feel sorry for the squirrels, not myself!
JJ: To further help me get my exercise in, they opened up the upstairs for me!
Alanis: Funniest thing ever. They closed all the doors so that you couldn’t get into any kind of mischief, but you kept running up and down the stairs anyway! You were likely a puppy in the Petco treats section.
JJ: I have been upstairs several times, but this was the first time I was given full freedom to run up and down those stairs – I was having a blast!
Alanis: We also wrestled with each other, played some ball, etc – things we can do inside an air-conditioned house that keeps us busy but doesn’t cause any harm.
JJ: Plenty of water, and even a small cup of doggie ice cream on Saturday! What a life we live.
Alanis: This weekend was not healthy for anyone. We have these thick coats – people don’t sometimes understand that these coats actually help keep us cool, but in weather like this, it still isn’t enough.
JJ: Thankfully, the weather promises to settle down this week and we can go back on our walking program.
Alanis: Well, you at least – I don’t like walks in warm weather.
JJ: No, you don’t – you walk for five minutes and drag Daddy back towards home! Silly diva.
Alanis: Yet, in colder weather, I will walk forever. I guess that is how I am built.
Me: If you lived in New Jersey this weekend, you know how hot it was. We live down the Jersey Shore, where the temperatures were actually more brutal than the rest of the state. It has always been my opinion that hot weather is rougher on our furry friends than colder weather. In colder weather, they can run around outside to essentially warm themselves up. In warmer weather, there is little I can do to exercise them outdoors – and there are always challenges exercising them indoors.
It is always important to have fresh water for your dogs. It is important to make sure you keep the house as cool as possible – you may see that your dogs tend to lay near the vents if you have central air. JJ did that this weekend. They can figure out where the cool spots are. It also helps that JJ’s crate is located right next to one of our vents.
They also sell cooling pads for dogs if you don’t feel your house is cool enough. “Chillz” makes a cooling pad for dogs that they claim is non-toxic. A few years ago (before JJ was here!), we had an issue with our air conditioning around the time an unexpected April heatwave came across the state. We bought cooling items for Jeter and Alanis, and Alanis will still lay on her cooling pad to this day – even with the air conditioning churning.
As a general rule, I simply play it on the safe side. It doesn’t require rocket science to know that you shouldn’t walk a dog on days like this. However, some people have no choice. They don’t have a fenced-in yard, and their dog(s) need to relieve themselves. The best advice for this is to do it early in the morning, later at night, and if you must do it during the day, just walk them to a tree in your yard, etc.
Dogs adapt to extreme conditions (which doesn’t mean you should leave them outside or anything stupid like that! Adapting to extreme conditions doesn’t mean they will survive them if left out in them for a long period of time! Humans adapt to extreme conditions as well – yet, many die when exposed to them for too long. BE SMART and always err on the side of caution.)
The bottom line? Common sense is the lone requirement to keeping your dogs safe. If you can do that, your dogs will easily survive these dog days of summer.