Hot pavement, hot toys: a Phoenix summer guide for dogs

If you moved here from somewhere with seasons, your first Phoenix summer with a dog is a shock. The sun goes down and the sidewalk is still hot enough to cook on. Here is how we get Harley and Lebowski through it every year.

The seven second test

Before any walk, press the back of your hand flat on the pavement and hold it there. If you cannot last seven seconds, your dog cannot walk on it. Paw pads are tough. They are not fireproof.

Asphalt runs much hotter than the air temperature and holds that heat for hours after sunset, which is the part that catches new arrivals. A pleasant evening can still come with a sidewalk that burns. Grass, dirt, and shade are your friends, and so is walking on the shaded side of the street.

Walk at the edges of the day

From May through September, early morning before the sun clears the horizon is the best window we get. Late night works too, but the ground has had all day to soak up heat, so the hand test matters even more then.

Signs of a dog in trouble

Heat exhaustion moves fast, and dogs will play straight through it because they are dogs. Watch for panting that will not settle, heavy drooling, bright red gums, wobbling, vomiting, or a dog who seems confused. Move them somewhere cool, offer water, wet the paws and belly with cool water rather than ice cold, and call your vet right away. Heat stroke is an emergency, not a wait and see.

Flat faced dogs, seniors, puppies, overweight dogs, and heavy coated dogs all have less margin for error. If yours is in one of those groups, be more careful than you think you need to be.

Never the car. Not for a minute.

You already know. We are saying it anyway, because a parked car here becomes an oven within minutes and cracked windows do almost nothing.

Yes, toys get hot too

This is our own product and we will be blunt: a rubber toy left in the sun or in a hot car gets genuinely hot, and hot rubber against a dog's mouth is no fun for anyone. Keep toys in the shade or indoors, and give one a minute to cool down or a quick rinse if it has been baking.

Burn the energy indoors

A dog who cannot walk still has all that energy, and a bored dog redecorates. What works at our house:

• Tug of war. All of the exercise, none of the sunburn.
• Hallway fetch with a rope toy. It slides, it flops, it is chaos, and it is glorious.
• Frozen enrichment. Soak a rope toy, freeze it, hand it over with supervision. Chew toy and popsicle in one.
• Sniffing games. Hide a toy or scatter some kibble around a room. Ten minutes of nose work tires a dog out like a much longer walk.
• Training sessions. Five minutes of learning something new is real mental work.

Monsoon rules

When the storms roll in, the temperature drop feels like a gift and the walk is wonderful. Keep an eye on the sky anyway, because those storms arrive faster than they look, and a dog who is frightened of thunder needs to be inside and secure before it hits.

Phoenix summers are long. Play inside, walk in the dark, and check the pavement every single time.

See the toys that keep our two busy when it is too hot to go outside.