How to Keep Your Dogs Safe in Hot Weather

Even though we love the hot weather not all our fury friends do, especially dogs. In the past week it has shocked me the number of places I have visited where dogs have been left in cars. I have seen dogs running next to their owners who are cycling, walking at 12:00am when it's the hottest time of day and it occurred to me not many people may know the facts of how easy it is for a dog to overheat.

So here are some top tips so we can help our companions:

* Never leave a dog in a car – even if the car has a window open and you haven't parked it in direct sunlight, on a hot 26-degree day within a matter of minutes the temperature of the car will reach 70 degrees even if the car is parked in the shade its still unbearable for the dog.

* Keep dogs indoors – unlike human's, dogs can only sweat through there footpads and the only way they keep cool is by panting.

* Provide water and shade – if dogs must be left outdoors make sure they are well refreshed with plenty of shade. Take into consideration the change of sun direction as it only takes minutes for a heatwave to kick in.

* Don't run, walk! – don't exercise dogs in the daytime apparently dogs will collapse before giving up and by that point it may be too late.

* Pavements are HOT! – if you are going to walk your dog take them early hours of the morning or last thing at night. You can check if its OK for your dog to walk by putting the back of your hand on the pavement for five seconds. If its to hot for your hand, then it's too hot for your dogs.