Hi,

I live in south Taiwan, which gets very hot (+/- 38 degrees Celcius) about 9 months of the year. We are on the same line as Hawaii.

I live in a 13th floor apartment, and it is a 5 minute walk to the nearest park, mainly on asphalt! In Taiwan most sidewalks are not accessible because people park their scooters there, or vendors set up their little stalls.

So,my question is: Should I start using dog booties? How much heat can a dog's paw handle?

If I do need to use them can I leave them on during the day while she is in the cage (6 month old Shiba pup), or is that asking for trouble, and is it best to take them off when we get home? (I think I know the answer to that one :-)

I don't have first hand knowledge of your area, but from your description I would say yes, get some dog booties. I would only use them when going out and would not leave them on the dog while she is in the cage because she would most likely rip them to shreds and also I think for health reasons it's better for the feet to go "au natural" for the most part. You may want to get her used to the booties being put on and taken off (some dogs act a bit sketchy when their feet are handled and need to get used to it), as well as get her used to walking in them while she is in the comfort of your home before you take her out on the street.

I think you definitely need something for her feet with that heat. My recollection from watching motor sports on TV is that the track temperature (asphalt) will easily be 20-30 deg. F. higher than the air temp.

This is not a substitute for booties, but when my dog was doing quite a bit of walking on concrete and asphalt (at normal temps!), someone turned me on to Tuf-Foot - http://www.tuf-foot.com - which keep her pads real healthy. Maybe you can find a similar product where you are for a little extra protection.

Mike

Thanks for the replies, I'll make this one a priority. We're at 28 Degrees Celcius now, so that should give me another month before the heat is in the high 30s.

Dogs lose body heat between their toes, so I'd worry about leaving the booties on for too long. Just make sure you can recognize signs of heat stroke and know what to do about it.

I live in Phoenix Arizona..you can cook an egg on the sidewalk here in the summertime. Nothing makes me madder than seeing people out here walk their dogs in the heat of the summer. I even saw one woman at Petsmart standing there looking at her dog as it was lifting it's feet up off the ground one after the other, with the most puzzled look on her face. I stood there watching her and when she looked at me with a "what the heck" look, I said her feet are hot.. she said "OHHH, is that what she's doing??" I wanted to walk over there and slap the snot outa her. Stupid, stupid people!! So, my answer (having lived in a very hot area all of my life) would be yes! Please! use boots I have every intention to use them this year with Levi. They may not look that graceful but they aren't in searing pain either. People need to understand that dogs can tolerate cold much better than they do heat because they have hair between their toes that helps with the cold but they don't have any more protection from the heat than we do..so if your feet are hot, the dog's feet most certainly are too. Wow, reading over this didn't mean to cop so much attitude! LOL! Guess I feel stongly about it. Think I'll take out an ad this year, LOL!!!

Hi,

Does anyone know anything about situational training?