An ongoing debate continues among the service dog handlers and puppy raisers I know – whether dogs should wear boots to protect their feet in hot or cold weather. I’ve always been a boot skeptic.
Back in the sixties, when I was growing up in Miami, it was free-range kids and dogs on SW 73rd Avenue between SW 136th Street and 140th Terrace. During summer vacation we kids would never ever walk barefoot in the street, because we knew we’d instantly be burned. The dogs didn’t seem to care. They chased us and their fellow dogs around as if they were running on the living room carpet. They were perfectly fine afterwards as well. As for cold, I’ve seen plenty of nature shows where wolves run through powdery snow in slow motion looking just fine. Canines just don’t seem to feel the same way we do about hot and cold.
I set out to try to solve the debate by checking with veterinarians and veterinary web sites. The internet just wasn’t a lot of help. I’d see articles written by veterinarians explaining the value of boots followed by affiliate marketing links so they could profit from selling them. With a lack of trustworthy advice, I decided to go back to the idea that dogs don’t experience hot and cold the way we do, and I took a deeper dive into their senses.
Let’s check out how dogs experience the world.
Seeing the World in Blues and Yellows
While humans see a full spectrum of colors, dogs have only two types of color receptors in their eyes. Their vision is like red-green color blindness in humans, meaning they see the world mostly in blues and yellows. That bright red toy? To them, it probably looks brown or gray.
What they lack in color perception, they make up for in motion detection. Dogs can see movement much better than we can, which is why they’re so quick to spot a squirrel darting across the yard while we’re still trying to figure out what they’re barking at.
Hearing What We Can’t
Your dog’s ears do more than perk up when you say “treat.” They hear a much broader range of frequencies than humans – up to 60,000 Hz, compared to our measly 20,000 Hz. They can hear sounds that we don’t even know exist, like the high pitch squeak of a mouse or the ultrasonic (to us) frequencies of a dog whistle.
Moreover, dog ears are precise. Most dogs can rotate their ears independently to pinpoint exactly where a sound is coming from. So, when your pup perks up and stares at what seems like nothing to you, they could be hearing something off in the distance, maybe even the neighbor pouring kibbles into her dog’s bowl.
High-Definition Smelling
If sight is our dominant sense, smell is your dog’s superpower. Their noses contain up to 300 million scent receptors, compared to our 5 to 6 million. They can sniff out everything from people buried in a collapsed building to the onset of diabetic shock to a kibble that rolled under the stove. Additionally, dogs have an addition to their nose called the vomeronasal organ (also known as Jacobson’s organ), which detects pheromones. It allows them to sense another dog’s mood, its reproductive status, or even human emotions. Have you ever felt as if your dog knows when you’ve had a bad day? They can literally smell stress or anger.
Feeling Hot and Cold in Their Own Way
Let’s get back to my original question about temperature. Just as dogs’ senses of sight, hearing and smell or different from ours, so is the way they feel the weather.
Dogs and Heat: No Sweat?
Unlike humans, dogs can’t sweat all over their bodies. They have a few sweat glands on their paws, but those don’t do much to cool them down. Instead, dogs rely on panting and expanding blood vessels (vasodilation) to release heat.
These cooling methods aren’t as efficient as sweating, so dogs overheat much more easily than we do. Their fur can also work against them in hot weather. it provides insulation, but it can trap heat if temperatures get too high. The bottom line is they are likely to feel overheated before we do.
Dogs and Cold: Fur Type Matters
Dogs generally handle cold weather better than heat, but cold tolerance varies between breeds. Some dogs were bred for cold weather – think Huskies and Saint Bernards. These dogs have thick double coats that keep them well insulated. Labrador Retrievers and Golden Retrievers (common service dog breeds) also have double coats. Labradors were originally bred to retrieve objects from icy water in Newfoundland, while Golden Retrievers were bred to tolerate the cold, wet weather in Scotland. Short haired, single coat breeds, like Greyhounds and Chihuahuas are going to feel the chill more quickly.
Even cold tolerant breeds can still get too cold, especially when the temperature is well below freezing. Paws, noses, and ears will become vulnerable to frostbite. If your dog gets wet, his fur will lose its insulating properties.
Listen to Your Dog
Your dog doesn’t experience the world the way you do, but he will tell you when it’s too hot or cold for him. I’m perfectly comfortable walking in 75° (25°C) weather, but my dog, Koogle, will start panting and will drag behind me after going about a mile. I think 25° (-4°C) is really cold, but Koogle seems energized by it and walks ahead of me.
You may have heard of the 10 Second Rule, which says the ground is too hot for your dog’s feet if it is too hot to place your hand on for 10 seconds. I’ve also seen this written as a 7 second or 5 second rule, so the time is clearly arbitrary. The skin on your hand isn’t as thick as that on your dog’s feet, and dogs’ toe pads have a fat layer for insulation. That’s probably why the dogs I grew up with didn’t care about hot pavement. The bottom line is your hand won’t feel the ground the way a dog’s paws do.
If the ground is getting too hot, your dog will try his best to stay in the shade or off the pavement. He may resist walking and could begin limping. Likewise, when the ground is too cold, dogs will lift alternate paws off the ground and will slow down or refuse to walk farther. Constant paw licking after being outside is a sign your dog has a foot injury. It could be a burn from extremely hot weather, or frostbite from extreme cold. It could also be a different injury like a laceration. Examine your dog’s feet and call your veterinarian.
Puppies’ feet are more sensitive to hot and cold. Take extra care with them.
Listen to Your Veterinarian
Check with your veterinarian for advice about the conditions where you live. I was surprised to learn my Houston, TX veterinarian did not see dogs come into her practice with burned feet. She doesn’t recommend boots for hot days in that city, because dogs aren’t getting burned, and the boots cover the dogs’ sweat glands. She didn’t think the same advice would apply in Las Vegas or Pheonix, where temperatures can reach 120°.
Use Common Sense
I always keep my dogs inside during extreme weather (above 100° (38°C), below 0° (-18C)). I minimize walking on pavement on hot days, especially black pavement, and I pay attention to what created discomfort for my dog in the past. In Koogle’s case, snow and ice have been no problem, but salty road slush made him limp. Therefore, I avoid the slush or put boots on him when we must walk through it.
Final Thoughts: Pay Attention to Your Dog
There is no definitive answer to the debate on whether dogs should wear boots in hot or cold weather. Dogs don’t experience the world the way we do. They see differently, hear things we can’t, and live in a world of smells we can’t imagine. When it comes to hot and cold, their coping mechanisms are different too.
That’s why we need to watch their cues. If the ground is too hot, your dog will seem desperate to stay in the shade will try to avoid touching the pavement. When the ground is too cold, they will lift alternate paws or will refuse to walk. Remember the conditions that created discomfort for your dog to inform decisions on future outings. The more we pay attention to our dogs, the better we can care for them, no matter what the weather is.
