Melbourne Dog Walkers

Some thing to think about if you’re walking your dog through the hot summer months.

You can walk your dog in  summer but it’s accepted that you should only walk your dog early in the morning or later in the evening, about an hour after sunset. That’s because not only is the temperature high during the day, but the paths / road will probably be too hot for the pads of your dog’s paws. They’ll burn. General rule: if the path is too hot for you to walk barefoot, it is too hot for your dog to walk on. If you choose to walk your dog in the summer, hopefully early or late, bring along lots of water and make frequent water stops for the dog. Don’t take long walks or over-exert in the summer.

Heat exhaustion is common in dogs. It can happen your own yard, or on a walk. Dogs cool themselves by panting. If panting does not reduce the body temperature the dog will develop heat stroke. Early signs of heat exhaustion include rapid breathing, heavy panting, and salivation. Other signs are fatigue, muscle tremors, and staggering. If you see a dog that is experiencing heat exhaustion, take the dog to a cool, shady place, and apply wet towels or cloths to help cool the dog’s body down. Try to give the dog small amounts of water, and immediately call a vet.

Dogs and the Sun – Dogs get sunburned. Especially dogs with short hair or little hair on some parts of their bodies. Keep them out of the sun.

We’ve just added a page on the website about one of our favourite dog walks – Sweetwater Creek in Frankston.  The Creek features various trails / paths you can take and will probably take you around 1 hour to walk around. The creek is situated only around 200 metres from the beach, just off Nepean Highway, yet once inside, you feel you could be walking deep in the bush. Large sections of the walk are on boardwalks and this adds to the feeling that you’re somewhere exotic deep in rainforest. For bird lovers, the creek is home to a multitude of birdlife; some of the birds we’ve seen on our walks include a pair of Kookaburras, a pair of Australian Parrots and numerous Spotted Doves, along with other species we’ve not yet determined. When we’ve a little more time, we’ll upload all the photos (around 50) which we took on our most recent walk.

As always, when out walking with your dog, please remember to tidy up and mess that they make and don’t spoil the creek for yourself and other people

Technorati Profile

Just a quick message to kick off the blog. The website is still a work in progress so expect to see further enhancements over the coming weeks. We’ll use the blog to keep you updated of the changes and improvements we make, and we’ll also post doggy related news items and maybe the occasional product review if something catches our eye.