The Indian urban summer is harder on dogs than most owners realise. Concrete pavements absorb heat and stay scorching for hours after sunset. Apartment blocks trap warm air. Humidity in coastal cities means evaporative cooling — the dog's only meaningful heat-loss mechanism — barely works.
The pavement test
Press the back of your hand to the pavement for seven seconds. If you can't hold it, the dog can't walk on it. In peak summer this means most paved surfaces are off-limits from 9 a.m. to about 8 p.m. Paw pads can suffer second-degree burns in under sixty seconds on hot concrete.
Walks: before 7, after 8
Early morning walks need to be early. By 8 a.m. in May, the sun is already a problem. Evening walks before 7:30 still hit hot surfaces; push to 8:30 or 9 p.m. when possible. If neither timing works, indoor exercise plus a five-minute potty break is better than a heatstroke risk.
Cooling at home
Air conditioning is the simplest answer. For homes without AC, a fan blowing across a wet towel cools usefully. Cooling mats (pressure-activated gel) work for a few hours. Frozen water bottles wrapped in cloth and placed in the bed give a steady cool spot. A child's plastic pool with a few inches of water on the balcony is enthusiastically used by most breeds.
Water everywhere
Multiple bowls. Add ice cubes (yes, despite the old myth — ice cubes are fine and dogs love them). Take water on every walk. Encourage drinking by adding broth (low sodium, no onion or garlic) to the bowl in heatwaves.
Breeds that need extra care
Brachycephalic breeds — Pugs, French Bulldogs, English Bulldogs, Boxers, Shih Tzus, Pekingese — cannot cool themselves effectively. Their breathing is laboured at the best of times. In peak summer, they should be in air conditioning for most of the day, with extremely short outdoor breaks only. Heatstroke happens at lower temperatures in these breeds than the textbooks suggest.
Car travel
Never leave a dog in a parked car. Internal temperatures climb beyond 50°C within fifteen minutes even with windows cracked. If the car is the only way to get to the vet, pre-cool it for ten minutes with AC running before loading the dog.
Coats and shaving
Don't shave double-coated breeds (Huskies, Golden Retrievers, German Shepherds, Labradors). Their undercoat insulates against heat as well as cold, and shaving exposes skin to sunburn and damages the coat's regrowth pattern. Brush out the undercoat instead. Single-coated breeds (Poodles, many small breeds) can benefit from a summer trim.
