Heat and Hot Pavement Safety Checker
Check whether it is too hot to walk your dog, using pavement surface temperature and a heatstroke risk score for your individual dog.
Worst case. Dark asphalt absorbs almost all the radiation hitting it.
Pavement surface temperature
55°C Can burn paws
Skin destruction can occur in about 60 seconds at this temperature. Walk on grass only.
Press the back of your hand flat on the pavement for seven seconds. If you cannot hold it there, your dog cannot walk on it.
- Air temperature
- 28°C
- Surface runs hotter by
- 27°C
- Pavement turns unsafe from an air temperature of
- 25°C
Heatstroke risk for this dog
Moderate risk score 10
Walk early morning or late evening, keep the pace easy, and take water. Avoid midday entirely.
- Risk from temperature alone
- 7
- Added by the factors you ticked
- 3
Signs of heatstroke
- Heavy, frantic panting that does not settle
- Bright red or, later, pale gums
- Thick, ropey drool
- Wobbliness, confusion or collapse
- Vomiting or diarrhea, sometimes bloody
- Body temperature above 40 degrees Celsius
How this is calculated
Two separate risks are calculated. Surface temperature governs whether the pavement will burn paw pads. Heatstroke risk depends on air temperature plus characteristics of the individual dog, and it is the one that kills.
surface temperature = air temperature + rise for sun conditions
heatstroke score = temperature score + sum of risk factor points How much hotter the ground gets
| Conditions | Surface rise | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Full sun, clear sky | +27°C | Worst case. Dark asphalt absorbs almost all the radiation hitting it. |
| Hazy or partly cloudy | +18°C | Still substantially hotter than the air. |
| Overcast | +8°C | Much safer, but the surface still holds heat from earlier in the day. |
| Full shade or after dark | +3°C | Asphalt releases stored heat for hours after sunset. Check it by hand. |
Air temperature against asphalt in full sun
| Air | Asphalt in full sun | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| 20°C / 68°F | 47°C / 117°F | Getting hot |
| 24°C / 75°F | 51°C / 124°F | Getting hot |
| 28°C / 82°F | 55°C / 131°F | Can burn paws |
| 31°C / 88°F | 58°C / 136°F | Can burn paws |
| 35°C / 95°F | 62°C / 144°F | Burns paws quickly |
| 38°C / 100°F | 65°C / 149°F | Burns paws quickly |
Surface temperature thresholds
- 0°C and above — Comfortable. Surface is safe for normal walking.
- 43°C and above — Getting hot. Uncomfortable on bare skin. Keep walks short, stick to grass where you can, and do the hand test first.
- 52°C and above — Can burn paws. Skin destruction can occur in about 60 seconds at this temperature. Walk on grass only.
- 62°C and above — Burns paws quickly. Serious burns in seconds. Do not walk on pavement at all. Wait for evening, or exercise indoors.
Sources
- Hall EJ, Carter AJ, O’Neill DG. Incidence and risk factors for heat-related illness (heatstroke) in UK dogs under primary veterinary care in 2016. Sci Rep. 2020;10:9128.
- American Veterinary Medical Association. Warm weather pet safety.
- Surface temperature figures are the asphalt-versus-air differences repeated across veterinary and public health hot weather guidance. Check your own pavement with the back of your hand; surface, color and sun angle move the number a long way.
Heatstroke first aid
If you suspect heatstroke, cooling starts before the car journey and continues during it. Order matters here:
- Move the dog into shade or air conditioning immediately.
- Pour or spray cool tap water over the whole body, and keep doing it. Cool water immersion is the fastest safe method.
- Do not use ice or ice water. It constricts surface vessels and slows cooling.
- Offer small amounts of cool water to drink. Never force it.
- Get a fan or airflow onto the wet coat.
- Call your vet and travel now, cooling on the way. Heatstroke damages organs even after the temperature comes down.
The old advice to avoid cold water has been overturned by the evidence. Cool water poured over the whole body is the fastest safe method. What you must avoid is ice and ice water, which constrict surface blood vessels and slow heat loss.
Exercise is the usual cause
Most heat-related illness in dogs is exertional, not the dog left in a car. Dogs will keep running to stay with you long past the point where they should have stopped, and flat-faced breeds reach that point far sooner than their owners expect. On a hot day the safe walk is the one you did not take.
Common questions
Is it too hot to walk my dog?
Check the surface, not the air. In full sun asphalt runs about 27°C hotter than the air, so a pleasant 25°C afternoon produces a 52°C surface, which can damage paw skin in about a minute. Walk on grass, or wait for the evening.
At what temperature does pavement burn a dog’s paws?
Skin destruction can occur at about 52°C in roughly 60 seconds. In full sun that corresponds to an air temperature of only about 25°C. At 62°C and above, burns happen in seconds.
What is the seven-second rule?
Press the back of your hand flat on the pavement and hold it. If you cannot keep it there for seven seconds, it is too hot for your dog to walk on. It works because your hand and a paw pad have a similar tolerance, and it needs no thermometer.
How do I know if my dog has burned its paws?
Limping, refusing to walk, licking or chewing at the feet, and pads that look darker than usual, or blistered, or missing patches of surface. Burns often appear hours after the walk. Cool the paws with water and call your vet.
Which dogs are most at risk of heatstroke?
Flat-faced breeds by a wide margin, since they cannot pant efficiently. Then overweight dogs, thick-coated breeds, puppies and seniors, and any dog with heart or airway disease. Exertional heatstroke from exercise is far more common than the classic hot-car case.
What should I do if my dog overheats?
Move it into shade, pour cool tap water over the whole body and keep going, get airflow onto the wet coat, offer small drinks, and travel to a vet while continuing to cool. Do not use ice or ice water, which constricts surface vessels and slows cooling down.
Do dog boots help?
They protect the pads, and they are useful if you have no alternative to hot pavement. They do nothing for heatstroke risk, which is the more dangerous problem, and some dogs will not tolerate them.