Summer Safety for Australian Dogs

Summer Safety for Australian Dogs

Most summer advice for dog owners stops at "keep them cool and give them water", which is true and not especially useful. The problems that actually send Australian dogs to the vet over the hot months are more specific: burnt pads, sunburnt noses, grass seeds working into skin, and coats wrecked by salt and chlorine.

Heat itself is the serious one, and it has its own guide. If your dog is panting hard, drooling thickly or looking unsteady, read the signs of heatstroke and act on it. This piece covers everything else.

Dogs get sunburnt, and some get it badly

Hair is the sunscreen. Wherever the hair is sparse or the skin underneath is unpigmented, UV goes straight in. The dogs most at risk are:

• Pink or partly pink noses, and the bridge of the muzzle above them.
• White and cream coats, where light skin sits under thin hair. Bull terriers, whippets, white staffies.
• Thin coated breeds generally, especially across the flanks and the top of the head.
• Bellies, which most people forget. UV reflects off concrete, sand and water onto the underside, and a dog lying on their back is exposing the thinnest skin they own.
• Any area clipped short. A shaved belly after surgery, or a clip taken too close, leaves skin that has never seen sun.

Repeated burning is not just an uncomfortable week. It is the main driver of skin cancers on ear tips and noses in older dogs. Shade between about ten and four does most of the work. Beyond that, use a sunscreen made for dogs rather than a human one, since dogs lick. Our guide to sunburn protection has the detail.

Footpaths: the seven second test

Asphalt in full sun runs far hotter than the air. On a 30 degree day, dark bitumen can reach 50 to 60 degrees, and pads burn well below what your shoes protect you from.

Press the back of your hand flat to the path and hold it. If you cannot keep it there for seven seconds, your dog should not be walking on it. Test the surface you are about to walk on, not the grass beside it.

Burnt pads show up as limping, licking the feet, pads that look darker or unusually red, and in bad cases loose flaps of pad tissue. That last one is a vet visit. Walk early morning or after dark instead.

Do not shave a double coat

This is the summer mistake that does lasting damage. A double coat is a dense woolly undercoat with coarser guard hairs over the top, and it is not a jumper. The undercoat traps still air that slows heat moving in as well as out, and the guard hairs block UV while holding the coat off the skin so air can move.

Shave it and you lose both. The dog gets hotter, not cooler, and unpigmented skin is suddenly exposed to full Australian sun. Sunburn, heat stress and patchy, wiry regrowth that never quite returns to normal are the results.

What helps a double coated dog is removing the dead undercoat so air can move. Regular brushing through the shedding season does more for their comfort than any clip.

Grass seeds and burrs

Summer is when grass dries off and seed heads go sharp. A seed lodged between the toes can work through the skin in a day or two, and once under the surface it does not come back out on its own. Bindiis, spear grass and barley grass are the usual culprits.

Check after every off lead walk: between the toes, inside the ear flaps, in the armpits and around the groin. A dog suddenly licking one foot, shaking their head, or holding an eye half closed after long grass needs looking at properly. A vet appointment beats waiting to see if it settles.

Salt, chlorine and sand

Salt water and pool chlorine both strip oils from the coat, and once the water evaporates the residue keeps sitting on the skin. That is what causes the dull, gritty, itchy coat after a summer of swimming. Sand is worse in a double coat, working into the undercoat and behaving like sandpaper.

Rinse after every swim. Fresh water and thirty seconds does most of it. When the coat needs a wash, the 2 in 1 Shampoo cleans without pulling more oil from an already dried coat. Get the water down through the undercoat rather than wetting the top, then blot dry with a Travel Towel, which lives in the car better than a bath sheet. Between washes, a light pass of All Day Spritzer settles the frizz salt leaves behind. More on this in the beach dog guide.

Looking after pads

Pads dry out over summer the same way heels do. Hot surfaces, sand and salt draw moisture out, and a dry pad cracks along the edges where it flexes. Cracked pads sting, collect grit and heal slowly.

Work Bark Butter Balm into the pads at night, when the dog will settle rather than lick it straight off, and give it a few minutes to soak in. The Travel Balm stick is the version for the beach bag. Neither protects pads from a genuinely hot footpath, so do the seven second test regardless.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Can I put human sunscreen on my dog?

Not safely. Many human formulas contain zinc oxide, which is toxic to dogs if licked off, and some contain salicylates. Use a product made for dogs, and ask your vet before applying anything to a nose, since that is the spot most likely to be swallowed.

Is a summer clip ever a good idea?

On single coated breeds, yes, and on any matted dog, since mats trap heat and moisture against the skin. On a double coated dog, tidying the belly, feet and sanitary area is reasonable. Taking the whole body to the skin is not.

How often should I bath my dog in summer?

More often than winter is fine, because dogs are dirtier and skin is less dry. Every two to three weeks suits most dogs, plus fresh water rinses after swimming, which do not need shampoo.

My dog's nose is going pink at the edges. Should I worry?

Get it checked. Loss of pigment, crusting or a sore that does not heal on a nose needs a vet, both because it can be a sign of sun damage and because a few immune conditions look similar early on.