Summer time here in AZ is a hard time for me.  Not because it’s hot for me, but because it is dangerous for the animals. 

I go temporarily insane when I see an ignorant person walking their dog in the middle of the day on the sidewalk or pavement when we have the 110+ degree days here. 

This morning at 3:15am the outside temperature was 90d F.

In 110+ degree ambient air temp the surface temperature of pavement can reach 170d F!!.  Some very ignorant pet owners think that a dog’s paws and pads are leather like.  Their pads are very sensitive and will burn badly in surface temperatures above 120d F.

Third degree burns will occur in 10 seconds on a sidewalk or pavement that is 130d F.  Deep and extremely painful burns can occur and will likely cause permanent tissue damage to their pads in 1 second at 160 degrees.

Dogs, by their naturally inherited ancient Wolf DNA, will instinctively suppress showing pain or injury.  In the wild, animals that sound or show weakness or injury will become prey to their predators. 

So, our domestic pet dog may walk across the hot pavement and not necessarily try to get off of it or make a sound of pain, but their pads may suffer 3rd degree burns.

Gnarls.