06/09/2026
It doesn't have to be a hot day. A 70-degree afternoon feels mild to you. Inside a parked car with the windows cracked, it reaches 89 in ten minutes.
Your dog starts closer to the danger line than you do. Her normal body temperature is already 101. She cools herself almost entirely by panting — pulling air across her tongue. When the air inside the car is hotter than her body, the system stops working. There's nothing left to cool with.
Cracking the windows changes the interior temperature by less than four degrees. The glass traps heat faster than the gap releases it.
🐾 The rule:
- Above 65 degrees — the dog stays home. Not in the car with water. Not with the windows cracked. Not with the engine running. Home.
The ten minutes you planned is the twenty minutes you actually take. She doesn't have the difference 🐾
