Dogs first encounter with hot, hot, hot sand

I took the dogs and some kids up to the Turkey Creek area on the Gila River for a nice river hike on a hot weekend. We ran into an unexpected obstacle for the dogs, really hot powdery soft sand.

I parked the truck about 75 yards from the water's edge and we had to walk from the truck to the river before we could get going on our hike. When I first let the dogs out they ran of like crazy fools so I had to whistle them back in and leash them up until we got to the river.

Once on leash and walking at a slower pace the dogs started fussing and checking their feet like they were picking up stickers or getting bitten by ants. Turns out the sand was really, really hot on their pads. I hadn't even considered that happening. Luckily it was just a short walk and there was enough vegitation for the dogs to get some relief on the way. Once down at the river all was well. I'm going to file this experience away so that it doesn't happen to us again. Usually on our hikes, because of the time of day or year, we don't run into sand that is this hot.