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Why dog owners need to watch out for asphalt

As the heat wave rolls in, pet owners beware: Your pup can easily get burned.

As the heat wave rolls in, pet owners beware: Your pup can easily get burned.

Images posted online show how dogs' paws can get badly burned from walking on asphalt.

The temperature in the air is not always reflective of the temperature on the ground.

Research from the Journal of the American Medical Association shows that when the air temperature is 87 degrees, the ground has been measured at 143 degrees — a temp higher than what it takes to fry an egg in five minutes.

The Front Street Animal Shelter also posted an advisory Thursday warning that 118 degree asphalt can give a dog first degree burns.

So what can you do?

The most common advice is to test it yourself.

"I would use the same caution you use with little kids or even yourself when you go out to get the mail," Keith Davis, owner of Fox and Friends Day Care in West Sac, told ABC10. "When you feel the heat on your feet, it's too hot for your dog pretty much."

"The back of your hand is the best way. I usually put it down for just a few seconds." Keith Davis, owner of Foxy Friends Dog Care in West Sac, told ABC10.

"If you have a toddler, you have a child, it only takes a couple seconds for them to know how hot it is on the ground. Same with a dog," he added. "Their fleshy little paws are super sensitive."

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