As the summer temps rise, so do tempers. Now get off the phone and listen to me.

Temperatures were already at 90 degrees that morning last summer as my dog and I squeezed in a short walk before the carpet cleaner arrived. My dog is 16 years old, barely over five pounds, healthy but frail. In the silence of the late summer morning in our suburban neighborhood, he performed his duty expeditiously and without complaint as he decisively…