Sidewalks in Mt. Lebanon's Washington Road business district are heavily traveled by walkers and joggers for so many reasons. The window shopping is good, as is the people watching. It's relatively flat, which is especially nice if you're pushing a stroller or walking a small dog, a puppy or an older dog.

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While people can stop in restaurants, bars and bakeries for snacks and cool drinks, dogs can't. So as temperatures have steadily climbed, it's been nice to see water-filled bowls in front of some of the shops.

The canine "regulars" know where the bowls are. They often pick up their pace, straining on their leashes, when they're still several shops away.

On a recent July afternoon when temperatures soared above 90 degrees, I counted five dog bowls in a three-block stretch of the business district.

The first bowl appeared last spring in front of Aldo Coffee Co., 675 Washington Road. Rich and Melanie Westerfield are dog lovers, big time. When they opened their Italian-style coffee shop and cafe about 18 months ago, they gave it the same name as their 3-year-old golden retriever. Aldo, the dog, got his name from a nickname popular in the Westerfield family.

"People open the door to thank us" for the water, Mrs. Westerfield said. She told other merchants about her idea.

People should go back when they're not walking dogs to patronize shops that are dog-friendly. Let's throw them a bone, so to speak.

Uptown Coffee, 723 Washington Road, puts out a white bowl.

A red bowl is put out by M.A. Sinnhuber near her second-floor art gallery at Washington Road and Alfred Street. White lettering inside the bowl advertises "Art By M.A." She has art for sale and teaches lessons to quite a few children and a few adults.

"Sometimes, the dogs lap it up as soon as I put the bowl down," Ms. Sinnhuber said with a chuckle. "I've met so many nice people because of the bowls."

Gregory and Linda Mitchell don't even own a dog. They have cats. But when they opened Planet Art Gallery on May 1, they saw the stainless steel water dish in front of Aldo Coffee and decided to follow suit.

But not any bowl would do for a shop that features the work of local artists.

The Mitchells' water bowl, at 632 Washington Road, is a beautiful, hand-thrown ceramic bowl made by Gregory Mitchell. You can buy bowls like that in the shop, as well as paintings, prints, jewelry and gift items, many of them in the $20 to $80 price range.

A white ceramic dish with green shamrocks sits in front of The Celtic Cross, 729 Washington Road. Green letters say "Irish Top Dog."

Proprietor Thomas Macik says his family doesn't have a dog, but he's enjoyed watching people and dogs walking by his shop window. The store features an array of items imported from Ireland and the British Isles and does custom framing. The Irish dog dish can be purchased for $29.99, and there's a smaller bowl available for cats.

The water bowls on Washington Road are more than a nice touch. They can be lifesavers. It's hot out there, and dogs overheat faster than people because they have year-round fur coats and can sweat only through their tongues and foot pads.

If your walking route doesn't have dog-friendly merchants or water fountains, carry a water bottle for your dog.

Cars are another dangerous hot spot.

Every summer we see dogs, and even children, left in cars in blistering hot weather.

The White Hot Safety Sunblock Shade from Bamboo will tell you when it's too hot for your pet to be in the car. A black pull-down shade blocks the sun and a button turns white and says "hot" when conditions are unsafe for pets.

This might be a better product when conditions are more moderate. At 12:15 p.m. on a recent day, the "hot" warning came on five minutes after I put the shade on a side window in my car. The temperature outside was 76 degrees, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Web site. The temperature inside the car was 79 degrees, according to the thermometer I put on the dashboard.

Five minutes later, at 12:20 p.m., the temperature inside the car was 93 degrees. At 12:25 p.m., it was 106 degrees. By 12:35 p.m., the temperature had climbed to 126 degrees. At 1 p.m., it was 134 degrees and, by 3 p.m., it was 145 degrees inside the car.

The safety shade is $6.99, and is available online (www.bamboopet.com) or at Petsmart stores.