Keeping your dog cool in the warm weather

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LHIS

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I found myself searching for this earlier after coming home and finding my pooch to be a bit fed up with the heat as I was.

I thought it might be a good idea to share some tried and tested methods for keeping your dog/s cool during warm weather.

Something I've come across recently having spotted my local pet shop stocking it is Rock Sulphur, apparently you just add it to their water and it helps keep them cool. I am not sure of the science behind it, but I'm keen to know if anyone uses this and if it works?

I'm going to leave a little paddling pool out for my dog tomorrow, though as she's not a water baby I'm not sure if she'll use it. I'm also thinking about putting a reflective sheet on the roof of her kennel to (not only blind the neighbours) reflect some of the heat.

If anyone has any tips they'd like to share please do! :)
 
Good idea LHIS.

I am a recent (18 months) dog owner after many years without, so definitely not an expert. I read an upsetting story the other day about a dog going for a walk with his owners, overheating and dying. You know not to leave them in hot cars but the point is that they cannot necessarily cope with the same heat that a human being can - we have a lot more opportunity to cool down through sweating than they do.

Today my daughter and I went to tesco, and I stayed in the car with the dog - in the shade, windows open, but I just wanted to be sure she was ok.

I have also noticed she is drinking lots more at the moment, so keep offering her water in her favourite forms (the horse trough and the hose!) as even though she always has water in her bowl she prefers more exotic offerings.

I have seen advice to take ice water and a towel for the dog to lie on if it overheats but the best advice seems to be to leave them at home with lots of water and ventilation if you have any concerns.

Interested to see what the experts say.
 
I was heartbroken to hear of the poor boxer dog who died whilst his owners shopped for four hours in Bristol Ikea - honestly, WHAT IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE?!

I always walk early in a morning and late at night and try to keep them out of the sun and on the cool kitchen floors as long as possible. I will let them wonder out and they seem to almost understand why midday walks aren't great in hot temperatures.

If you are walking in the heat take water with you and also avoid any Tarmac/concrete so not to blister paws - they will usually carry on regardless until the damage is done.

I lay wet towels on the floor for them to lay on, fill a kiddy pool up and often have the sprinkler on. When it's too hot for that (scorches lawn in midday heat) I will just keep hosing them down.

If I'm leaving them in the kennel (outdoor run with shade and old brick cold store) will fill two or three washing up bowls and not leave them longer than a couple of hours.

I also freeze gravy lollies for them - not sure whether that is advised but they love them.
 
My little one has an equafleece t shirt - I dunk that in cold water, wring out and put it on him, that seems to keep him cool. he also has a frozen kong. He refuses to sit still so he is panting a lot, but he's daft. The older one lies on our slate floor and keeps to the shade so he's been a lot happier. I have tried to keep the house as cool as possible with the curtains closed etc, and they have a free run where usually I keep them in the dining room.
 
Ooh, gravy lollies sounds good RTE - might try that! Is that real gravy or just the bisto variety though?!

My dog currently gets tied to a tree each day as we have builders working on the house and I think its nicer for him to be outside with company than shut in by himself (he still gets taken out by the dog walker every day). He's tied on a training line thats 10m long and well within reach of our pond if he got desperate! The builders make sure his water is topped up etc.

Looking forward to making gravy ice cubes this evening! I'm also going to make pimms fruit ice cubes for the weekend, just need to make sure I don't mix them up lol :D
 
I've seen those cooling vests - how long do they last for? I assume you couldn't leave one on your dog whilst you're out at work, for example?

I decided against putting Ruby in her outside kennel today. Though it is very large and has a shaded area, it will have the sun on it during the afternoon when the temperature I imagine will be at it's highest. As it has a dark felt roof it will get really warm and my husband said when he got her out yesterday she was very fed up and lethargic.

Instead I've left her in our kitchen, which is north facing and the coolest room in the house. I've shut the blinds and put her bed near the door to the garage, which has a cool draft. I also soaked a towel and left that on the tiles for her to sit on if she wants, and 3 big bowls of water.
 
stencilface said:
Ooh, gravy lollies sounds good RTE - might try that! Is that real gravy or just the bisto variety though?!

Looking forward to making gravy ice cubes this evening! I'm also going to make pimms fruit ice cubes for the weekend, just need to make sure I don't mix them up lol :D
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Well I made them with meat gravy last night but only because I had some left over - I water it down and pit bits of chicken/carrots etc in there too. You can use bisto or allsorts I suppose!

I use old yoghurt pots to freeze them in so I don't get confused - learnt the hard way as last summer I used those ice lolly moulds and my OH started one thinking it was cola...!
 
My dog is at home this morning, blinds closed, plenty of water, my house is very cool downstairs anyway so ideal.
She will be going to work with my partner this afternoon as she normally goes all day, she finds a spot in the shade and has a kip, last night I made some ice blocks for her using chicken stock, and popped in some gravy bones and treats so he will take that with her this afternoon to cool her down and keep her occupied for a bit!
 
I hadn't thought of making little ice pops for my dog, but it's definitely something I'm going to try! :)

Sadly neither my husband or I could bring her with us, he wouldn't be able to sneak her past security at work, and I work in a shared office building with very thin walls. The sound of other people slamming doors and talking would make her bark and we'd be rumbled :(
 
A friend said to me about doing the ice pops yesterday, I couldn't believe I hadn't thought of it and with is supposedly being the hottest day of the year so far today I figured it was perfect time to test them out!
I just done them in the plastic tubs you get when you get a Chinese takeaway :)
 
To be honest I don't do anything different with the current two, when it's hot, as they are both sun worshippers (Button especially) and seem to take great delight in the fact that it's warm and sunny for a change. They both like to lie flat out soaking up the sun but will take off into the shade, or indoors, when they get too warm. They're both predominantly white, which I think helps a lot but that's just guess work.

We still walk as normal but we walk in woodland, so it's usually shaded and we probably don't go as far but that's more to do with me getting hot and bothered first, rather than them. They're as fit as fleas and don't really seem to notice.

I have had a few dogs (over the years) that struggled more with the heat. One in particular (Benji), who actually used to get more grumpy than usual if he was too hot, so I always had the paddling pool permanently filled in the Summer and he absolutely adored it!!

Benji in HIS pool

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Walking early morning or late pm. I try not to walk dogs in temperature much above 20 as being black coated dogs they do feel the heat. In the house I keep curtains drawn fan on and window open but locked.
J have the swamp cooler coats if we are out at a show or similar event. Although these look thick they are the only ones I have used that will cool a dog down, most others keep them cool but if they have got hot Wong actually cool them. The swamp cooler made by ruff wear is expensive but has been worth every penny. They just need activating by soaking in water so I carry a 5litre can of water in my vehicle.
I don't give the dogs anything iced to eat of drink due to the increase risk of bloat.
 
I have been walking early morning. My dog hates water so any thought of paddling pools or cooling hoses are out. He has a very thick border collie coat and I am wondering if it could be clipped ? Never seen a collie with a haircut
 
I read whilst doing some googling last night that owners should resist clipping long haired dogs in a bid to keep them cool as it can have the opposite effect. I think it was on Cesar Milan's website.
 
I use old Chinese tubs and make ice blocks, add sardines or tuna ( anything really ) freeze them with water or I tiny bit of gravy juice. They love it I have a load in the freezer ready to throw down for them. Also I have a paddling pool outside and a really wet towel in the shade for them to take the self on.
 
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Here's Ruby, taken this morning, looking thoroughly fed up with being a hot dog ;)

I have plenty of chinese takeaway tubs knocking about so I'll be making some little doggy ice blocks for her this evening :)
 
Just popped home and Poppy went out for a wee and then shot straight back indoors to the nice cool living room and laid down spread out! Took that as she is finding it far too hot outside so told OH to leave her at home this afternoon.
The ice lolly went down well though. I think I may have put too much oxo in so only left her with it for 10 minutes, will do a more watered down one later..
Poppy%2020.jpeg
 
I am not a fan of the cool coats, especially those that need frequent wetting to keep them cool. We stopped putting wet towels on horses years ago as it was proved that they just kept the heat in rather than disperse it, so I work on the same theory with my dogs.

I use cool mats and wet towels for the dogs to lie on, keep them in the shade and make sure they have access to fresh cold water.
 
Ours get walked before 730am anyway so thats fine. If it stays as hot as today they wont go out again but from 1pm the back and patio doors are open so they wander in and out at leisure. Normally they start to get a bit restless if they havent had a second walk before evening but yesterday they absolutely werent interested. My ground floor is tiled throughout, we have ceiling fans (and a floor standing one as well at the moment). Water bowls inside and out. The 2 springers are trimmed all year round, the little jrt is rough but fine coated so he doesnt need it. We tried a paddling pool last year but even the water loving springers ignored it, I thought it was a brilliant idea! Its just common sense isnt it, they cant take their fur off like we can so dragging them out and about when its this warm cant be a good thing to do :(
 
Penny Less said:
I have been walking early morning. My dog hates water so any thought of paddling pools or cooling hoses are out. He has a very thick border collie coat and I am wondering if it could be clipped ? Never seen a collie with a haircut
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I have a border collie with a very thick coat. I normally completely shave his under belly very short. That way he can cool down a bit, and he will go and lay on a cold floor to cool down even quicker. When it is really hot then I will put down a wet towel and he goes to lie on it. My collie also hates water. So I just do a short walk early morning, late evening, not too much running around and clip his belly.

Re: the frozen doggy ice pops, I have used the chinese take away tins with tuna and the tuna water and frozen, also their usual dog food can be frozen, dry food can be soaked and then frozen, kongs are good etc.
 
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0310Star said:
The ice lolly went down well though. I think I may have put too much oxo in so only left her with it for 10 minutes, will do a more watered down one later..
Poppy%2020.jpeg
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Stock cubes contain far too much salt for dogs....and that is regardless of how watered down you make the solution. Make the stock by boiling up a chicken carcass or lamb bones, otherwise flavour the lollies with fish as suggested above. :)
 
Just seen a clip on the telly about people on the beach in the heatwave with a poor dog sheltering behind a deckchair. ? I expect there will be many cases of people leaving their dogs to cook in the car too
 
RunToEarth said:
I also freeze gravy lollies for them - not sure whether that is advised but they love them.
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Just make sure you use very low salt. I reckon you could soak then liquidise kibble to freeze. Frozen kongs are fab.

My lot were taken to the river, it's about 100 yards from car to water and they're straight in. Big dog is lying on the tiles, youngsters are on their beds, although a ear had to be chucked off my knee, he's ridiculous!
 
gunnergundog said:
Stock cubes contain far too much salt for dogs....and that is regardless of how watered down you make the solution. Make the stock by boiling up a chicken carcass or lamb bones, otherwise flavour the lollies with fish as suggested above. :)
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I thought this so alternated to a frozen tin of tuna today :)
 
There's quite a few suggestions for tuna and fish - I've never given Ruby fish before (mainly because I'm vegetarian and the smell of fish especially makes me feel quite ill - a job for the husband I think!). I assume it's fine for dogs and shouldn't cause her any tummy issues?
 
gunnergundog said:
Stock cubes contain far too much salt for dogs....and that is regardless of how watered down you make the solution. Make the stock by boiling up a chicken carcass or lamb bones, otherwise flavour the lollies with fish as suggested above. :)
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Bisto too, most human processed foods are really not good for them. Real frozen stock and veg would be good.
Our young lab is like a pogo stick this morning having not had a proper walk yesterday...she makes me feel tired!
 
We are at 32c here and predicted 40 c at weekend...mine had to miss their walks last night,as things didn't cool down at all.
they sleep on tiled floors,in front of a huge fan..early morning walks are fine up to 8. 30.... We use the malls a lot to walk them ,but they do miss the fields.
I can't wait for autumn!
 
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