Now it’s a little cooler!

TheresaW

TheresaW

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Aled seems to be really struggling today. We’ve had cloud cover all day, and although it feels cooler to me, it is very close/muggy. After doing the horses today, I got back in the car, and suddenly, the sweat was pouring off me. Tonight. Aled is panting a lot. Have tried laying a damp towel over him, and he tolerated it for about 5 mins, but is now having none of it. Plenty of fresh water down, back door and all widows open, anything else we can do? He is a 12.5yo Border Collie if it helps at all. Really hate seeing him like this.
 
Dont put wet towels over him, but put along his stomach & encourage him to lie on them. Also freeze 2 litre bottles of water & put beside him, these can help with cooling down, or put the frozen bottles in front of a fan & let the fan blow the cooler air at him. They over heat when towels on the top xx
 
Hoover greyhound is the same, he really doesn’t tolerate the heat well at all and worries me sometimes when he really seems to overheat. I have resorted at times to literally pouring cool water over him in the garden (which he doesn’t appreciate at all!) but if I’m honest it didn’t appear to make much difference

Generally I insist he stays indoors where it is much cooler, the windows and doors are always open to try and get a breeze through if there is any.

If you are on Facebook I can really recommend Dr David Martlin - he is brilliant, and responds to a lot of the myths about cooling dogs and horses! He knows his stuff, he worked on cooling horses at the Atlanta Olympics and a few other Olympic Games :)
 
Wet towels and cool water are good for the initial contact but then the body warms the towel or layer of water up and it becomes an insulator, trapping heat rather than cooling. When I was grooming at big events for the NZ team (name drop!) we were told that any water applied had to be scraped off immediately and fresh cold water applied and scraped off, to ensure that heat was transferred away from the body rather than trapping it. So I would say same for towels, they need to be on constant rotation replaced with another cold wet one within minutes rather than leaving one on even if it still feels cool to you.
 
Thanks guys. It’s very hot today, doors and windows all open, and he’s choosing to stay indoors. Have got some water bottles in the freezer in case he needs them later.
 
BBP said:
Wet towels and cool water are good for the initial contact but then the body warms the towel or layer of water up and it becomes an insulator, trapping heat rather than cooling. When I was grooming at big events for the NZ team (name drop!) we were told that any water applied had to be scraped off immediately and fresh cold water applied and scraped off, to ensure that heat was transferred away from the body rather than trapping it. So I would say same for towels, they need to be on constant rotation replaced with another cold wet one within minutes rather than leaving one on even if it still feels cool to you.
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Interestingly that has now been disproved - Dr Martlin has written about it recently on his FB page - it’s really good information on there :)
 
its hotter here now then it has been all summer. our outside thermometer is currently reading 31oC!!!

ETA my doggy has a sheepskin in to lie on in the coolest part of the house with a fan directed at the sheepskin. I pop some ice in a bowl for him before I go to work in the morning so that he has cool water all through the day.
 
its boiling here today car said 35 degrees about an hour ago I have bought a few fans and the dog puts herself infront of them if she is hot she is currently laying flat out in the shade by the back door.
 
It’s very hot again here today, but yesterday was cooler and he seemed to be struggling a bit more.

He’s a funny old boy. He won’t go in clean looking water, hates the hosepipe, but will go and wallow in the muddiest mud he can find. Unfortunately, there’s none of that about at the moment.

A cool mat might be worth try.
 
Lévrier;13810787 said:
Interestingly that has now been disproved - Dr Martlin has written about it recently on his FB page - it’s really good information on there :)
Click to expand...

As far as I can see on brief read he is saying the same thing as me, ok you don’t necessarily need to scrape the water off, but you do need a constant exchange, adding more water rather than just hosing or sponging off the once and then leaving that water on the skin. Do we had one person leading, 1 on each side chucking water on, the next one scraping off and then next one throwing more straight back on.

I think I’m reading it right?
 
Dog's lose heat via lungs as opposed to humans who sweat and do thermal control on their skin. they also lose a minimal amount from their paws but lungs are the main cooling organ. I don't like the cooling jackets etc tor this reason.Theory is they basically heat trap once they dry.
Generally in vet if we need to cool a dog down its iced/frozen water wrapped and placed inside the legs and arms on the major arteries. alcohol or cool water on paws and add a fan with or without a frozen water bottle in front of it to add a cool breeze ...and of course we have the advantage of the iv.
Living in oz where this heat is normal its all frozen water bottles-my girl cuddles them,cool matts for the older non destructive dogs-the ones you lie on a cool down are good. Fans are generally worshipped-cool water in front if the humidity isn't to bad, inside in shade and ideally aircon when it hits the higher 30s. Dogs are usually pretty good at figuring out wheres comfortable breeze and shade wise. Paddle pools in the gardens go down well-start with ice and watch them wallow chew and play as it melts.No walking during the day.night or morning only. Dont trust the dog to self limit exercise-they dont and heat stroke easily even on the beach and water etc if they are excited. Water at all times obviously as well.
I much prefer winter mid 20s!
 
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