The hot dog days of summer

[Sarah Bennett]

So, just out of curiosity, what does everyone do for their dogs during these hot days to keep them cool...specifically when you are not home. 

I work 8 hours a day, so Salvador is in his crate during that time.  I've put a fan next to his crate (I don't have air conditioning), cold water with ice cubes in it, give him some of his rubber toys that I've thrown in the freezer over night and shut all the curtains in my house to hopefully keep some of the suns heat out, but it is still hot in the house.  Any other suggestions?  I don't think he's suffering, but I know he's hot. 

When I get home from work, I try to spray him down with a hose, find him a pond/body of water to wade in, take him in the air conditioned car with me, give him frozen wet wash clothes and frozen diluted chicken broth.  But looking for some suggestions here. 

I won't lie though, having the heat zap him out, does make me being hot and feeling lazy a lot more bearable.  I couldn't imagine being hot, feeling lazy and having a super hyper dog that just wants to play to come home to!

Thanks!

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

I can't tell - is he shaved?  Keeping his coat really short would help too since dogs don't sweat.

You can also buy cooling mats that he can lie on - I found this one from a quick Amazon search:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Green-Pet-Shop-Cooling/dp/B0047WCCBW/ref=...

I don't know if he likes water, but if you sprayed him down before you left the evaporating water would help him be cool for  a while too.

[Sarah Bennett]

he's not shaven, but his fur is about 1.5 inches long right now...at the beginning of summer I had him cut to right about an inch in length.  I will look into the cooling pad... it just got really hot really suddenly here.  Thanks!

[Donna K & Quincy]

We normally don't get temps this high but yesterday we did. It was 108 degrees on our patio, I don't know how anyone can cope with that. Our temp at this time of year is usually in the low to mid 70's. We are lucky in that we have a pond nearby that is perfect for swimming and that's what we did. Quincy doesn't cope well with warm temps and anything over 65 and he's too warm. I usually take him to the pond for a dip before our walks and the wet coat works like his very own air conditioner, by the time we get home he is mostly dry. It does mean a lot of extra brushing but it's worth it.

Read more here: http://www.doodlekisses.com/profiles/blogs/feeling-hot-hot-hot#ixzz...

[Lori, Quincy & Frankie]

a big block of ice-make one with an old juice container or tupperware-in front of the fan will make the air cooler.

the weather is set to break here on LI with a storm on saturday.  hope it cools off for everyone! 

[Marnie, Stanlee's Mom]

The fan down low and the frozen milk/juice jug were going to be my suggestions.  Also, my dogs tend to sleep on tiled or wood flooring when it's hot so I have a fan available there as well.  I suggest putting the frozen jug on a cookie sheet to capture all of the condensation and not harm the floor and/or rugs. 

Wow....living in Florida it’s weird hearing people don't have air conditioning.  And Donna stated Quincy gets hot if the temp gets above 65°, that's like a month or two out of every year down here.  (But I do so love hearing about where other people live!!)

[Lori, Quincy & Frankie]

my guy sleep in the stall shower on the cold porcelain at least part of most nights-when I  remember to leave the door open! 

[F, Calla & Luca]

I've been keeping the doodles home in the AC. Even when I'm fine and it's 74 inside sometimes they pant. I just went to a meeting and the dogs could have come with me but I figured getting in and out of the hot car wasn't worth it for them. And normally I'd walk them before about a one hour trip home but that wasn't happening. At one point, riding on the hot highway my outside thermometer read 108--and it's humid. Ugh.

[Adina P]

I haven't done anything special.  When they haven't been out for a while, they actually ENJOY just laying right in a sunny spot on the grass for a bit.  When they come in they lay down more.  They also play and run outside without a problem.  I am more vigilant about making sure their indoor water dish is full, but beyond that they do fine.  We just have a window A/C in the main house and I turn that on when I'm hot.  Mine RUN from the hose and only drink from our kiddie pool (which is only full while the kids are playing outside).  So I'd have to wrestle them to wet them down.  I've heard it is MOST helpful to wet down their bellies (though I can't tell you a good source for this info) and paws for help in cooling.  Kind of makes sense since when they are hot they will stretch their bellies out on the grass to cool down from the cool dirt/grass/earth.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

It has been in the high 90s for days here.  We're only doing one walk and keeping it shorter than normal. The rest of the time they just do quick potty trips.  We try to get out as early as possible.  Murph hates the heat and really isn't that interested in walking.  We've been inside with the central air and playing lots of "indoor ball".  We put Murph on the treadmill in the basement where it's cool.  I'm hoping for a break in the heat wave over the weekend.

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

Can you believe it? We are in the middle of a heat wave in Ireland!!! It's been very hot for the past ten days and we expect another week at least. We don't have aircon here just electric fans. The boys have pretty much been indoors all during the day sleeping on the cool tiles and their bowl is full of iced water. I have been taking them out when it cools down a bit for short walks at about 10pm. Tomorrow I am sending them to day care where they have an outdoor space with a pool and hopefully they will enjoy that.

[Star and Goldie]

Are you able to get a window air conditioning unit or a stand up unit? You can get one under $100 or by a used one for pretty cheap. I personally think it's just too hot to keep a dog (or myself) in a house with no A/C when it is this hot... but then again they didn't have A/C's in the old days so I'm not sure...

I agree that the cooling pad is a very good idea.

[Cheryl and Finnegan]

My backyard feels like Death Valley about now ... over 100 and humid.  I'm keeping Finnegan home in the air conditioning, but he's still panting a lot - probably more from the stress of not being able to come along on the daily errands and no long walks in addition to the heat and humidity. The asphalt is just too hot so we're sticking to the yard and the meadow. Short outside breaks of about 10 minutes have been our limit. Even the evenings are thick with humidity. I've sprayed him down and that seems to help.  Your guy would probably like a cooling pad.