Dog Community

Keeping dogs cool on hot days?

Posted : 6/16/2012 6:51:05 AM

Here in Northeast Ohio the forecast is saying it will be in the 90s and humid most of next week. Ugh. But if this is hard for me to handle, how is it for my poor pooch? Zeke has long, black fur. Beautiful, but impractical for summer temps. My house heats up very quickly in the summer, and I don't even have a basement to hang out in. Does anyone have any good ideas for how to keep Zeke (and myself) cool? Thanks!

DougB

Posted : 6/16/2012 8:21:40 AM

Kiddie pool filled with water. My ESS gets a short haircut and lives on the sofa in the summer. My neighbors dog handles the heat by standing in my fish pond.

kpwlee

Posted : 6/16/2012 8:34:30 AM

there was another thread on cool coats - http://forum.dog.com/forums/t/117592.aspx

DougB
My neighbors dog handles the heat by standing in my fish pond.

bwa hahahaha - hopefully they aren't like Bugsy who would be catching and eating your fish :)

I hose my dog down before any activity in hot, humid weather - then hose him off afterward and he has a large kiddie pool which he stands in

He is pretty good about relaxing during the high heat hours - we do our exercise real early and then later in the evening

Jewlieee

Posted : 6/16/2012 9:03:21 AM

Yep. Get a child sized hard plastic pool. I have one dog who lays in it and the other 2 just splash around.

When your dog gets really hot, to cool it down, get the feet wet. That is one of the places where they release heat.

EZeke

Posted : 6/16/2012 10:18:24 AM

Thanks everyone. This is all kind of what I thought. I'll have to see if I can get a cheap kiddy pool; I'm on kind of a tight budget, but I shoud be able to swing that! Smile

oranges81

Posted : 6/16/2012 4:37:32 PM

I got one for 25$ at a local hardware store. And my big black dog LOVES it!

fuzzy_dogs_mom

Posted : 6/16/2012 5:44:38 PM

When it's hot (like today - it's 102 and rising) Max flops down in front of one of the floor fans.

Joyce

EZeke

Posted : 6/17/2012 10:44:30 AM

I found a way to keep Zeke cool be accident today. I was defrosting my freezer, which I had not done in ages (3 inches of ice buildup at least!), and Zeke was standing right beside me the whole time eating the ice chips that fell down. He figures anything that falls on the floor is fair game, and today was just a little odd, since it wasn't food. It's like he was thinking, "It's not got much flavor, but the crunch is nice, I think... yes, I like this crunchy thing!"

Liesje

Posted : 6/17/2012 3:21:37 PM

I have GSDs and Nikon is a show line so he has lots of coat and Pan is a full coated working line. I haven't used the cool coat but I'm not sure it would really work for their type of coat (I think they work better for dogs like Dobes, Weims, etc). Their coats also insulate them from heat so it's hard to rely on a piece of clothing or a mat to really penetrate. Outside I keep two kid pools filled and a bucket of clean drinking water (replaced several times a day). If I'm outside I usually wet down the patio and wet down some of the grass in the shade. Since Coke has even *more* coat than the GSDs (and long coat) I trim his belly and insides of his thighs basically to his skin. Inside I have some fans on the floor that they can lie in front of if they want. I think the main things are to make sure the dog always has access to shade and water. This weekend we were at the UKC Premier for three days straight and it was 90+ degrees, sunny, and we were parked in a giant black asphalt parking lot which just make it hotter. I have quite an elaborate setup for making shade in my van and keeping the dogs cool and ventilated but we all survived. We don't have AC in our house (well we do but it doesn't really work) but luckily we have a basement. Coke spends most days above 90 in the basement. At night if it's above 85 in the house I leave the bedroom door open so the dogs can sleep somewhere else if they want.

griffinej5

Posted : 6/17/2012 5:49:56 PM

Luke has a cooling coat. I'm probably also going to get some of these http://www.zentekclothing.com/relax-mat/ for our car crates. I have fans for the crates too. You could try setting a fan in front of a cool bowl of water. I usually freeze the water buckets too. The frozen water bucket plus the fans seems to really help.