Hot Hot Hot... how do ya keep em cool

[Summer Magic]

It sure has been hot the last few days, seems we were just complaining about it being too cold! Well, I guess ya just can't win. But I do feel for my babies wearing their fur jammies all of the time. I like to drop ice cubes in Magic's water several times a day so she has a nice cold drink when she wants one. She's not a water dog so I can't hose her down like my daughter does her horses. So to my question how do you keep your dog cool on these blistering humid days?

[Vette]

Do you have any kiddie pools? if not perhaps you can buy
one and fill it up with water and encourage your dogs to get
in it. a wet dog makes for a cool dog. :D

i cheat.. i give my dog a fur cut during the hotter months. in fact i just gave him one a couple days ago. but i dont recommend trimming you breed of dog though. could sunburn really easily.

perhaps you can ask Shelteez or SunKissedGoldens for any recommendations.
as they both have long haired breeds :)

[Bigyummydog]

INSIDE with the A/C, MAXIMUS is a big weinnie when it comes to the heat. (but we don't wanna spread that around) I'm looking to get him a pool. Mostly we go to the creek, when it's not dried up. I did put ice cubes in his water before, and he just barked at them.

I don't know, water is all I can think of.

[aly]

Mine just stay inside with me. I put ice cubes in their water too. When we go outside, I'll wet them down (they don't necessarily like being hosed down, but like the feeling afterward) and/or give them Frosty Paws or doggy ice pops as a treat.

[IRescue452]

Frosty paws, frozen peanut butter in a kong, and a good spraying down when outside (mine don't like that either but it feels good afterward)

[lizbud]

My two just stay inside during the hottest part of the day. It's
been in the 90's & very humid here for days so I take them for
their walks early in the morning. When it's this hot, Smokey & Maggie want to come into the A/C till sundown.

[Shelteez2]

I keep my dogs brushed out and I shave their bellies...

They like to lie in the sun...crazy beasts...lol

It is true what they say about the double coat helping to insulate from the heat though.... there are times when my dogs have been laying out in the sun in +30C weather and they come inside and I can hardly stand to touch them, their hair is so hot...BUT if I push my fingers through the coat their skin is cool.

I also make sure they have lots of water available and shade. Also we don't do anything strenuous during the hottest part of the day.

[anna_66]

A new POOL! (http://petoftheday.com/talk/showthread.php?s=&threadid=81103)
That and they stay inside in the ac most of the day.

[jennifert9]

What DO I do or what SHOULD I do?!?! What I DO is leave the AC on all day for Duncan while I am at work. Then when I get home, I immediately turn off the AC (I don't really like AC unless it's SUPER hot, like high 90s+ where you can't even breath without sweating, just my personal preference) I walk Duncan to "do his duty" but then we go back inside the cool house and go for a longer walk later in the evening, just before dark. On the weekends and weeknights (if I can) I take Duncan to a local park/reservation and let him swim in the creek for a few hours. Unlike MOST people, I let him go in before AND after our walk so he stays cool the whole time and the walk afterwards to dry him off doesn't defeat the purpose of coming to the creek in the first place...I know, I'm a dork but I love my dog more than I love a clean backseat I guess!!;) :D

(I think I will get a pool like Anna's when we move though!! Or just let him in the complex swimming pool when noone is looking!! ;))

[NoahsMommy]

Try this site:
http://www.doggonegood.com/index.cfm and type in "Cooling" in the search box.

They have a lot of really great products for cooling your pets down in the hot weather.

:)

[BitsyNaceyDog]

My dogs only stay outside for a couple minutes at a time. They go potty and then right back into the house. In the morning or evening if it's not too hot we'll stay outside a little longer and play.


Originally posted by jennifert9
What DO I do or what SHOULD I do?!?! What I DO is leave the AC on all day for Duncan while I am at work.

You have a/c? It's been 10 years since I lived in NY, but when I did I didn't know a single person who had a/c in there house.

[jennifert9]

You have a/c? It's been 10 years since I lived in NY, but when I did I didn't know a single person who had a/c in there house.

You know it's funny you say that because, where I'm from, Syracuse, NY, very few people DO have AC. Growing up we had one air conditioner in the kitchen that we rarely used....And none of my apartments ever had AC in them.
But I live in Jersey now and the place we rented came with AC. My parents in NY both have central air in their new houses but I have NEVER seen them use it. It costs so darn much to heat the houses in the winter that noone can afford the AC come summer!! ;)
Also, I know that where I am from, there are lots of trees and parks and lakes and rivers and county pools and such that when it is so hot outside, there are plenty of places around to cool off whereas here in Jersey, there is nothing....I was asking some people if there was a lake or a river around that was "recreational" and they laughed at me. They said the only water around is the ocean about 2 hours away with traffic.

[cyber-sibes]

Mine stay outdoors, but when it gets unbearable, I bring them in for long naps in the ac. They don't really seem to mind the heat, they just dig pits in the shade and stay there. I wait till evening to take them out to the dogpark or for walks, though. Another thing I do is to freeze water in bigger containers (leftover plastic bins), so I can put a big chunck of ice floating in their water bucket. (If I use ice cubes, Speedo likes to splash out the water trying to get the cubes!) I offer them ice to crunch on, but only Speedo takes them. Amazingly, that husky double coat helps keep them cool in summer. They don't much like water, but Star gets "brave" at the dogpark and last year she would stand in the dog park pool with all 4 paws in and grin like she was really proud of herself!

[lv4dogs]

They have some nice cooling products here too http://www.bodycooler.com/html/pets.html

The mats work pretty good.

The rest of my suggestions have already been mentioned. :)

[cubby31682]

I have a little kiddie pool, Gracie goes in it when she starts getting hot. She will not go in it if she is too hot though. Today we are going to go get an a/c unit for the animals. I am fine with the heat, but seeing my animals suffer with the heat is unbearable for me.

My cat is use to a/c and now he can't stand the heat, he cries all day long. :(

I also put ice cubes in everyones water dish, I used a mixing bowl and put water, apples, cheese, dog food, and peanut butter with more water in it and froze it overnite. When I leave for work today, that will be Gracie's treat. I hope it will last her a little while at least. I also make sure the fan is pointing right at her, as well as rub her down with a cold wet towel just to get her a little wet inside.

[LorraineO]

UYse a spray mist bottle on them every hour,, that helps to cool down too...

we have AC upstairs and downstairs in our place,, in fact,, the AC upstairs is in the dogs room,,,, they will be cool at night for sure!!

[mruffruff]

Our shelter uses soda bottles. Fill 3/4 to the top, cap it and freeze. Some of the dogs like to lay right next to the bottles.
No A/C for our shelter even in the HOT south.

[pnance]

When we didn't have A/C we'd give them ice cubes to munch on. We'd also wet them down when we were home (they were definately not a big fan of that, but they liked it afterwards). When we went to work, we'd take an empty 2 liter bottle fill it with water and freeze it overnight and put that in their water bowl. Ice cubes didn't work because Hunter likes to play with them and splashed all the water out of the bowl trying to get to them. Not only was it a big mess to come home to on my kitchen floor, but defeated the purpose of giving them water!:)

[beeniesmom]

Well, living in Florida I know what the heat is!
To keep Beenie cool (she has short hair but it's black - heats up in no time), I wet her head every so often when we are out and make sure she has plenty of cool water available. We just got back from a short walk and she seemed to be a little overheated. I just sprayed her with water (from a spray bottle) a little and she seemed to feel better right away. I don't know what I would do If I had a long haired dog. I'd probably shave it's belly as was said earlier in this thread.

[mruffruff]

The soda bottles are not for the water dishes, but to lay next to on the ground.

[Dixieland Dancer]

I do a variety of things. Kiddie pool like Anna's, Ice cubes and cool treats and regular squirts on their underside with ice cold water if we are indoors. Of course I also keep them in the AC if it gets too warm out. Dixie doesn't mind the heat but Dusty hates to be hot. Even in winter he searches for cold spots. I want to get him one of those cooling mats but haven't gotten around to it yet.