Keeping your dogs cool during summer - Updated on April 25th,2010
** Updated area in red. I have added some more pictures,too.
These days,it has been so hot and soon,you would recognize your dogs start panting hard even just for potty break in the yard. If you have read previous entry titled "Do dogs sweat?" already,you would know that dogs don't sweat like humans do. Dogs have furs on body, and if they walk in hot summer days,it is kind of like you are walking with heavy winter coat. In addition to that, they cannot sweat like human to get body temperature control. All they can do to keep temperature control is to pant but their tongue does not have sweat grands so,it is not really like sweating. They can sweat from paw pads,but not much they can do to control their body temperature,and not as good as humans do.
Here are some ideas you can help them keep cool during the summer season.
1>Choose the cooler time for walking.Avoid going for walk when it is hot.
If your dogs start panting a lot. Find a shady area near you and rest a little.
2>After walk or play outside at cooler time,you can give them frozen yogurt cheese
(recipe is on previous entry titled "Pill pockets")
Frozen yogurt cheese treats
When I back home from walk, I give Palette one frozen yogurt cheese cube as cool down treats.I also give one frozen Yogurt cheese cube after bathing.
Or, if you had time to make them, you can also make frozen treats with mashed/pureed vegetable. Bellow is frozen pumpkin treat. Pumpkin is steamed over goat broth (simply water with one goat rib ), mashed, put into ice cube tray to freeze. I did not use all the pumpkin I got to make dishes for human, and I decided to share with Palette.
Frozen goat broth flavored pumpkin treats
3>Provide cool place.
I got her cool bed. It is k9 version of water bed if you will. Unlike water bed for human, the bed itself is not wavy at all. You pour gallons of water in the bed and water inside the bed keeps at room temperature.Room temperature water is still cooler than dog's body temperature,it helps them cool down faster and better.
I actually tried 2 version of cool bed. One I used to have looked ok.It had texture on surface, not smooth surface like the one I have now.The cool bed's edge was sawed and had about less than half inch spare all around. It lasted a couple of months, and started leaking from one side. When I prepare the bed, after gallons of water was poured into cool bed, I put it on large towel, place the cool bed, and covered it with large over-sized pillow cover. I do not know why it did not last long.
The one I have for Palette; the one you see in the pictures bellow is called " Canine cooler" and bed edge is sealed very well and not sawed. Long side edge has about 1 inch spare and short side edge has about half inch spare, and I have been keeping it for at least 2 years, 3 years but no water leaking accident and, I am very happy about it. The green cover you find in the picture over the Canine cooler bed is actually the one sold for cool bed, called "Cool cover fitted sheet". The sheet is much bigger than Canine cooler bed Palette has, but I can tucked it under the bed and size is not much of a problem.
The bed itself has very smooth texture so,if you did not use sheet over the bed, you can wipe it clean, but I prefer using cool bed cover because I can toss the bed cover into washing machine. I have 2 sheets so that I can put the new one over while other one is being washed. You can wash it as much as you like so, surface isalways being clean.
So, what is the Canine cooler bed look like under the sheet?? Take a look at a picture bellow.
Canine cooler bed that Palette adores.
To be able to see what it is like on the other side of the bed, I folded over a bit.
You see the red cap? You will open up the cap and pour the water in and knead the bed very good to get all air out from the bed. I usually place blanket or large towel under the bed. I once placed soft knit blanket under the cool bed but, one day, her name tag got caught with the blanket, and since then,I no longer use the soft knit blanket under the cool bed.
After cool cover fitted sheet is placed over Canine cooler bed..
Palette resting on cool bed after walk
After Palette takes a short nap on her cool bed, and touch her tummy,I feel my hands cool.
It is good tool for any dogs because the bed contacts with larger area of dog body and it helps them cool down much faster. It is better than letting them wear wet bandanna,which cool down just around neck rather than whole body. I know there is cooling vest on the market but, you need to choose the right size for your dogs, and it just wrap around neck to tummy area. So,I prefer cool bed which size is not much of a problem plus whole body can touch the cold area,and Palette can enjoy the cool bed any position she likes..
I spot her resting on cool bed a lot. Sometimes,she rest like superman style;both legs kicked out,sometimes,just one leg kick out. Especially summer time, she is hugging to this cool bed and,nap on this bed. This is one of her favorite items.
One thing you may want to teach your dog for this canine cooler bed is to chew treats on other bed. Sometimes, Palette brings her Antler bottom and try gnaw it while she is resting on her cool bed. I let her gnaw on it IF chew was on blanket or on towel not on bed because it could make weak spot by letting them use while chewing stuff on cool bed over and over again.
Since Antler bottom is on blanket,I let her gnaw on it..
Palette grabbed her Moo! Odor free 5" bully sticks ..and brought to her bed she can chew on..
chew,chew,chew..
Making sure nothing is left out. Sniff,sniff,sniff...
Now,Palette is tired...she is heading to....
Canine cooler bed....
Another thing to remember is to keep their nail short. You can read more on how I got Palette getting used to nail trimming in the previous entry titled "Bonding with your dogs while grooming: brushing teeth,clipping nail, brushing ".
My favorite nail clipper is Miller's with Orange handle. It clips nail nicely and feel good in hands.
But, I prefer Dremel to trim her nails now. Palette does much better with Dremel and it makes smooth edge on her nail. This is not the dremel made specifically for dogs.
<4>Provide cold water.
I usually keep her water bottle in fridge.So,her water is always cold. Some people may freeze water in tapper wear and feed it outside for fun.
Palette does not do good on getting too much of cold stuff. So,her frozen treats or anything cold is limited in amount or size. And,I don't put ice cube in cold water to make it cooler even more because it would cause Palette problem. She drinks cold water, can get frozen small size meal or treat but if she were fed big hunk of meal straight out from fridge or freezer,you would expect her to vomit in 6-8 hours,everything she had. It is not fun for her and for me and,I always make sure her meal is at room temperature and give her cold stuff in small size and amount. I wonder if dogs don't get brain freeze like human when they get too cold drink.
<5> I don't do this because my dog is not water dog, but you can provide kids' pool for them to play with their floatable toys.
After dogs play in pool,make sure you dry your dog thoroughly.
When outside is too hot to go for walk,you don't have to give up all fun activity you could have done outside. Inside the house is kept cool,and you can play inside the house in various way with your dogs.You do not have to make them being a couch potato all hot days.
Here is something you can do inside. These can be not only fun for you but also good to make your bond with your dog stronger.
<1> Find it game. Very fun game.Fun for kids too.
You can watch how Palette plays Find it game here.
<2>Fetch ball or Frisbee. You can do this inside too.
Good 15 minutes play make them want to have deep sleep later.You can watch how Palette plays Fetch ball here.
<3>Training.
It is not necessary be physical exercise but rather,mental exercise and it still is fun for them. Yummy treats and fun schooling time. What could be better! We have indoor Agility weave pole and, we like to play a lot with it.She loves it and now she can weave through without guides.She loves it so much that she turns around and weave walk back to the starting point. I am sure she will get disqualified if it were competition,but you can tell how much she loves weave pole.
After such an exciting day with you with all those activities,I am sure your dogs would sleep deep and dream about fun things they did with you. You can see how satisfied Palette is.
For those who wonder,yes,she IS sleeping. Sometimes,she sleeps with her eyes open.It is scary to find her sleep like this especially with smile. By the way,the bed you can see in this picture is ortho bed.It is called "micro suede orthopedic pillow bed". This pillow bed has egg crate foam in the bed and it is gentle for joint.She is not Arthritis but,I use it for her.This pillow bed is reversible and you can pick which side you want your dog to lay on.Cover is removable and machine-washable. She likes pillow bed and bolster bed because she can put her head on just like she put her head on our thigh. Sometimes, she sleeps upside down like on this picture.She really likes this bed that she never comes out right away even if I open up the crate door to out to stretch. She snuggles in there a little more and finally,comes out to stretch and start her day.
Lastly,please do not leave your dogs inside the car. Temperature in the car can go up very quickly and dangerous.
How do you keep your dogs cool during summer time?
Do you have any other ways you do for your dogs?
These days,it has been so hot and soon,you would recognize your dogs start panting hard even just for potty break in the yard. If you have read previous entry titled "Do dogs sweat?" already,you would know that dogs don't sweat like humans do. Dogs have furs on body, and if they walk in hot summer days,it is kind of like you are walking with heavy winter coat. In addition to that, they cannot sweat like human to get body temperature control. All they can do to keep temperature control is to pant but their tongue does not have sweat grands so,it is not really like sweating. They can sweat from paw pads,but not much they can do to control their body temperature,and not as good as humans do.
Here are some ideas you can help them keep cool during the summer season.
1>Choose the cooler time for walking.Avoid going for walk when it is hot.
If your dogs start panting a lot. Find a shady area near you and rest a little.
2>After walk or play outside at cooler time,you can give them frozen yogurt cheese
(recipe is on previous entry titled "Pill pockets")
Frozen yogurt cheese treats
When I back home from walk, I give Palette one frozen yogurt cheese cube as cool down treats.I also give one frozen Yogurt cheese cube after bathing.
Or, if you had time to make them, you can also make frozen treats with mashed/pureed vegetable. Bellow is frozen pumpkin treat. Pumpkin is steamed over goat broth (simply water with one goat rib ), mashed, put into ice cube tray to freeze. I did not use all the pumpkin I got to make dishes for human, and I decided to share with Palette.
Frozen goat broth flavored pumpkin treats
3>Provide cool place.
I got her cool bed. It is k9 version of water bed if you will. Unlike water bed for human, the bed itself is not wavy at all. You pour gallons of water in the bed and water inside the bed keeps at room temperature.Room temperature water is still cooler than dog's body temperature,it helps them cool down faster and better.
I actually tried 2 version of cool bed. One I used to have looked ok.It had texture on surface, not smooth surface like the one I have now.The cool bed's edge was sawed and had about less than half inch spare all around. It lasted a couple of months, and started leaking from one side. When I prepare the bed, after gallons of water was poured into cool bed, I put it on large towel, place the cool bed, and covered it with large over-sized pillow cover. I do not know why it did not last long.
The one I have for Palette; the one you see in the pictures bellow is called " Canine cooler" and bed edge is sealed very well and not sawed. Long side edge has about 1 inch spare and short side edge has about half inch spare, and I have been keeping it for at least 2 years, 3 years but no water leaking accident and, I am very happy about it. The green cover you find in the picture over the Canine cooler bed is actually the one sold for cool bed, called "Cool cover fitted sheet". The sheet is much bigger than Canine cooler bed Palette has, but I can tucked it under the bed and size is not much of a problem.
The bed itself has very smooth texture so,if you did not use sheet over the bed, you can wipe it clean, but I prefer using cool bed cover because I can toss the bed cover into washing machine. I have 2 sheets so that I can put the new one over while other one is being washed. You can wash it as much as you like so, surface isalways being clean.
So, what is the Canine cooler bed look like under the sheet?? Take a look at a picture bellow.
Canine cooler bed that Palette adores.
To be able to see what it is like on the other side of the bed, I folded over a bit.
You see the red cap? You will open up the cap and pour the water in and knead the bed very good to get all air out from the bed. I usually place blanket or large towel under the bed. I once placed soft knit blanket under the cool bed but, one day, her name tag got caught with the blanket, and since then,I no longer use the soft knit blanket under the cool bed.
After cool cover fitted sheet is placed over Canine cooler bed..
Palette resting on cool bed after walk
After Palette takes a short nap on her cool bed, and touch her tummy,I feel my hands cool.
It is good tool for any dogs because the bed contacts with larger area of dog body and it helps them cool down much faster. It is better than letting them wear wet bandanna,which cool down just around neck rather than whole body. I know there is cooling vest on the market but, you need to choose the right size for your dogs, and it just wrap around neck to tummy area. So,I prefer cool bed which size is not much of a problem plus whole body can touch the cold area,and Palette can enjoy the cool bed any position she likes..
I spot her resting on cool bed a lot. Sometimes,she rest like superman style;both legs kicked out,sometimes,just one leg kick out. Especially summer time, she is hugging to this cool bed and,nap on this bed. This is one of her favorite items.
One thing you may want to teach your dog for this canine cooler bed is to chew treats on other bed. Sometimes, Palette brings her Antler bottom and try gnaw it while she is resting on her cool bed. I let her gnaw on it IF chew was on blanket or on towel not on bed because it could make weak spot by letting them use while chewing stuff on cool bed over and over again.
Since Antler bottom is on blanket,I let her gnaw on it..
Palette grabbed her Moo! Odor free 5" bully sticks ..and brought to her bed she can chew on..
chew,chew,chew..
Making sure nothing is left out. Sniff,sniff,sniff...
Now,Palette is tired...she is heading to....
Canine cooler bed....
Another thing to remember is to keep their nail short. You can read more on how I got Palette getting used to nail trimming in the previous entry titled "Bonding with your dogs while grooming: brushing teeth,clipping nail, brushing ".
My favorite nail clipper is Miller's with Orange handle. It clips nail nicely and feel good in hands.
But, I prefer Dremel to trim her nails now. Palette does much better with Dremel and it makes smooth edge on her nail. This is not the dremel made specifically for dogs.
<4>Provide cold water.
I usually keep her water bottle in fridge.So,her water is always cold. Some people may freeze water in tapper wear and feed it outside for fun.
Palette does not do good on getting too much of cold stuff. So,her frozen treats or anything cold is limited in amount or size. And,I don't put ice cube in cold water to make it cooler even more because it would cause Palette problem. She drinks cold water, can get frozen small size meal or treat but if she were fed big hunk of meal straight out from fridge or freezer,you would expect her to vomit in 6-8 hours,everything she had. It is not fun for her and for me and,I always make sure her meal is at room temperature and give her cold stuff in small size and amount. I wonder if dogs don't get brain freeze like human when they get too cold drink.
<5> I don't do this because my dog is not water dog, but you can provide kids' pool for them to play with their floatable toys.
After dogs play in pool,make sure you dry your dog thoroughly.
When outside is too hot to go for walk,you don't have to give up all fun activity you could have done outside. Inside the house is kept cool,and you can play inside the house in various way with your dogs.You do not have to make them being a couch potato all hot days.
Here is something you can do inside. These can be not only fun for you but also good to make your bond with your dog stronger.
<1> Find it game. Very fun game.Fun for kids too.
You can watch how Palette plays Find it game here.
<2>Fetch ball or Frisbee. You can do this inside too.
Good 15 minutes play make them want to have deep sleep later.You can watch how Palette plays Fetch ball here.
<3>Training.
It is not necessary be physical exercise but rather,mental exercise and it still is fun for them. Yummy treats and fun schooling time. What could be better! We have indoor Agility weave pole and, we like to play a lot with it.She loves it and now she can weave through without guides.She loves it so much that she turns around and weave walk back to the starting point. I am sure she will get disqualified if it were competition,but you can tell how much she loves weave pole.
After such an exciting day with you with all those activities,I am sure your dogs would sleep deep and dream about fun things they did with you. You can see how satisfied Palette is.
For those who wonder,yes,she IS sleeping. Sometimes,she sleeps with her eyes open.It is scary to find her sleep like this especially with smile. By the way,the bed you can see in this picture is ortho bed.It is called "micro suede orthopedic pillow bed". This pillow bed has egg crate foam in the bed and it is gentle for joint.She is not Arthritis but,I use it for her.This pillow bed is reversible and you can pick which side you want your dog to lay on.Cover is removable and machine-washable. She likes pillow bed and bolster bed because she can put her head on just like she put her head on our thigh. Sometimes, she sleeps upside down like on this picture.She really likes this bed that she never comes out right away even if I open up the crate door to out to stretch. She snuggles in there a little more and finally,comes out to stretch and start her day.
Lastly,please do not leave your dogs inside the car. Temperature in the car can go up very quickly and dangerous.
How do you keep your dogs cool during summer time?
Do you have any other ways you do for your dogs?
Posted by yassy at 4/25/2010 11:19 AM 
Categories: Miscellaneous (dogs)
Tags: dogs yogurt cheese cool bed summer
Categories: Miscellaneous (dogs)
Tags: dogs yogurt cheese cool bed summer
I love reading the interesting info you always present! I'd thought about a "water bed" for the dogs to keep them cooler, but had never seen that they already make them! I'll have to check them out and see how much they cost.
We DO have a small swimming pool that we keep a couple of inches of water in when it gets hot so that they can use that cool off in. The pups were too young last year until it got a bit cold for it, but the rain filled it a bit and then it froze and turned to ice and they would jump in and try to chew it.
I know they like water, and will probably love playing in it this year. We usually have some fans near the floor, too when it is really hot (we don't have air conditioning, but use "swamp coolers" in this area usually) and the older ones tend to lay on their backs in front of the fans.
If the temps get up over 105 for more than a couple of days, I will be sure to wet the dogs, as well as the horses, down a time or two during the day. This area is desert, so it does get up there... even up to 120 degrees sometimes! It's not uncommon to be over 105 for a week or two at a time.
Those frozen treat also sound good, and I am going to backtrack and get the recipe for the yogurt cheese one. I think I've already got the pumpkin one.
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Our stumpy little Corgi "Palette" loves her cool bed as you see in the entry. She spends on it a lot during summer and after exercise such as playing fetch ball/Frisbee or walking etc. It seems cool her down much faster than she naturally cool herself down just be near the vent panting.
I know there are couple of cooling products for dogs such as cooling bandanna which you suppose to soak them with water and let them wear, and cooling jacket which soak with water and let them wear. Both I have never tried personally,but as I understand it, both seem to be using the concept of water evaporation, and I am not so sure what are the difference between you soak the regular towel into water a while and put those around dog's neck or put on their body. I personally prefer the canine cooler bed because Palette can lay down however position she prefer and whole body can contact with cool spots not just one spot and bed never get dried out,always be cooler than dogs' body temperature. Previous brand I have tried had water leaking accident within a year but with canine cooler bed, no water leaking accident yet and, I am happy with it.What I like most is the fact the user; Palette, loves the canine cooler bed.
This summer, we have tried kiddy pool for Palette just to see if she likes it. She does not mind to be bathed but apparently,she is not a water dog
And as you already know, other than cool bed, she gets cool down frozen treats after walkie and it is another favorite of hers. She waits in front of freezer door when she knows she is entitled to get one after walkie etc.
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