Some hot weather is finally upon us!
After a long, cold winter, we’ve been looking forward to some t-shirt-wearing, sun-screen slopping, cold-drink-sipping time on the back deck. At long last, a few of these lazy, steamy days have arrived.
But just because we love this type of weather doesn’t mean that days like this are a top pick for our dogs. While Juno is fair game for hitting the great outdoors in virtually any type of weather, she’s not the greatest fan of the higher temperatures. She certainly charges outside with her usual gusto, but after a few minutes in temperatures higher than 24 C, she becomes a dragging, droopy, sluggish form of her typical self.
So, in view of oncoming high temperatures and (the northern hemisphere’s) summer season, we’ve put together a list of ideas for helping to keep dogs cool when it’s anything but outside.
17 Ways To Keep Your Dog Cool This Summer
(We’ll keep ’em brief – you’ve probably got some shade you’d like to get back to.)
1. Lots of fresh water to drink – inside, outside, on walks, in the car, everywhere
2. Regular brushing to help with the shedding process as the weather warms up
3. A tiled or non-carpeted floor to lie on
4. A cooler basement to hang out in
5. Ice cube snacks – ice cubes are a favourite snack for Juno, plus they’re fun (for dogs) to chase around a kitchen floor
6. Cool, wet towels to lie on – these are great for apartment balconies or backyards
7. Air conditioning – either in the house or pre-cooling your car before taking your dog for a ride. Cars are notoriously hot in the sun, and dangerous places for dogs to be, for any length of time.
8. Wipe-downs with cool towels or face cloths – another favourite for Juno, especially before bed on a hot night
9. A small fan for an in-house breeze
10. An open window at night when the temperatures drop – Juno loves sleeping under open windows when the cooler breezes are blowing in
11. Swimming – backyard pool, plastic doggy pool, local lake, rivers, streams – provided they’re safe, clean and suitable for swimming, many dogs love to swim
12. Sprinklers or hoses
13. Closing the blinds or curtains to minimize extra heat from direct sunlight
14. Going for shorter, more frequent walks
15. Relaxing in the cool grass or in the shade of a park
16. Walking on grass and in forests instead of on hot surfaces like concrete or asphalt. Not only is pavement hot on dog paws, but dogs are also susceptible to the extra heat reflecting off its surface – dogs are a lot closer to the ground than we are!
17. Staying aware of our dogs’ limits and being in tune with signs that they may need a break from the heat. Dogs don’t always know when to stop and they need us to tell them.
Prevention of over-heating is always a better option than dealing with a heat-related emergency like sunburn, heat stroke or heat exhaustion, sore paws, or dehydration.
We wish all dog lifestyle enthusiasts sunny, active, and healthy summers full of hot days and cool dogs!
(images via)
How do you keep your dogs cool in the summer? We’d love to hear your ideas.
Also, check out our follow-up post on hot weather, older dogs, and exercise.
And, as always, thanks for reading. We’re glad to have you with us.
Twitter: @LifeInDogLane @adamgemackenzie
Apologies, I meant Liebster!
Hey, no problem – we’ll take any award you’re kind enough to bestow upon us! Thanks again 🙂
Hi, I have nominated you for the Best Moment award. You may read more about it here – https://weliveinaflat.wordpress.com/2013/05/13/positive-reinforcement-doesnt-just-apply-to-dealing-with-dogs/ There is no obligation to accept, repost or pass it on if you are disinclined to do it. No pressure at all
I’m so paw-noured 😉 Thanks so much for thinking of us!
Very good advice. Over here, it’s getting into winter – I think today was probably the last day of beautiful weather we had, so I’m very jealous that it’s getting warm on your side of the world! 🙂 Australian summers can get really hot. Agree with the tips above – walking at cooler times, get a kiddie pool. The most important thing for us was to keep them indoors during the day, with us, until it cools down outside. If they absolutely have to be outside, they need to have access to heaps of water. We got these cheap ‘clam-shell’ pools from target, we filled one half with water and another with sand. So they had a cool place to dig into and water to play in.
No worries – our summer won’t last very long! What an awesome idea – we’re totally going to try that this summer! Thanks for the suggestion 🙂
We live in sub tropical Australia (so have just finished our Summer). A couple of things that I have found useful are to add ice to the drinking water when it is hot – it dissolves quickly, and is particularly good at cooling down after a hot walk. Another is to walk very early before it’s heated up or very late in the day (often after dark) when the weather & ground have cooled down. I know these sound basic, but you would be surprised at how many dogs I see being walked in the middle of the day looking absolutely flagged by the heat.
That’s a great point Elle! We didn’t mention that on the list, so thanks for bringing it up and sharing it here for our readers!
We need to get the kiddie pool out again. Hopefully it doesn’t have a hole in it; but at least they’re so cheap that we can just pick up a new one. It’s going to be 80 degrees tomorrow.
That’s the best thing about those pools – they’re so affordable, and worth their weight in spades when it comes to keeping our dogs cool! Hope you can all stay refreshed tomorrow with those temps!