As the mercury rises, I think it’s time to look at 5 ways to cool a hot dog in the heat of summer.
It doesn’t seem that long ago, in the dead of winter, that we were wishing for warmer summer days. And now that they have arrived, we catch ourselves wishing for the cooler months of winter.
Because on days like today, when the temperature in the shade is in the late 70s (Fahrenheit) you realize that it’s easier to warm up in a cold environment than to cool down in a hot one.
It’s on days like today that people stay indoors with the air conditioning pumping out cold air and only going out in the cool of the evening to take their dogs for exercise.
So if you think it’s a hot day, take a moment to think about and check on your pets. They will be finding it hot and uncomfortable as well.
5 Ways to Keep Your Dog Cool Inside
Bowls of Fresh, Clean Water
First up is something you probably have already and that is a water bowl with fresh clean water. During hot weather, or indeed in hot climate areas, you may want to have more than one bowl.
I feed my dog in the laundry, so he has a water bowl in there alongside his food bowl, and I put another water bowl outside in the shade so he has choices.
What we often forget is how “Off” and warm water can get when sitting in hot air for hours on end. We probably wouldn’t enjoy it, so what expect our dogs to drink it.
In hot weather, refresh your dog’s water bowls every few hours and cool the water with a few ice cubes – my dogs love crunching on ice cubes, best done outside unless you have a tiled floor, and remember to mop up 🙂
Which is a nice segway into tip number two
But before we get into that, there is one last thing you might want to consider and that’s a dog drinking fountain (from Amazon). Dog and cat drinking fountains can be free-standing or plumbed in – which would be my choice in my next house.
Freezer Treats
In addition to adding ice cubes, another treat my dogs love is what I call Freezer Treats. Freezer treats can be any flavored liquid that the dog would drink. For example, watered-down chicken or beef broth, or leftover gravy.
Simply pour the flavored liquid into ice an ice tray, Silicone Molds, or popsicle maker. I prefer the Dog and Bone Silicone Molds (from Amazon) because there is no chance a visitor mistaking the ice cubes or popsicles as fit for human consumption.
Another advantage of the Dog and Bone Silicone Molds is that I also use them for baking homemade dog treats.
Splash Pool
If you don’t have an inground pool, or a child’s pool, that your dog can cool off in then I suggest that you invest in a doggie swimming pool.
A portable dog swimming pool provides your dog with a safe and cozy place to play and cool down. If you don’t have a shady place to put the pool then you should also consider a sun umbrella to provide shade while your dog cools off.
If you ask me how to cool down a dog fast, I’d say put them into a pool of water and give them a Freezer Treat or two to chew on – although, if it’s anything more than frozen water you may not want to do this while they are in the pool.
And hey, there is nothing stopping you, except your dog, from getting in and cooling off yourself 🙂
So you might be wondering does spraying a dog with water cool them down? Well, it depends. But in my experience, in hot humid weather, all it does is make the dog’s fur damp. It does not do much to drop the overall body temperature.
So cooling a dog down by spraying it with water, might work, but it will depend on the type of dog, the temperature, and what else you can do at the same time to cool the dog.
Cooling Mat For Dogs
The coolest places in our house are the laundry, bathroom, and kitchen and during the hot summer months, that is where we will often find our dog hanging out. Coincidently, those are the only rooms in our house with tile floors.
But it is not always convenient to have him underfoot in the kitchen or bathroom, so we invested in a Cooling Mat For Dogs (from Amazon) and he loves it. In fact, he loves it too much in my opinion. I say that because when it gets too hot for him, he’ll sit on the mat and bark until someone turns it on.
He hasn’t quite caught on that it takes a few minutes to start cooling down, so we need to distract him while it does.
Cooling Mat for Dogs from Amazon
Cooling mats are one of the best ways how to cool down a dog at night. And in extreme temperatures combined with a fan, it works for humans and dogs alike.
Air Vents and Fans
My mother-in-law has floor ducted air conditioning in her new apartment and guesses where you will find her Cavalier King Charles Spaniel when the temperatures rise above 80 degrees. Yep, you guessed it, right on top of the air conditioning grill.
But because this has a tendency to block the airflow it’s probably not a good idea -it might be okay but no one has been able to confirm this or not. So we invested in a couple of cooling fans.
For his crate, we got a crate cooling fan that keeps him cool in hot, muggy weather and the great thing about this crate cooling fan is that it goes where his crate goes. So if he needs to go anywhere in the car we know he is not going to get too hot.
We also got a small free-standing fan that everyone gets to enjoy.
Endnote:
So there we have it, 5 Ways How to Cool a Hot Dog in hot weather.
I have been asked in the past how to cool down a dog without ac, and as you can see, four of the five ways listed above do not use air conditioning.
And remember, if you are hot then your dog probably is too. He just can’t always let you know.