As the heat starts to rise, you might be looking for ways to keep your dog cool during this hot summer season. Keeping your dog’s body temperature down is essential when trying to avoid overheating and even heatstrokes. In this post, we will be covering 7 different ways in which you can keep your dog cool during summer.
Before we really get into our list of cool things to do, I thought it would be a good idea to address some questions first before we jump straight in. These questions listed down below are probably a few of the most popular questions asked by dog owners today, so please take a quick glance at them before moving to our numbered list!
To Cut Or Not To Cut?
This might be a popular question for dog owners who have pets with long or shaggy hair, and the answer is probably not what you have expected. Before you make your choice, you need to know that loss of hair means decreased insulation during cold nights and decreased sun protection when outdoors.
In addition, you need to know the coat type of your dog since some dog fur takes years to grow back. Due to these reasons, the answer varies for different breeds of dogs, and if you need professional assistance, asking for a groomer’s advice might not be a bad idea!
Is Air Conditioning the Only Way to Drive Away Heat?
Thankfully, the answer is no. There are many alternatives to AC, which means you can save energy and money at the same time! First, you can open the windows and allow air circulation, and you can also provide cool shades and places for your dog to relax in.
In addition, you can use frozen treats and even water-filled fruits such as watermelon and even honeydew cantaloupes. Also, you can use water-filled pools and even cooling vests & mats along the way.
Different Ways to Keep Your Dog Cool During Summer
After quite an introduction, you are probably ready and eager to jump into our list that provides different methods to keep your dog cool during this hot season. You probably have heard some of them before, and if you did, please skip and continue on to our next section that is put into place.
1. Provide Plenty of Water / Shade
If you are into health or into any sort of sports, you are constantly being drilled this phrase, which is to stay hydrated. Drinking water is the best way to keep the body temperature down, and one of the ways to keep the water temperature even cooler is to add several cubes of ice with it.
Make sure to keep the water clean and cool, and be sure to keep it accessible at all times! Even when taking a walk outdoors, you might be going for a hike long ways from home. To prevent dehydration in cases like this, you can take a water bottle along with a collapsible dog bowl for your dog to drink from.
In addition to providing adequate amounts of water, you need to also provide places of shade from the sun’s heat. Natural shades such as under the tree might be good, but these options might not be available to your pet during the time that you are away. You can create man-made shades by pitching a canopy or a tent-like structure.
Shades won’t really matter much if the air inside is hot and humid. If you can keep your house air-conditioned and cool, you don’t need to have a shade for your dog to lie in since anywhere in the house is a comfort zone for your dog. However, if you keep your dog outside or in a house with no AC, shades are a necessity.
2. Avoid Worst of the Heat
Even though we tend to do it by ourselves, I thought this is a necessary warning to keep in mind since we have a tendency to forget sometimes. The ideal time for walks should be in early mornings, in late afternoons, and at night-time because dogs have a tendency to get exhausted in the heat (very similar to human behavior).
In addition, their paws are highly sensitive, which means they can get burned if you try to walk them on a heated pavement. Please try to avoid times during the day where the ground is burning up and very hot to the touch. If you absolutely have to, try using summer dog boots to avoid overheating.
Even dogs have a skin layer underneath all that fur, which means dogs can also get a sunburn if they stay out in the heat for too long. If your dog stays out in the sun for long periods of time, his skin will start to callous, and in extreme cases, cancerous tumors can form due to prolonged radiation.
Due to his sensitive skin and paws, you need to keep good care of your dog by keeping him indoors during the most heated part of the day. Sometimes, you can’t really avoid situations from rising up, and if you have to walk your dog out in the sun, make sure to apply sunscreen to avoid getting sunburns.
3. Use Common Sense
This phrase that I have used above might come across as an insult to some of you, and I’m here to tell you that it is not. This mistake has been done many times even to children, so I hope that this warning is common sense to you. Do not keep your dog locked up in a car.
On a hot summer day, the compartments inside the car will start to heat up, and your dog will be literally baking in an oven. You might be thinking, “I’m going to be gone for ten minutes to an hour, it’s fine!” But even during those short periods, your car would have heated to an extreme degree, which can easily lead to your dog’s demise.
Check the backseat of your car every time you have to leave your car since you might have forgotten something important. Even though it might be for a short moment, take your dog with you, and if you can’t take him along, place him under someone’s care or in a safe spot outside.
4. Utilize Right Products
After getting a sober warning, your mood might have dampened, and to lift your spirits, you don’t have to take them on a car ride since they can get all the fun by staying at home. Being a great place to go to on a hot day, pools can be a great cooling source for your dog on a hot summer day.
Even when your dog has to exercise, he can play around in the water, and you can achieve two goals at once, which is staying cool and exercising! You can also use water sprinklers and sprays along the way, but I think the best alternative for your dog to have fun is a small pool full of cool water.
In addition to water pools, there is a great array of toys and products that are put in place to keep your dog’s body temperature down. For example, people that are living in hot climates have used cooling vests for their dogs, and their effect was surprisingly positive to a great degree.
You might be having some doubts, but if you care to listen, I’ll try to persuade you. These vests have inner pockets within them which you can fill up with water, and for dogs that are living in extreme temperatures, you can freeze the entire vest in the fridge for maximum benefits.
5. Proper Grooming
This topic has been mentioned several times beforehand, so I’ll do my best to keep this section short and sweet. Try to regularly comb your dog’s coat to keep out mats and tangles in your dog’s fur. This practice will ensure proper circulation of air, which will prevent certain patches of skin from overheating.
Before you try to shave your pet bald, keep in mind that your dog’s coat is there for a reason. Their coat is essential for keeping in the heat during cold nights, and also for providing adequate sun protection for their sensitive skin. Contact your vet before making your final call!
6. Keeping Constant Supervision
Even with all those precautions in place, you still need to be the final ring of defense in order to keep your dog cool during summer. Especially in the summer, dogs are even more susceptible to medical conditions such as heatstrokes. You need to watch out for these signs since it can easily happen to you too!
- Frequent Panting / Drooling
- Dizziness / Disorientation
- Seizures / Vomiting & Diarrhea
- Redden Gums / Possible Collapse
If you suspect that your dog is suffering from heatstroke, move him to a cooler place immediately, and make sure that your dog has cool water to drink at his leisure. For safety, take your dog to a vet for a physical checkup since prolonged heatstroke can cause medical problems in other areas of your dog’s body.
7. Know Your Pet’s Weakness
Even though this news might sound troubling to you at first, this section was put into place since some breeds of dogs are more susceptible to heat than other breeds. Snub-nosed pets such as pugs and bulldogs are more likely to get a heat stroke due to their small airway, which can prevent your dog from cooling down fast enough.
In addition, dogs that are of old age and overweight have a stronger tendency to succumb to the heat, so please keep that in mind as well. Last but not least, dogs with heart and breathing problems are also easily susceptible to heatstroke, so don’t relax your vigilance even for a second!
Conclusion: Health Insurance?
Even though this post was written to give out advice to keep your dog cool during this hot summer season, you can’t really predict what things that your dog will face in the future. If you want to ensure your pet’s safety down the road, it might be a good idea to enlist in pet insurance that provides that safety net.
As always, thank you for reading through our post, and I hope that this information was helpful to your ongoing research. If you have found it to be useful, please share this information with others since sharing really helps us out. You are always welcome to visit our homepage anytime, and have a great rest of your day!
