Managing Heat Waves

[Yamyam13]

Any tips on managing the heat for dogs?
We're headed into our first heat wave with our 8mo Lab.
Anyone got some handy tips, dos or donts?

My dog loves the tiled kitchen floor when it is hot, but he also has a cooling pad. They are cheap and easy to get hold of. They are filled with a gel that cools as weight is put on it. I actually have one for my bed as well. For me that is, not the dog.

Early morning and late night walks only.

Make sure plenty of water.

We bought a cool mat last year which seemed quite good, but he really never used it.

6am walks, or late at night! Our lab/Collie X often goes off food in heatwaves so small breakfast and normal dinner but we don't worry if he seems off it. We hose him off regularly if he's outside in garden, if not he j

Whoops haha, *he just slumps in the kitchen (cold tiles) most of the day! And constant water refills as needed really.

Both mine have a paddling pool they go in. Cooling mat when they are inside.

Ice in their water bowls and a paddling pool in the back garden for them to jump in and out as they like.

Walks early or late when it’s cooler, preferably in some nice shady woods or in a stream for a paddle. If the only option is the sweltering midday run in the park then they’re actually better off missing the walk altogether - missing a walk never killed a dog but heatstroke definitely did.

if you can’t rest your hand on the ground comfortably for five seconds, it’s too hot for the dogs’ feet.

cool mats or tiled floors are good, fans might not do very much for a thick coated dog. If you think the dog is too hot, the best way to cool down is a cool (not freezing cold) shower ie continuous running cool water over the whole dog.

and finally not a heat one but a summer one - obsessively check your dog’s feet and ears for grass darts caught in the fur after every walk and remove them

They like to eat frozen strawberries or raspberries.

I was thinking to get a cool pad but worried she might chew it and make a hole etc?

She's a keen chewer especially on spongey things

I was thinking of moving her crate into the kitchen where she can be contained and leaving it open so she can move to the wooden floor/around more (she usually sleeps in crate in living room, door closed)

We take our two spaniels out for a walk at 5am, and maybe late in the evening if cool enough. Friday still looking too hot for mine into the evening. I freeze kong’s with either peanut butter or natural yoghurt with apple for a cool boredom buster. A damp towel to lie, I offer it, sometimes they go for it. We have a pool so ours have a swim throughout the day. We just leave them be, mostly but one goes for the shady kitchen and cool tiles the other goes between toasting in full sun and the shrubs to cool down. Our black coated spaniel feels the heat more than his brother who is very cat like in his love of hot spots to toast his hairy bottom.

if worried about chewing a cool pad, would a damp cool towel help? I can’t imagine an 8 month lab would sit still long enough though 😁

I've always had northen breeds huskies , malamute they don't like the heat. I bought an air con unit. The best £400 I have ever spent. It a portable unit look in screw fix, b&q etc. It's noisy but on heatwaves I bring my room down to 16c. The dog lays in front of it. You might be able to pick a second hand one up.

Yes I thought that could work. I've been used a big linen table cloth on her bed since it got warmer, and last night I popped it in the freezer for an hour which made it nicely cool to lay on for a few minutes at least..!

We have a big noisy floor fan we usually use in our room, I have to see how she reacts to it... it's quite exciting!

@Yamyam13 mine did bite a hole into the cool pad but nothing actually came out of it and it was only 1 of the squares of the mat so it is still usable under supervision but she's not really interested in it. I tried her with a paddling pool last summer but she'd only put her front paws in lol.

My dog had a chew on his cook pad yesterday but it stayed intact. He has loved it in this heat.
I am WFH and fekt like I was refilling his water a lot more yesterday than usual. We've ordered him a little paddling pool but actually I think he is just snoozing more in the day and enjoying more play/a walk in the evening

Mine has a cooling coat. You dunk it in cold water then put it on. Seems counter intuitive but works a treat.

Very early morning walks - I personally don't do evening walks as the pavement is often still too warm for their paws.

Cool mats or cool coats, or even just wiping them with a cold, damp towel can help cool them down.

Ice in their water bowls, and offer things like frozen berries for snacks, or make up doggy ice lollies or ice cream. Mine loves frozen bananas!

We put a fan by his bed in summer so he can sleep there but he often buries himself under his fleecy blankets anyway 🙄🙈

We got our dog a paddling pool for outside - he's never been in it! He just thinks he's got a massive bowl of water to drink from! 🤣
However, a cooling mat and a really old house that is always 10° colder than outside helps when it's a higher temperature than usual.

Thanks all!
Might investigate the cool coat..!
She loves ice in her water, that worked a treat last week when she was struggling to settle.

Any other tips?

Having lived in foreign climes where human beings walked down tarmac roads barefoot in 30C+ heat, I don't tend worry about my dogs' paws. They can run on gravel: they're very tough.

If you let your dog acclimatise to heat, the majority of dogs will cope with it. Ours are allowed to sunbathe as much as they like. They know when they're too hot, and go and crash on cool tiles.

It's also a case of knowing your dog and keeping an eye on it. If your dog is very old, very young, short-nosed, unfit, overweight, very large or has a lot of fur, you need to be much more careful. Mine are none of these things, but on really hot days, I'll walk them where there's a breeze or shade or access to water. I've only ever had one dog show signs of heat stress. He was very old and unfit, and kept heading to every patch of shade. We slowed the walk right down, let him rest in shade, found him water and headed straight back to the car. He got to the car okay, and 15 minutes later he was fine.

Remember that walks can just be about mental fun rather than physical exercise - especially as it's only for a few short days. So think about places you can go that are entertaining for the dog without needing to move too much.

e.g. We are lucky enough to have a shallow, wide stream nearby which is under tree cover (mostly) so we tend to do early morning walks that involve a paddle in the stream. We take a tennis ball and get in the water ourselves and throw the ball for the dogs. It's a real summer treat.

Paddling pool for our Lab works brilliantly, she jumps in and out as she pleases and keeps her cool.

Early morning and late walks too.

Unfortunately only a problem for us a few days in the summer, when the rain stops 😁

This is about walks from a dog trainer I follow on Fb - we have a Romanian rescue:

🌞🌞🌞AS WE MOVE INTO SOME WARMER WEATHER - PLEASE REMEMBER YOUR DOGS ARE STILL WEARING FUR COATS

If you are stripping off to t-shirts, shorts & vests, your dog is still wearing their fur coat and many Romanian and overseas dogs have double coats.

If you are wearing t-shirt or vest - it is too hot for your dog to be running around. If you don't believe me, go home and put on a fur coat and then go run round for half an hour and see how you feel ;)

Our dogs rely on US to adjust their activity levels in hot weather - most of these dogs if they were free roaming, would spend the majority of a hot day simply lazing in the shade with the odd mooching scavenge.

YOUR WALK IN WARMER TEMPERATURES SHOULD LOOK VERY DIFFERENT FROM YOUR WALK IN COOL TEMPERATURES

EVEN AT 20 DEGREES, Which we might not consider to be 'too hot' your dog can begin to overheat quickly, and once past a certain point, you can't help them
Shorter walks
Shady walks
Slower walks
On lead walks
No Walks
And definitely No aerobic exercise

I’ve heard many people tell me ‘but my dog loves to play fetch/go for 3 hour walks etc, they’re happy, they would stop if they didn’t want to or were too warm’

I can tell you with 100% certainty, if I took my Border Collie out for a walk on a hot day, and played fetch with her, she would keep chasing that ball until she collapsed.... it is my job as her guardian to NOT do that with her, but at the same time ensure she has adequate and appropriate environmental enrichment of course.

My Romanian boy on the other hand has more common sense ;) He does not enjoy long walks in hot weather, he much prefers to mooch, hang out, hunt out some treats in a shady area under a tree and mostly just watch what's going on around him 😊

Over the last few days when I have taken my dogs out for their lunchtime walk, even though it has been around 19-20 degrees and cloudy, they have pretty quickly started to pant.

As soon as a dog starts panting, it is a physiological sign they are having to work hard to regulate their body temperature. Certain breeds are more at risk of heat related illness and injury, but ALL dogs are wearing a fur coat, they have not evolved to get too hot.

Please adjust your walks when the temperatures pick up 🙏

MORE DOGS DIE FROM EXERCISE ASSOCIATED HEAT INJURY THAN DIE IN HOT CARS

That is of course not to say we shouldn't continue to hit home the message that dogs should not be left in cars, but I think an equally important message to hammer home is regulation of exercise activities in warmer temperatures.

Please keep them safe in the warm/hot weather - they rely on US to make the right decisions FOR THEM 💕🐕🥰

#romanianrescuedogs #romanianrescue #romaniandog #rescuedogs #dogs #hotweather #summer #thedogspointof view #doglover #dogtraining #dogcare

Very early walk in the park, and then paddling pool for me - it will be a fixture for the next few days. Unfortunately my pup loves the water but completely loses her shit when she gets wet, then collapses in a heap after zooming, so am rationing it. She's had a good splash this morning and is having a nap now. Will refill with nice cool water this afternoon, then take it away for the evening so she settles.

My cleaner is coming round tomorrow, so the clean kitchen floor will last all of about 60 seconds :-) never mind- needs must under the circs!

Also I have some frozen carrot batons that I'll try. Usually it ends up with me finding defrosted masticated bits of carrot in her bed/around the place LOL. But will wheel them out this afternoon.

I have a lab & he doesn't cope well with the heat at all, but at the same time wants to be in the garden all day when it's hot.
We have a paddling pool which I throw balls into when he's getting hot so he'll jump in and put his paws in.
Various sprinkler toys (he's mostly scared of them or uses them as a water fountain)
A raised portable bed for outside (looks like a foldable camping chair).
A sunshade which I got from Aldi in the middle isle Although there is actually dog versions available.
He has a cooling mat.
He won't poo in the garden so we walk him earlier & later in the day, & if still too warm drive him down to the local woods as it's cooler in there.
Also don't be surprised if they go off food a bit or their poo gets a bit runny. We also make him ice cream by blending yoghurt (soya for him as lactose intolerant) with fruit (blueberries are his fave) & putting in silicone molds and freezing so he can have his ice cream when we have some