HOT DOGS--keeping dogs COOL in the summer

[tigerlily46514]

A Garden for your DOG to cool off in :

Maybe your dog would like his very own "resting hole" like my dog has? In some shady spot in your yard, plant some hostas. Hostas get huge, so give them lots of room. Leave a spot behind the half circle of hostas, for your dog's "resting place", where he can dig and maintain his own lil "cool off" spot. (the earth is cooler a foot or two below the surface.)

I bet, your family won't mind, if you do all the work of turning over the bed, and stuffing the hostas in place. (again, you have to leave tons of room for hostas to spread out when full grown, they come in all sizes, so be sure what size you are getting to leave enough room.)

Actually, for a lazy gardener, one really could leave the grass all in place, all around the hostas, like a landscaping bush has grass alll around it............... just leave room behind the hostas for the dog to dig in.

Established hostas are impossible for any dog to dig up. I can barely dig one up, even with hour of shovelling. Hostas are great in shade, and 2 or 3 hostas would hide the dog's cooling off spot from view, as dog holes aren't much to look at! ha ha!!

Just a thought, that your dog may so enjoy having his own lil hide-y hole to cool off in. MIght even save your other flower beds, if you have a dog who likes to dig.
somehow, my dog does understand, he CAN dig in "his" spot,
but not anywhere else.

If it rains, my dog won't get in his resting hole if it is not dry,
but, if yours would lie down in a puddle, well, maybe you wouldn't want one.
My dog also keeps all leaves, etc, from being in there. He just wants some nice cool earth to lie on in the summer time. Buddy seems to do "maintenance" on his lil resting hole, too.

My dog isn't "dirty" when he gets out of it, either. Just looks normal...and he is half white. I guess the earth gets packed enough, it doesn't much rub off on him when he lies in it.

If he's just now dug it a bit deeper, his paws might be a lil dirty, but, that's easy enough to clean off his paws.

just a thought, your dog might love having his OWN lil cooling off spot for summer time, too.

 

[tigerlily46514]

If we do not have our air conditioner on,
(which is pretty often, we prefer to not use it)
we set fans around,
and we set a fan on the floor just for Buddy.

Buddy has figured out, how nice it feels to lie in front of the fan. Once, he sat on WRONG side of fan, he ran over and flopped down on wrong side....he just heard that humm of a fan,
he must have thought "yes! a fan is on!"
but he got on wrong side!!

 

[southerngirl]

A great activity during the hot summer is swimming. Go to a lake, ocean, or river. Not only will your dog have fun and keep cool you will to. Consider getting your dog a life jacket if your going to have him were he can't touch. "All dogs can swim" is a MYTH. All dogs can not swim, such as bulldogs they sink. Some may be able to swim just not very well and will tire quickly like my Missy. I'm getting one for her. I've done a lot of research before deciding to get one and feel it is necessary to keep my dog safe, but that's just because we go to a lot of rivers and are always at the lake.

 

[sara]

Mouse likes the heat, the hotter the better! I have to put sunscreen on her, and a t-shirt, but no matter how hot it is, she finds a sunny spot and sunbaths!

 

[Ripleygirl]

For Ripley I freeze little carrot sticks as she loves carrot and take a little bag of them out on walks if it is hot. She plays with them licking the ice glaze off and then gets to munch the carrot too. She loves it... That is just her though, she is a vegetable nut!!!! She also has a mud obsession in the summer and as soon as she has had a good long play she runs to a mud pile in the park and lies in it! Not the best but that is just what my dog does! She also has a sand pit in the garden that we put there because she was a digger and redirected her digging to hiding treats in the sandpit so she would dig there now she also uses it after she has been sunbathing and gets too hot, she chooses to go and lie in the soft cool sand for a bit and she is ok again then. She loves playing with the hose so we use that as well.

 

[tigerlily46514]

oh, my dog is a mess after he is in sand, just sand all up in his fur and paws and everywhere... I can't even let him indoors til i have brushed him and brushed him, and tried to clean off his paws a bit, to get even *some* of the sand back off of him. Sand just clings to him...

but, his doggie dig-hole in the dirt in the hosta garden, he is clean. (unless he has just re-dug it down a lil deeper---to get to cooler earth to lie down in
.............and then just his paws are dirty-ish).

 

[Ripleygirl]

she does get covered in sand as she digs it out for the cool bits. But since she decided she had taken to this we taught her she has to shake off in the tiled 'mess room' before coming in (she has a dog flap into the rest of the house), she shakes off and then she know she has to lie in the mess room on the towel till she is rubbed off. She has even learnt if we are out she waits in the mess room until we rub her down a bit! She is great with this after sand but doesn't get it if she comes home muddy.... ?!

 

[tigerlily46514]

too funny about the sand vs. the mud, in your dog's idea of looking at it!!

my dog is a lil prince, and hates mud. If his dirt-digging hole has any rain in it, he won't get near it.
He will even walk around puddles on a walk, to keep his paws all clean,
just dislikes getting dirty. He grooms his own self daily, like a cat, worries a lot about dirt, etc. He likes water fine (now), like beaches, lakes or pools,
but wont' get near mud.
my dog is so weird.

 

[Dogster]

HERE'S A GOOD TRICK TO TEACH YOUR HOT DOG​

to help him stay hydrated on hot days-----​

I made up a lil sign that reads; "BUDDY WANTS ICE".
i put that into a magnetic photo holder, and slapped that onto the fridge, down low, so Buddy can touch it with his nose.

I rubbed some meat on the photo, so Buddy would sniff at it. Soon as he sniffed it, i hit the clicker and gave him a lil piece of ICE. (Buddy is 'clicker trained',)


It was only about 2 or 3 days, til Buddy realized, if he touches his nose to that lil sign on the fridge, he gets a piece of ice. Soon, i was able to phase out the clicker, and no longer needed to keep 'scents' on the sign, either.

Sometimes, he'll stand there for a few minutes, touching it again and again, to get his fill of lil ice cubes and chips..... he walks away when he's had his fill. It isn't usually more than a 1/2 cup, for a 50 lb dog, if even that much... it isn't excessive.

Some folks think ice is not good for dogs, and, for some dogs, that may be true, but, it does NOT bother my dog, AT ALL. He loves loves loves ice. He is NOT a good water drinker, and gets bloodshot eyes*** sometimes, but, he loves ice.

***When MY dog gets bloodshot eyes, depending on what he's been doing----he is either overly hot, or, getting dehydrated, since he is not a good water-drinker.

ICE!!!!!!!

GREAT for cooling dogs down!!!! For dogs that like ice cream, this is an alternative. Sometimes I freeze plain yogurt too.

 

[Anneke]

Naah, my dogs hate icecream

I put icecubes in their water, when it's really hot. Cooper takes them out and licks them to cool down. Jinx won't get them out off the bowl, but when I give her one, she loves it too.
I try to find water, where my dogs can swim, on really hot days. Or I put them in the shower and get them wet.

 

[Tâmara Vaz]

I loved the trick idea:"Buddy wants ice!"!!!!!!I'll teach it!!!

And jean!
My husky does exacly the same, but she loves the pool!!!!!!!!!

 

[tigerlily46514]

You know, i added in a verbal cue, "Buddy, do you want some want ice?" using LAST word "ice" to cause Buddy to run to the fridge to touch his nose to the photo frame on the fridge,
Which is very cute for our friends to see Buddy run over to touch his nose to that sign....as if he can 'read' or something.
and Buddy knows he gets ICE, (never a treat), for doing that.

BUT
if i could do it again, i *might* not ever ever add in any cue at all, cuz maybe then, MAYBE, Buddy would do it on his own more often ----to let me know he wants ice.
?????????????????????

instead, most of the time, Buddy waits til i ask him..........so i always wonder, if i had never ever said a thing, never ever gave any cue at all for that trick,------ would Buddy be more likely to go touch the sign on his own? to let me know when he wants ice??
Now i'll never know.

Buddy will occasionally do this on his own, but usually, it's cuz he heard the ice maker being used, or hears us making drinks with ice cubes, or sees someone eating ice,
or some other "ice - related" noise or sight makes him think of he wants some ice, too, and THEN he will touch the sign all by himself, without being asked first.

i guess so far as Buddy knows, no ice exists unless some human is making a drink...rofl. Like, just walking by the fridge, no ice can be seen, must not exist.(?)
so Buddy always waits til he SEEs or HEAR some ice, to show us he wants some,too...darn .

I wanted Buddy to touch the sign all by himself more often, not just when he sees someone is making a drink.

 

[Tâmara Vaz]

Nice to know! I'll teach it without a cue!


Starting this trick today!

 

[tigerlily46514]

Well, i am not sure if i had taught it without a cue,
i just wonder,
would my dog be more likely to touch the sign on his own?

i could be wrong, My dog still might not realize ice still exists,
even if he can't see any ice .....even if i had not used a cue.

i just don't know.


WITH a verbal cue, it is a very cute party trick, ppl LOVE that trick. So simple, yet ppl act like it is some very amazing trick. They say things like, "HOw in the world did you get him to do THAT??"
but, keep in mind, none of my friends really teaches their dogs tricks, so it is all very mysterious to them.

 

[tigerlily46514]

If anyone does teach it without a cue,
please tell me if your dog will spontaneously just touch the sign all by himself to ask for ice.

 

[Tâmara Vaz]

Ok!!!
Nobody I know "on person" teaches dogs tricks, too!!!
KKK!!!

 

[tigerlily46514]

Lots of dogs do NOT DRINK enough liquid, i was reading article the other day, about the nutrient most often neglected in dog's daily diet, is constant access to fresh water. (many dogs are quite fussy about how long their bowl water has been sitting there,
although same dog might drink a mud puddle , they can still be fussy about 'stale' water in their dish,
so, do change their drinking water out often, a few times each day)

anyway,
i keep some broth in my fridge all the time now, in hot weather.
I just boil up meat, skim off ALL fat,
and then store that liquid. covered, in the fridge, for a few days.
Guess you could freeze it, too.
guess you can cut the broth, half and half, with plain water, too.

I give Buddy a cup each day, he gobbles it down. I made mistake of filling up his entire water bowl with broth,
and Buddy drank entire bowlful, which i don't think is right, it freaked me right out,
so now, besides his plain water bowl, i also measure and set out just 1 cup of broth. (which disappears instantly) but i do think, my dog would drink entire gallon of broth, if i let him, so take care your dog doesn't drink TOO much broth!!!!!!!!

If you cool the broth, it's easy enough to skim off the fat with a spoon,
or they also sell measuring cups, which pour from the BOTTOM of the liquids in the cup, thus, avoiding the fat on top to get poured out.(IF you wait for fat to rise to top of liquid)

I also usually keep Buddy sort of sedentary if he's just eaten, or just drank a lot of liquids, to help reduce any chance of "bloat". I think my dog is at pretty low risk of bloat, but, i'm a worrywart about my dog, so, that's what i do.

so there ya go, is a thought for any of you who live with dogs who are not good water drinkers.
try plain broth. (no salt, no fat, no spices, just plain ol water from meat boiling in it)

DOES ANYONE KNOW HOW MUCH FLUID DOGS SHOULD DRINK EACH DAY? it's probably so much per pound of dog, but, i don't know how much is too much, or how much is not enough.

 

[tigerlily46514]

Tamara, did Laika ever learn the "ice" trick? does Laika ask for ice, all by herself, OR only if she sees/hears some ice cubes?

 

[Tâmara Vaz]

In fact the "ice trick" didn't go well because the reinforcement (ice) isn't enough for her.
She likes ice, but she just touches it one time or two(maximum) when I show the ice and keeping saying it is something great to have. But I'm still thinking about it...

 

[tigerlily46514]

yes, i guess this trick only works for dogs who DO love ice!!! My dog adores ice....