Dogs and the hot weather

[beachlover]

My dog is as keen as anything to go out, moaning everytine I go to the door, but I took her out yesterday in the evening, she caught sght of a rabbit and was off. She came back looking completely done in, drank loads of water and followed me home at a geriatric pace. My dog is just coming up to 5 years.
Today she has been hiding anywhere out of the heat, under the sideboard, behind the sofa and finally (sometimes she aint the sharpest!) under the ceiling fan.
We have kept her water cold with ice cubes, but she clearly isn't happy with the heat.
What are you all doing with your pets in the heat?

 

[Toddy]

Well the moggie's sleeping outside beside me beside the pond these nights Her cosy wool blanket lined basket, in a draught free bit of my wardrobe, is being avoided like a minefield
Seriously though, my neighbours are walking the dogs at the crack of dawn and leaving them to sprawl out in the shade of the houses with water available through the day. No one is taking them in the cars or vans. Even the lurchers and gundogs are keeping still in this heat. I notice that a lot of the mobile carpet type little dogs have had a heck of a haircut recently too

Cheers,
Toddy

 

[beachlover]

I think the outdoor thing is a good idea if there is a breeze, but there seems to be none down here unless we are under the ceiling fan and even then the poor little thing is pacing about and restless. Just took it in the shower and wet her and much as she hates it, she looks a lot happier for it.

 

[swyn]

Ours spend a lot of the time,legs apart, lying on the floor tiles. My old bitch used to spend all day in the water trough. The youngsters (dogs) never quite got the hang of that, they don't like the bar across the middle. The children love the same trough and will spend time in this too!
Swyn.

 

[beachlover]

Ours spend a lot of the time,legs apart, lying on the floor tiles. My old bitch used to spend all day in the water trough. The youngsters (dogs) never quite got the hang of that, they don't like the bar across the middle. The children love the same trough and will spend time in this too!
Swyn.

Mine is the same at night and sleeps spread on the laminate floor of the bedroom and moves around from one cool bit to the other tho' the night

 

[2blackcat]

My pup is still insisting on his three walks a day minimum but they have really shortened in duration
Had to drive to the woods to try to keep him a bit cooler as it's a half hour walk for us just to get there

He's been in the office all week with me and I've put the air conditioning on for him so that's helped

And, as Toddy has mentioned, he's had a major scalping

ps Does he sound as spoiled as I've written?

 

[janiepopps]

Hmmm, my cat is currently curled up on her sheepskin, nestled in her wicker basket next to........................................................................... the aga

Aga's are great in the winter but pants in this weather (unless you're my cat obviously...)

j

 

[beachlover]

My terrier is now looking at me with a look I find hard to describe other than betrayal as she hates the shower and unfortunately "cooking in the danger zone" is on bbc4 and the topic is cooking and eating dog

 

[martin]

I take my mob to the local river for a quick dip.

 

[Grimnir]

Just had a word with my misses, who used to be a dog groomer. A lot of people shave their dogs coat in this weather and she says its not a good idea. For dogs with a double coat this is designed as insulation and will do so against both heat and cold. Also you leave the dog in risk of sunburn and sunstroke as they do not have their natural protection.

Grooming is better as this thins out the coat without removing its protection. Dogs don't lose heat through their skin, they lose it by panting so shaving them doesn't really do anything beneficial. Also you are only really removing the top coat and are leaving the undercoat which does not have the waterproof properties of the outer coat. Also the undercoat is much softer and will get matted easier. The undercoat grows and sheds much faster than the outer coat and can cause a problem with regrowth of the outer coat as this then has to force its way through the soft undercoat.

 

[beachlover]

I have always thought that the dogs coat insulated against heat and cold, so I am sure she is right.
When we are on the beach we chuck her in every couple of hours. Unfortunately she hates water, but it seems to do the trick, as did the shower.

 

[Brocktor]

the heat just makes my cat look cuter, shes young and in the heat stretches out as far as possible looking extremely tired - moping around in the shade. i rubbed in some water to her coat but she did not appreciate that

 

[outdoorgirl]

More good tips for keeping dogs cool (from my local dog classes), especially if (like mine) your dog won't drink even when it's really hot:

- Ice lollies - you can even freeze a thin gravy or broth in bags to use as lollies for them

- wet the ears and head - the ears in particular have lots of blood vessels and keeping them wet will help cool a dog

- wet a towel and cover them with it - might sound daft at first, covering them with a towel, but like the 'wet/ciy bedsheets' idea in another thread, this works a treat for hot dogs...

We've used all these at times for Ceiwyn - althougn the one she loves best is the game 'squirt'... We have a water pistol and shoot it at her! She loves to catch/bite the water as it comes at her, and although some does go down her throat, a lot just goes over her, and this of course, gets her wet and hkeeps her cool while she has fun at the same time... (If we're out and don't have the water pistol with us, 'spitting' it at her works just as well, although she can get quite close then , and flashing white teeth right in front of your face can be quite scary!

 

[fred gordon]

Best plan is to treat them like kids. I have 4 dogs ranging from 2-15 years old and they spend most of the day in the garden. My wife leaves the door open and they can come and go as they please. This means running in and out, round the garden, in the pond to cool off then into the house for something to eat. Drives her daft, just like the kide used to

 

[sxmolloy]

Heres my dog having a cool down in a stream and still managing to get filthy in the process....as usual.

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ATB Stu.

 

[EdS]

the guinea pigs spend the time eating the undergrowth - just like normal really.

 

[Labrador]

Mine drapes himself over the U-Bend at the back of the downstairs loo!!!

 

[BorderReiver]

Crack of dawn walking.

The rest of the day they come and go between house and garden.

Funnily enough both dogs spend at least some time in the day lying in full sun.

I think that the dogs are less bothered by the heat than we are on their behalf.
The panting looks bad but is just their way of sweating.