Summer is finally here – Yay! And while most of us humans welcome the warmer weather, dogs can suffer when it gets too hot. Humans have an efficient way of keeping cool; we are hairless and have sweat glands all over our bodies. Dogs lose heat by breathing in cool air and exhaling hot air out of their lungs.
By evolutionary standards, this isn’t very effective, especially when the air they’re breathing in is hot anyway. That’s why it’s important to keep your dog cool when the temperature rises. We’ve put together several inventive ways (as well as some more conventional ones) to make sure your furry friend enjoys the summer as much as we do.
Inventive ways to keep your dog cool in the summer
Frozen dog treats
Frozen dog treats are the equivalent of us getting a lovely ice cream from the freezer. Here’s the type of food you can freeze for your dog:
Bone broth: Pour bone broth into an ice cube tray and freeze it. If you have enough freezer space, you can also pour the broth into a large bowl, add your dog’s favourite toys or some broken doggy biscuits and freeze overnight. Or add bone broth to your dog’s usual kibble then place the moistened mixture in the freezer.
Meat and chicken: Mix pieces of cooked chicken or beef with water and pour into ice cube trays.
Bone marrow bones: Freeze bone marrow bones. Your dog will lick the frozen marrow and have the bone to play with afterwards.
Fishy cubes: Mix one tin of tuna in water with some plain yoghurt and freeze in cubes. You can also freeze small sprats in yoghurt to make a delicious frozen fishy treat.
Peanut butter: Mix up a batch of doggy peanut butter with water and freeze into cubes. Alternatively, liquidize some strawberries and mix with the peanut butter and freeze. Or blend with bananas and a teaspoon of coconut oil and freeze.
Apple bites: Dip slices of apple in peanut butter and freeze in bags.
Apple and bone broth popsicles: Grate apples and place them in cube trays. Fill with bone broth and use a dog biscuit or a doggy sausage as the popsicle stick. Freeze for a special treat.
Fruit cubes: Mash up a banana, strawberries, blueberries or apple and blend with a little water. Freeze into cubes. Skin and de-seed one watermelon, mash up and freeze. You can also freeze chunks of banana, carrots, strawberries and green beans.
Veggie cubes: Grate one peeled carrot and mix with one grated cored and de-seeded apple. Add a little water and freeze.
Water: Fill a bowl two-thirds of the way with water and freeze. Put it beside your dog’s regular drinking bowl.
*With all frozen treats, leave them to defrost for 5 minutes before giving them to your dog.
Cold treats from the fridge
Imagine eating a delicious cold salad alfresco? Here’s what you can pop in the fridge for a cooling snack.
Dog food: A simple but inventive way of keeping your dog cool is to put their normal food in the fridge. And you can add frozen vegetables like green beans or carrots to the mix.
Pate: Fill doggy treats like trachea or horns with pate and keep in the fridge until you give them to your dog. You can also smear a huge dollop on Licki Mats and keep cool until you need them.
Yoghurt treats: Mash a banana and mix with some plain yoghurt and a dollop of peanut butter. Serve straight from the fridge.
Peanut butter: Take some doggy peanut butter and scoop it inside your dog’s favourite toy. Or fill trachea or horns as with the pate.
Smoothies: You can blitz up any of the following with a small amount of plain yoghurt to make a cooling smoothie:
Apples
Bananas
Honeydew and cantaloupe melons
Blueberries
Strawberries
Fruit cocktail: Blitz chunks of pineapple with melon and strawberries to make a refreshing doggy cocktail.
Food and drink are a nutritious way of keeping your dog cool in the summer. Here are some other ideas:
Cooling coats: Our cooling coats come in all different sizes and each one has a breathable fabric made with unique cooling technology.
Freezable water bowls: These bowls have a freezable inner, which keeps water cool on hot days.
Create a cool space: Make a shaded area using a patio umbrella, sunshade or canopy cover. You can also elevate your dog’s bed to keep it off the hot ground.
Use water: Use a garden hose in a shaded part of your garden to spray your dog. Put down wet towels or cooling mats so they can lie down and keep cool or use ice packs wrapped in towels. You can use a kiddies paddling pool or a lawn sprinkler.
We hope we’ve given you some interesting tips on keeping your dog cool. If you have any, please let us know!
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