Summer pet safety is a “hot” topic as most parts of our country experience very hot weather. It’s so important to keep your pet cool, safe and hydrated during these hot summer days. Browse the following resources to get tips on how to keep your dog or cat cool and safe during hot weather.
- Heat Stroke in Dogs: What You Should Do – A dog that cannot cool himself off is at risk for heat stroke. Learn the symptoms and what you should do if your dog is at risk for heat stroke.
- 5 Ways to Cool Your Dog in Hot Weather – Help your dog be comfortable in hot weather. These tips will help you keep your dog cool and safe during the summer heat.
- Tips to Prevent Dog Dehydration – Hot summer days can be dangerous for your dog. Take extra care to keep your pet hydrated, whether he stays indoors or outdoors.
- Video with “stay cool” tips by veterinarian Dr. Holly Nash:
Do you have any “stay cool” tips to share with fellow pet-passionate readers? Please share them in a comment below.
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For a chance to WIN 3 POPULAR COOLING PRODUCTS FOR DOGS (pictured below), leave a comment in this post with your best tip(s) for keeping your dog cool during hot weather! Or, if you have a question related to the above article links, pose the question! Feel free to answer anyone’s question. All comments in this post between 6/7/11 – noon CST on 6/10/11 will be automatically entered into the COOL GIVEAWAY.
One winner will be selected on Friday, June 10, 2011 at Noon CST
Popular Products To Keep Dogs Cool and Safe:
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* No purchase is necessary to participate. You should be a legal resident of the United States and 18 years or older. Void where prohibited. Shipping to winner will be supplied by Drs. Foster and Smith. To see who won, go to http://www.dfs-pet-blog.com/2010/07/summer-pet-safety/. Sponsor: Foster & Smith, Inc., P.O. Box 100, Rhinelander, WI 54501-0100. Employees and their immediate family members are not eligible to enter. Winners will be notified by email, and must reply with their shipping information within 7 days. Failure to reply within the 7 days will forfeit your prize.
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Thanks for the “cool tips”. Good info. I keep my dog indoors more when it’s hot. Not as exciting as outdoor fun, but necessary.
I take care of feral cats and some of them are kittens and im so worried about how hot it’s going to be in a few days that I don’t know what to do to make it cooler for them but to have food and water out for them. I wish there was something else I could do! Any ideas?
Patty,
From what I’ve read, keeping plenty of fresh water is most important. Keep the water out of the sun and put fresh water in a couple times per day if you can. Can you provide the cats some shade? I will ask around the office on Monday to see if anyone else has suggestions. Sounds like those kitties have a good caretaker! Good luck.
My kittens are around 8 weeks old. They have their own room and like to lay in a hooded litterbox. Don’t worry, that litter box isn’t being used! Cats/kittens heat escapes through their paws, so you can try dipping their paws into water.
Even though my animals stay inside I fill there water container with ice cubes. It serves two purposes. To keep water cold and they love to chomp on them
I keep my dog indoors when it is too hot. I make sure his water bowl is full at all times.
I have a black Pekingese so when we go outside his fur attracts the heat. I take a spray bottle of cold water with me and spritz him to keep him cool on walks. If we’re just hanging around the yard I get out the kiddie pool and fill it with a couple inches of water so he can lay in it!!
We have 2 Large breed dogs with long hair. We put ice cubes in their water bowl. We also try to limit the amount they are outside during the hottest part of the day. We use Horse water buckets outside for them, so they have plenty of fresh water.
@ Patty…I commend you on the feral cat care. My suggestion for you is to have a shade place for them to hide. This can be accomplished by tenting a blanket or a tarp (make sure there is plenty of air flow). A cheap plastic dog house would work also.
We put up a small kiddie pool every year in the shade for out dog when hes hot. He loves just to lay in the water.
I take a squirt bottle on walks to spritz cool water on the dogs, take a portable drink bottle, donot take them out during the hotest time of day. Add Ice cubes to inside water, make doggie popsicles with a popsicle mold. add some pedialyle, or chicken broth to the water to keep them hydrated. DONOT leave any animal in the car even with the windows cracked. Buy a portable fan that clips on to the carrier when traveling.
My beagle and fox hound mix love playing with and eating ice cubes. And doggie icecream!
On especially hot days, I bring my dog for evening walks on the nature trail along the river – the trees provide shade and the setting is beautiful
I put ice cubes in my dogs water and got a kids pool for the summer for him.
When we setup the kiddie pool or sprinkler for my son, the dog loves to jump in and run thru the sprinkler. Nothing better than some water to keep cool on a hot day.
Our 2 yorkies love ice cubes…and even more….love it when we put drops of chicken or beef broth in the water before freezing them. Anything to add a little flavor! : )
My English Setter and her buddy a corgi both stay in the air conditioed house. If we travel their crates are equiped with portable fans and I always keep small containers frozen with water to place in their water bowls with water. Never travel without a cooler full of water and ice, towels to soak for them to lay on.Try not to travel unless necessary and provide plenty of fresh water at home, inside and out. They do have a childs pool to play in when outside, love to lay on their bellies and splash me when they get out.
I have two dachshunds that love being outside. I take them out in the morning and evening with a short little run around time in the middle day. Their dog yard has lots of shade trees for them to lay under. I keep them with lots of cool, fresh water and bring them in during the hottest parts of the day–into the air conditioned house.
My girls are lucky to have a very shady back yard AND a puppy pool! Even so, I’d still like to do more to make sure they’re comfortable. I keep them inside on the very hottest days, but they’d rather be outside.
I take my dog to the dog park that has a dogs only lake for swimming. She loves to walk around in the water and cool off.
I limit the time that they are outdoors or they go in the pool to cool off. My dogs have their own pool floats and love to cool off in the pool. I also make sure they have tons of fresh drinking water to stay hydrated.
Biggest tip: Plenty of water and keep your animals out of the heat.
Why should we be in the A/C while our companions bake in the heat?? Frozen treats available for dogs are also an excellent idea!
As a new dog owner these tips are super helpful. I keep water bowls all over the house to encourage my Aussie to stay hydrated and always carry water on our walks.
They love their “hard sided” kiddie pool (1 lab – 1 lab/greyhound – 1 lab/beagle)……keep the water cool……..even the pool water warms up in this weather. They also don’t mind getting cooled off w/the hose. Also have cats, chickens, koi, ducks, geese & goats………..so have to tend to every critter in this weather.
I keep my dogs inside most of the day, and I have a fan going in the carport for when they are outside. I don’t take them anywhere in the summer if they can’t go in with me. Of course, that limits the places we can go, but, oh well. When (and if) we walk, I take water along. Because Lucky is older, I tend to leave him at home, and just take Ilka when it gets hot. I keep training sessions short, and give the dogs several chances to get a drink during them.
I use a bucket securely attached to the fence for the dog’s water outside, and keep a bowl of water on the front porch for the cats. I check both of them daily to make sure they are full and clean, with no bugs or the like in them.
One very important thing to check on if you just have to keep your dog tied out during hot weather is MAKE SURE THEY CAN GET TO WATER AND SHADE!!!!! We’ve already had at least one dog die down here (Texas Gulf Coast), because he got his chain tangled up, and couldn’t move out of the sun or reach his water bucket. Unfortunately, he probably won’t be the last.
I put ice in the water bucket, and I also give them cold things, like watermelon cubes as treats! They love their ‘ice cream’ I make as well, yogurt with peanut butter!
We make sure our dogs always have water. Our australian shepherd LOVES playing in water, so if she’s outside for a while, I’ll turn the sprinkler on. She loves to jump through it – over and over and over…
I’ve used the handi-drink carrier a lot when I walk my dogs. It’s convenient and they last a long time. Carrying a separate bottle of water for the dogs with a collapsible bowl isn’t really convenient. I never thought of freezing the water partially – next time we go on a walk I’m going to do that!
My girls tend to stay indoors during the bad heat. Of course then they let us know when the AC is too cold by cuddling under blankets
They do love their frozen treats though!
I turn the hose or the sprinkler on, PandaRoo loves biteing at the water trying to ‘catch’ it.
My black Lab has never been able to stand the heat, so we only go out when necessary when it gets hot, like the 98 degrees expected Wednesday. We keep fans and a/c on indoors, and she wears a water-soaked bandana that has been chilled in the fridge, around her neck.
My Black Lab & German Shepherd Mix love lounging in the river every chance we get. We also enjoy going out on the lake in the pontoon. These are our favorite “mini vacations”! We always carry jugs of fresh water. We put the canopy up & keep their heads & feat cool w/ water when we get in a boat traffic jam. Ice cubes from the cooler are fun & enjoyable too.
I monitor carefully my dog input and output if fluids when it is hot
We also spend more time indoors and in the evening we have a plastic child’s swimming
Pool that he loves to play in and cool down…we also avoid midday
Outings when the heat is worse
Ice cubes, and more ice cubes.
I have an Akita/Miniature Schnauzer mix who gets overheated very quickly. I puchased a handi-drink pet water bottle and have it with me any time we’re out in the sun for any length of time…it’s great!
When my dogs are beginning to get hot I give them frozen vegetables to chew on. Neither will eat ice. They love the green beans, especially. Plus you can control how much and they are low fat/calorie.
Great information. One thing to think about: when it’s really too hot to exercise your dog outside, think about some options for mental stimulation inside – puzzle games and such. Mental exercise, while not the same as physical, will still tire a dog and help keep him/her from going stir crazy.
I bought a wading pool for my dogs. Just a walk through gives them a burst of energy. Sometimes I splash them as well. Shelby likes to chew on ice chips.
I put ice cubes in my dogs water dish, & travel with a no-spill water dish in the car. A spray bottle works well to wet down the dogs coats or to give the dogs a quick drink!
I keep mine inside during the hottest part of the day and make sure they have plenty of water to drink.
To keep a dog with a thick coat cool in the heat even if he/she only goes outside to do ;business’, DO NOT shave them! The coat insulates them from the heat just as it does from the cold. Your pet is more vulnerable to sunburn also without his.her protective fur. Be kind, leave it natural!
I keep my dog inside with the a/c and fan on when it is hot outside. I try to take her down to the river or my parent’s pool so she can swim too!
My tip is….. COOLING MAT! COOLING MAT! I have two of them and could not live with out them in the summer time!!! I have one upstairs and downstairs….I am thinking about a third!! I just talked my sister(Jean Rush) Into getting one for her dog(Buddy)!! she setting it up today….. We love Drs. Foster and Smith!!! They are the best!!!
I love to give my puppy ice cubes. I have even put aloe vera juice in ice cubes to help with his teething.
We keep our dogs inside when it’s hot but brought a child’s pool for my mom’s outside dogs. They love it !
Even though there are more bugs out, we wait til it’s later at night to take our dogs outside for our walk and/or bunny watching session. They don’t like the heat very much, except when they sun bath in the sun spots that come in through the window on the bed!, so we try to only take them out when it’s cooler. I give them fresh, cold water in the morning and night, and sometimes I will make a yogurt/banana/carrot/green bean mix in the blender, put it in an ice tray over night, then give them one to snack on! They love it!
My Chow and Whippet mix both love being outside but get so hot!
I purchased a kiddie pool for both of them this week to help combat the heat wave! Of course, they stay inside most of the time during the hottest days!
I put bananas in the freezer and give them to my dogs on hot days. My puppy also loves to eat ice cubes as a treat. As for exercising, my adult dog and I have to get up extra early and run. Some days I won’t take her with me because I worry about her getting too hot.
I get up early on hot, humid days and play with the dogs before breakfast.
When we bought our new car last year, I was so happy that it had AC vents in the back seat… not for any human passengers we might have, but for my two corgis
We also bought them special cool collars that have little ice packs to keep them cool on summer walks.
Thanks for tips on keeping our pets calm, cool and collected.