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Cooling Down A Crate


Mason_Gibbs
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My lab puppy has been sleeping in our bedroom in his wire crate. The last week he has been getting hot at night and panting in it. His favorite place to sleep during the day is kn the bathroom tiles. I need some ideas on how to cool him/the crate down. I thought a cooling mat but would need to be non toxic as he will chew it and eat it. I used a small fan blowing onto him but it did not seem to help 1 bit.

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What bedding is in the crate?

maybe just put one cotton towel on the floor of it?

You could also raise the crate up a couple of cm off the floor to allow air circulation ...and remove any solid base . Do not cover the crate ... get a thermometer ans see what teh temperature is in various areas .. place crate where the temp is lowest ..

That's all I can think of ...

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Are you 100% sure he is hot and not stressed in his crate? I only ask because panting is a sign of stress. Have you don't lots of conditioning him to the crate before locking him in?

I actually had the same problem with my dog who got hot and so bought them both a cooling mat for 1/2 the crate. But because he's a puppy could you get a trampoline bed to fit in the crate so there is airflow beneath him? Might be worth covering 1/2 of the trampoline bed with a blanket or something incase he gets cold.

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Kiesha he pants even when he is not in the crate and yes i did crate games with him. All thats in the crate is a very thin cushion bed. He sleep outside through winter at the breeders and has a very thick coat which is why he gets hot. No idea how he is going to cope through summer!!!

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Is it maybe where the crate is? For example no air flow? Can you move the crate to a cooler room?

My pup is downstairs in the rumpus - which is the coolest room in the house.

My girl is going to start sleeping outside soon. My dogs prefer to sleep outside in summer. In a crate, inside, would be way too hot. Unless you have aircon of course!!

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Mason_Gibbs I think he will aclimatise eventually as his coat will thin out if you keep him inside with you over night. He will shed coat for summer anyway.

In the meantime do you have tiles in your house? I would put a puppy pen on the tiles with his crate inside the pen. That way he has access to his crate but if he gets hot then he can lie on the cool tiles. Or if you have an ensuite I'd put a baby gate on the door so that Gibbs can go in there and you could hear him if he stirs to take him out to toilet but he also has the option of the crate or cool tiles in there.

If you can't have this set up close to your room (because no tiles close by)I would set my alarm to take him out to toilet over night if he needs it so he doesn't start peeing in his puppy pen.

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A cheaper option is getting a hot water bottle and freezing it, wrapping it in a towel and putting that in the crate.

My youngest girl was born in November and we had some hot hot days when they were up and about. The breeder just froze hot water bottles and put one in with them. Problem was, when I took her at 8 weeks, she screamed the first night as expected, but just would not settle. The next day I went out and bought a few hot water bottles and gave her one the next night and didn't hear a peep out of her. She was addicted to them! Luckily when it started to cool down, I weaned her off and she hasn't had one since.

But a good cheap alternative to giving them something cool to lie on.

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