Hot Days

[Dame Aussie]

We're having a few days in the mid-high 30s and 40s coming up and I'm wondering what everyone does with their dogs in such a situation?

We work so when we're out the dogs are normally outside. If its a really hot day we leave them in but as there's a run of hot days I don't know whether they would be better outside as the house will heat up quite a bit.

We do have air conditioning and I was thinking of leaving it on a timer to come on sporadically throughout the day to keep it cool. Or would they be better outside in the shade?

They have a clam shell pool but never use it *rolly eyes*

What does everyone else do?

[minimax]

Mine are never left outside when we aren't home, they are a bit on the dopey side and like to sleep in the sun, which isn't great considering they are black pugs

Hot days they are left inside with the fans on (we don't have a/c), cool mats or frozen bottles in their beds.

I guess if you guys were safe outside in the shade, and there was a breeze at any stage, they would be okay ... but would they stay in the shade?

[Sheridan]

Aircon on a timer is what I do

[Bjelkier]

Depends on how long we will be out. If it's going to be a really long day they are left in the dog runs with ice water, cool beds, pools and heaps of shade. They also take it upon themselves to dig nice cool dirt beds for themselves which they seem to love.

For a few hours, inside with the fans. We have a huge amount of trees around the property so even on a really hot day it's noticablly cooler at home outside so we almost never use the A/C

[Gertrude139]

Mine are outside during the day, they usually stay on the deck which has a covering over it. We have also let them dig a hole under the deck to sleep in where it's nice and cool.

One uses the clam shell type pool the other won't touch it, even if they didn't go in it though I would still have it as an extra water source in case they empty their normal water bowl.

The other half of the pool has sand in it, on hot days I wet the sand the whole way through which gives a cool spot to lie on.

Also frozen treats are good and sometimes I wet their undersides before I leave for work but both of these's wouldn't really last long.

[megan_]

Mine are inside with a dog door when they want to go outside. On hot days I put ice blocks in their water.

The house has glazed windows so it takes a fair bit of recurring heat to get hot inside. If that happens and I'm at work I'll leave the air con on (which I hate doing!).

[HazyWal]

I never leave the fan on when I am not home as my last fan blew up in the middle of the night and I woke to sparks flying out it onto the doona My old house is stinking hot in summer. I leave the french doors open onto the deck and they can come and go as they like to find the coolest spot.

[wuffles]

Mine are outside when it's hot. If it's going to get to mid 30s and above I fill their clam shell and give them a few bowls of water in different places. They find the coolest spots. Our house would be WAY too hot.

[Dame Aussie]

Thanks all, I think for the first day they will be ok outside but I might leave the aircon on for the second day which is meant to be 40.

Mmax, they normally sit in the shade if its warm thankfully and Lili has a few dirt holes in the trees she's dug out which she sits in.

[Baileys mum]

I work from home, so the dogs are rarely left on their own...If I do go out, & it's a hot day...the dogs are left inside with the A/C on.

I wouldn't leave them outside in summer, as I'm too scared of them overheating, & too scared of a snake coming into the yard!

Edited January 2, 2013 by Baileys mum

[dezzyno.1]

if we go out our dogs are definitely inside with the air con on to keep them nice and cool :laugh:

[Staffyluv]

Aircon on a timer is what I do

Same.

Zig has access to the house 24/7 via the back door but we also have very secure gates that are locked (unless I have a client coming, then he is put inside and the gate unlocked)..

Frozen water in a big ice cream container put out at the last minute before you leave for work (or even better if you can get home at lunch time). I also use very watered down chook stock..

ETA he also has a clam shell pool in the shade that he can have a dip in whenever he wants..

Edited January 2, 2013 by Staffyluv

[Ellis]

Lexi is outside during the day when we are out. We love a garage door up slightly & she will go in there if she is too hot. The back verandah is normally cooler than in the house too.

[Rebanne]

I'm lucky in that I normally work night shift so the dogs are out at night and inside sleeping with me during the day, I have ceilings fans and aircon and use them.

Over Christmas I worked some afternoon shifts and shut ( and locked ) the kitchen door and left the air con on. The back door was open for the dogs to come and go. Kitchen is the coolest place in the house. The cat had the rest of the house and her cattery to come and go as she pleased.

I am not looking forward to trying to sleep in the daytime over the next fortnight, sometimes I put the dogs cool coat over me as well!

[mel_]

If we're out Ollie is outside, luckily there's like an awning over the concrete area so he'll lie in the corner where it's cool on his tummy.

I freeze blocks of ice which he'll occasionally lick and chew at. I also soak a bandana in ice cold water and wrap it around his neck :)

[megan_]

Always wet ice before giving it to dogs otherwise their tongues can get stuck and that would end very badly for the dog.

[monique.c]

We have a raised up old queenslander and all of downstairs is our garage which has a concrete floor, nice and cool for the doggy. He is outside when we are out but has full access to the downstairs garage area as well as the yard which has heaps of shady trees. We just make sure he has plenty of water as well...

[Ons]

inside in the air conditioning, two in crates. The others have access to the outside via a series of open doors but I doubt they actually use them.

I've heard it's cheaper to run the air conditioning all the time rather than turning it on and off. Not sure if that is correct, all I can say is that we have well looked after dogs here.

[disintegratus]

Mine get access to the house, usually with the air con on as our house heats up awfully, unfortunately they have very little shade outside. They have the shrubs down the back, and near the sides of the house depending on time of day. They used to have a lemon tree, but the ungrateful buggers knocked it over. They get nice big ice blocks, the new favourite is 1.5 litre ice blocks with a "my dog" sachet in the middle. I got a bunch for free and wasn't sure what to do with them, so frozen summer treats seemed like a great idea.

They also have a couple of clam pools, which they do use, and a huuuuuge dirt patch that they manufactured :)

They also have about a thousand water bowls scattered around the place, if I have to go out at least one of them will be frozen solid, if not, I check them periodically to make sure they stay cool.

[Tazar]

It will be frequent visits to the dam for us.