How to cool down your dog???

[Caitlin888]

It is currently very hot due to summer and today in particular my dog had been panting like crazy, breathing very loud and his heart is racing any tips on how to cool him down quick?

[pooch495]

After long runs we usually cool our dogs down with the hose allowing the water to run along their back for a few minutes and then on thier chests. This helps them to cool down fast. 

[Guest]

Don’t go too cold with the water, keep it tepid to start with so you don’t cause any shock to your dog. Just try to get their temp down gradually. Is he actually heat stressed or just hot? Pupils, gums etc, everything all good?

 

You could bring him inside if it’s cooler (I know some places here aren’t!) or at least out of the sun, have him lay on something cool (not cold) and wet gently around the head/ears, flanks (hopefully his belly is cooling from whatever you’ve put him on, otherwise sponge there first before you have him lay down), feet if they’re hot from the pavement, offer water to drink (not too chilled), basically just help him let his body cool itself off and settle down. 

Slower is better IMO than too quick or dramatic a temp change. 

Keep checking the heart rate etc 

 

 

 

[Two Best Dogs!]

I have this poster printed out at home because it covers warning signs, what I can do and when to go to the vet all on one page:

 

http://agriculture.vic.gov.au/pets/dogs/dog-health/heat-and-pets

 

i did have one day last week (42c!) where I was getting quite concerned about thistle so we all took a room temperature shower to help her cool down. I even took her temperature and that thermometer is now clearly marked for dogs only after where I put it!

[HunterDoggy]

You can get dog cooling mats at Kmart. They are very good. They come in a small or a large size, $12/$20. My dogs love it.

[karen15]

Dogs cool through vasodilation in their heads, so cooling bandanas (while supervised) can really help. You don't need to buy special ones. An icepack rolled diagonally in a tea towel works really well.

 

https://www.scienceabc.com/nature/animals/dogs-keep-cool-summer.html

 

For me i provide a splash pool, access indoors, air conditioning on days like today where it was 32 at 10am, otherwise fan, water the garden to make the shaded earth cool - they can dig if they want,  plus cooling gel pads to sleep on.

Edited January 16, 2019 by karen15

[WoofnHoof]

I read somewhere that freezing treats in ice cubes is a good idea to cool dogs down. Tried that the last couple of days for my husky but he just lets the ice melt and apparently soggy liver treats aren’t very enticing as they are still there.  

 

He has water and shade and seems to think the concrete floor in the sunroom is nicer than the shady grass outside which is weird as I find the sunroom to stuffy but who am I to argue. 

 

I used to provide a clam shell pool which he absolutely loved but I had to take it away as he kept getting ear infections from the moisture  

[Bundyburger]

We just feed plain iceblocks or frozen chicken feet. If they are looking a bit lethargic they get a zooper dooper for a sugar boost. Sometimes they'll go sit by the freezer to wait for a treat. It makes a big difference.

 

Mine dont like cool mats and I've lost their cool coats so thats how we are managing them until we get new coats.

[Guest]

On 17/01/2019 at 10:59 PM, WoofnHoof said:

I read somewhere that freezing treats in ice cubes is a good idea to cool dogs down. Tried that the last couple of days for my husky but he just lets the ice melt and apparently soggy liver treats aren’t very enticing as they are still there.  

 

He has water and shade and seems to think the concrete floor in the sunroom is nicer than the shady grass outside which is weird as I find the sunroom to stuffy but who am I to argue. 

 

I used to provide a clam shell pool which he absolutely loved but I had to take it away as he kept getting ear infections from the moisture  

Ouch, poor thing! That sucks, ear infections are horrid  . Is there a doggy version of AquaEar? 

 

My dog is the same re frozen treats! Ice, yes. Liver, yes. 

Liver in the ice? NO. Just no. Just put it back and get a better frozen object, please. Something nice and non-edible :p

 

mine figured out that the fridge is the coolest part of the room if we have to come inside - have you seen Homer making a tent out of the fridge? That’s what I’ve got haha.

 

 

[PossumCorner]

On ‎19‎/‎01‎/‎2019 at 1:04 PM, Bundyburger said:

…. If they are looking a bit lethargic they get a zooper dooper for a sugar boost. ….

Rheneas doesn't look lethargic, but he'd win the Oscar for it if he thought it would win him a ZD.  And lucky he can't read your post, because I keep brainwashing him that dogs don't eat sugar, it's not working.

 

So my question is, how many ZD's per day of above 40-45 degrees would be too many for a 10kg dog aged about 15?  (Have to say they have about saved my life on the even hotter days here, seriously).  If he was a young dog with good teeth I'd keep on with the (boring) ice only cooler - but with few teeth left, and vision and hearing poor, would allowing him 2-3 a day be reasonably safe, or too risky?  

[Rebanne]

8 hours ago, PossumCorner said:

Rheneas doesn't look lethargic, but he'd win the Oscar for it if he thought it would win him a ZD.  And lucky he can't read your post, because I keep brainwashing him that dogs don't eat sugar, it's not working.

 

So my question is, how many ZD's per day of above 40-45 degrees would be too many for a 10kg dog aged about 15?  (Have to say they have about saved my life on the even hotter days here, seriously).  If he was a young dog with good teeth I'd keep on with the (boring) ice only cooler - but with few teeth left, and vision and hearing poor, would allowing him 2-3 a day be reasonably safe, or too risky?  

at 15 what is more risky? I would guess the heat. If Rheneas likes the ZD's and they help keep him comfortable then I would say go for it.

[Animal House]

My dog loves Zooper Doopers, she's 13 and has limited time left (a big f*** you to cancer) so she can have whatever she wants.

 

For cooling purposes, she's inside anyway, the air con is on more for the animals than me

 

  But for outside (she has to pee etc) I put a cool neck tie on her (and sometimes she'll have one on inside) as well as having shade and a small clamshell type pool.  Mind you, it's going to be 47 today ....we were out the back early this morning to play a bit of ball, I'm sitting under the big pergola, there's plenty of shade, so she takes the ball and goes and lays in the sun. It was already 34. I had to call her back in the shade, silly girl.

 

Oh, another thing I thought of, was to freeze normal ice blocks in a tray but put in 2 cat biccies in each.  She likes those too, but not as much as the ZD's. I did try freezing some tuna/juice in a plastic bottle, but she wasn't keen on eating any of the ice, she let it melt until she got to the tuna bits.  I did have a cool pad, but she didn't use it....sometimes I dampen a towel for her (or the cats) to lay on but no one uses it.

 

Right now she's asleep on my bed under the air con, as are the cats.

[Little Gifts]

You can freeze water in an empty ice cream container and upend that block into an empty second water bowl large enough to accomodate it. It will defrost slower than ice cubes in water and provide cooler water for longer. If the bowl is metal you might find the dog also wants to lie near it so leave some space for that to happen too.

[Guest]

You can freeze just plain toys, too, if your dog is into chewing. Pop them in a deep container, then bring the whole ensemble out, place it on a mat or piece of carpet that you’ve soaked, and viola, a brand new conglomeration to entertain them. Even if they ignore it, it’ll take a few hours for the ice to melt, even in 40 something degree weather. So that’s a good way to guarantee at least a cool place for them to lay on. Or even chilled water if your dog likes to drink out of the toy containers when they reexamine it  

 

If you don’t want bits of food hanging around, you can soak freeze dried liver in water to flavour it, then make an ice block out of the water. 

 

Does anyone know what the deal is with ice creams and ice blocks?? I’ve heard so many people say they give their dogs soft serve, even sorbet!! - isn’t that stuff potentially lethal? (The sorbet - xylitol).

even the dairy in ice cream surely can’t be good, right? Would your dog potentially have diarrhoea and wind up dehydrated? 

[Guest]

13 hours ago, Rebanne said:

at 15 what is more risky? I would guess the heat. If Rheneas likes the ZD's and they help keep him comfortable then I would say go for it.

What are ZD’s? Pardon my ignorance! 

 

I haven’t seen any dog ice cream or blocks in Australia  

 

I had a 17 year old dog, 23 kgs, and for him, Heat was fine, diet was the key - I’d just check with your vet what’s safe to feed and keep track of how your dog handles the heat. 

Or alternatively just do what works for you since by the time they get to the teen years, you know them well enough to trust your gut xx 

[Bundyburger]

Zooper Doopers.

Our 12yo Kelpie is really struggling in this heat, to the point his back end is fairly wobbly (12 months post compressed nerves in his spine) and we find the sugar gives him a bit of a boost as he has lost his appetite the past few days. As they're frozen it really helps my two cool down. They get sick of plain ice blocks and chicken feet don't seem to help with cooling them down at the moment. He can mostly eat what he likes these days (within reason) and our younger pooch doesn't miss out either.

 

On warm but not boiling hot days I'll buy them frozen chuck bones to eat, that's tomorrow's treat I think.

[Guest]

11 hours ago, Bundyburger said:

Zooper Doopers.

Our 12yo Kelpie is really struggling in this heat, to the point his back end is fairly wobbly (12 months post compressed nerves in his spine) and we find the sugar gives him a bit of a boost as he has lost his appetite the past few days. As they're frozen it really helps my two cool down. They get sick of plain ice blocks and chicken feet don't seem to help with cooling them down at the moment. He can mostly eat what he likes these days (within reason) and our younger pooch doesn't miss out either.

 

On warm but not boiling hot days I'll buy them frozen chuck bones to eat, that's tomorrow's treat I think.

Oh, poor bub  . 

The frozen bones sound awesome!! I’ve frozen slices of steak, but never bones. Will have to suss that one out! Thanks!  

 

Oh, they’re those popsicles from childhood!! Thank you! Lol I had no idea what was going on there for awhile. Now I’m having school canteen flashbacks :p

So that’s just the equivalent of giving honey or something, sugar wise, right? 

Basically just don’t overdo it and don’t give them a diet version and everything should be right? 

 

 

 

 

[Bundyburger]

44 minutes ago, CharbearsMa said:

Oh, poor bub  . 

The frozen bones sound awesome!! I’ve frozen slices of steak, but never bones. Will have to suss that one out! Thanks!  

 

Oh, they’re those popsicles from childhood!! Thank you! Lol I had no idea what was going on there for awhile. Now I’m having school canteen flashbacks :p

So that’s just the equivalent of giving honey or something, sugar wise, right? 

Basically just don’t overdo it and don’t give them a diet version and everything should be right? 

 

 

 

 

No they don't get a diet version (there isn't one) but just be sensible. They don't get them multiple times a day every single day of the year, just half or a whole one each on really hot days when it's more than one in a row when I can see they are boiling and over it. 

 

Our local IGA sells bones frozen but can't see why you can't do it yourself. 

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Bundyburger said:

No they don't get a diet version (there isn't one) but just be sensible. They don't get them multiple times a day every single day of the year, just half or a whole one each on really hot days when it's more than one in a row when I can see they are boiling and over it. 

 

Our local IGA sells bones frozen but can't see why you can't do it yourself. 

Oh that’s good (that there’s no diet version, I bought ice creams the other day and couldn’t believe how many lines have brought out sugar free, dairy free  stuff. Not that that’s bad or anything, just made everything confusing! Lol). It really scares me about the xylitol  I don’t see info published about it in this country very much, it’s awful to see people happily and obviously inadvertently  giving their small or young dogs sorbet!!  

 

I was always told to be really cautious giving honey, but now that I recall it was so it didn’t cause diarrhoea, not because of a sugar crash or anything. Which is odd because the medicine they wanted to use instead of honey does infact cause diarrhoea in a lot of cases as to the best of my knowledge (shakes head). This stuff is confusing. 

 

Haha I don’t have freezer space for a bone!! ;p Would’ve been nice if we’d had frozen ones available to buy years ago, could’ve just run up the street to get one instead of knowing in advance whether anything for human consumption needed to kicked out of the freezer (possibly why I hadn’t bought ice cream in yonks haha ;) ). Now one fridge and freezer unit is  dedicated entirely to frozen dog toys and chilled kibble  

I’m not seeing much more ice cream in my future ;)  

 

[Kirislin]

I stand mine in the clam shell and using my hands I slosh water over their ribs, particularly over heart and lungs and also up in their groin.