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It’s Canada Day at Casa de Kolchak and it’s hot as woof.
image from the free & adorable WeatherPuppy iPhone App
It’s 91 degrees right now, with 47% humidity. The air is thick and muggy. You can actually see the moisture evaporating off the ground. Holy woof, it’s warm. I’m too hot and I’ve got a body covered in sweat glands. (On a related noted, my apologies to the neighbours. No one needs to see me in my sun suit, but it’s just too darn hot for clothing.)
If I feel too hot, I can’t imagine being a dog wearing a black fur suit.
It just seems so hot & impractical. They agree. Judging by the amount of laying around and panting going on here, Koly and Fe are apt to agree. Luckily, we have some tried and true ways to help our dogs cool off. On days like this, I put Felix’s DIY Cooling Dog Bed in the fridge instead of the freezer and as tempted as I am, I don’t give them frozen treats. I can actually be really dangerous to cool your dog off too rapidly and I’d rather play it safe than sorry. (We do encourage them to drink by making flavoured water for dogs). Every one knows to provide ample shade, lots and lots of cool, fresh water and to take frequent breaks from the heat, but what else can you do on a really hot day to help your dog cool down?
Get a mister just like ours on Amazon for less than $20.
1. A mister provides heat relief for the whole family.
It looks like such a little thing and for less than $20, I was like “really, how much help will this even be?!” , but our mister amazes me every single year. It floats a fine mister of water across the deck reducing the temperature enough to make it comfortable for pups and people. Paired with a fan to really move it around, this mister is EASILY my favourite tool to help the dogs beat the summer heat.
2. Fun & games with water.
None of the Casa de Kolchak dogs care for swimming, but on a really hot day just dunking them under the water for a minute helps them cool off for quite a while. Since we have little dogs that won’t play or swim, we buy a $5 kids boat from the discount store. It’s way easier to store in the winter and doesn’t flood the yard when I pour it away at the end of the afternoon.
A Felix Favourite: Cold, fresh sliced watermelon. Yum!
3. Cool, but not frozen snacks.
Feeding your dog frozen things on a hot day can actually make them vomit. As glamorous as dog puke on my flip flops sounds, I’m going to take a pass. Instead, we offer cool snacks that boost hydration like watermelon, strawberries, canteloupe, peaches, pineapple or blueberries & raspberries. Watermelon might actually be Felix’s summer fav.
How do you help your dog cool off on a hot day?