5 ways to keep your dog cool:

We have been lucky enough to have a beautiful heatwave in the U.K. this week which I am sure you have heard talked about endlessly. But of course with extreme weather comes warnings for your pets, this heat can be very dangerous to them and even life threatening.

So what can you do to keep your dogs cool and happy this summer? We’ve got 5 top tips to share with you.

1. Cooling coats – These are the best product you could buy your dog this summer, if you’ve not heard of them before they’re a coat made out of special material that holds in moisture to keep your dogs cool. Simply soak them in water, wring them out slightly so they’re not dripping and then put them on your dogs.

There are quite a variety in styles of cooling coats on the markets, I prefer the coats from Paws and presto as they’re a harness sort of shape meaning they go under the stomach using straps instead of just wrapping them around the dogs back. Being a harness shape means that the dogs can still run around and do everything as normal just without the coat moving about or affecting the dogs movement.

Wilma wears a small which almost covers her back at £20 & Woody a medium and is a great fit for spaniels at £30.

2. Frozen treats – In the hot weather I don’t walk my dogs at all, it’s not fair to make them go out in the heat when they just run around and can’t control their temperatures. Lots of people worry their dogs will have too much energy if they don’t walk them so this is where training and enrichment helps to tire their brains out.

Something simple to make them think yet keep them cool is freezing treats. Get a plastic bowl full of water, add in some treats off different shapes and sizes and scatter them round; Then pop it in the freezer. You can then take it out of the bowl and put it outside for them, they’ll spend ages licking or crunching trying to get the treats out. For another step up you could add in tennis balls or other toys, you could also add water to their food making it a paste, put inside a kong or another hard toy and freeze that ready for their dinner time.

3. Paddling pool – My two are absolutely water obsessed so they love having a splash to keep cool. I’ve had so many pools over the years, I love the inflatable pools that you can fill deeper so they can have a proper swim but one spaniel in particular likes to launch himself off the sides and soon pops them.

Now I just have a hard plastic pool which is nice and easy to tuck away when not in use, but most importantly doesn’t pop or break because of the dogs. Something like this – Argos is a really good place to go because you can get same day delivery which is better than waiting for the post like Amazon.

4. Cooling Mat – These are fab for travelling in the car on a warm day, or to just dot around the house and garden. The pressure of the dogs on the mat sets of an endothermic [Knew my science A-levels would come in handy one day] reaction in the gel inside the mat which makes it cool for the dogs to lie on.

If you’ve got a dog thats a bit of a chewer just don’t leave them alone with these mats as you might come home to a gel explosion and some interesting dog hairdos! We’ve got the medium cooling mat from Paws and Presto which is £20.

5. Give them a brush – Although it sounds simple most people don’t know that grooming your dog can actually cool them down. Using either a metal comb or slicker brush groom all over their body. The hair that you collect is all dead hair that you’ll find around the house on the floor. By brushing it all out means the air can flow through your dogs coats, they can then regulate their temperature more easily so in the summer can keep cool but also in the winter can keep warm.

We hope these tips can help you enjoy this summer sunshine a little more, remember to head on over to Paws & Presto to shop the best practical dog accessories. You can get 10% off it all with “Cotswold 10” (space included).

Thanks for reading,

Megan, Woody & Wilma

 

 

 

This post is sponsored by Paws and Presto