Summer Heat

[wildewillie89]

I think it is 41 degrees where we are today. What are people doing to keep their dogs cool? Any interesting/different methods people have found to work?

I have a couple of those child size pools they use to mix cement (one under the carport, which is their main choice of space to relax, and one in their cage). Also have a lot of left over 2 litre milk bottles, so I put frozen bottles in the pools.

I also will freeze chicken broth in old ice-cream containers and also use the ice-cream containers to make blocks of ice I put in their water bowls. On the excessively hot days, I keep watch and sometimes I will use an outdoor fan (would be a couple of days a year). 

The Fila loves the heat, will sun-bake, run all day in it so it is important he doesn't kill himself. The Caucasian, being built for cold climates, enjoys the kids pools but not much else and gets by on her own really.

Any other ideas would be much appreciated.

[johng]

7 minutes ago, wildewillie89 said:

Any interesting/different methods people have found to work?

Shear them like sheep...then when they are cold put on some woolly jumpers 

[wildewillie89]

12 minutes ago, johng said:

Shear them like sheep...then when they are cold put on some woolly jumpers 

Lol...unfortunately it has the opposite effect. Makes them hotter as no insulation/protection from the elements.

[dick dasterdly]

My dogs tend to mostly hang around where I am, so fans are the easiest solution on the patio/in the house.  Yesterday was sweltering, so we all enjoyed the aircon.

 

Unfortunately this is no help at all, if your dogs prefer to hang out in the garden.

 

Great idea  to put frozen bottles in their pool!  I've often thought about getting them a childrens' paddling pool, but suspect they wouldn't use it and so never bothered.  If this hot weather continues, I'll give it a try.

[meatboy]

18 hours ago, johng said:

Shear them like sheep...then when they are cold put on some woolly jumpers 

that's not much of an intelligent answer,SHEAR THEM LIKE SHEEP that will give them hot spots,which is very nasty indeed. I know because we took our boy for a trim,only for the idiot groom to shave him like a sheep,then he got these hot spots as if his skin had been burnt.best place besides a room with air con is a downstairs tiled toilet.

[wildewillie89]

23 minutes ago, dick dasterdly said:

My dogs tend to mostly hang around where I am, so fans are the easiest solution on the patio/in the house.  Yesterday was sweltering, so we all enjoyed the aircon.

 

Unfortunately this is no help at all, if your dogs prefer to hang out in the garden.

 

Great idea  to put frozen bottles in their pool!  I've often thought about getting them a childrens' paddling pool, but suspect they wouldn't use it and so never bothered.  If this hot weather continues, I'll give it a try.

They have sweat glands in their paws and nose, but what is debated is how effective the glands actually are for cooling down. Many believe that they use the sweat glands in the feet for traction, and the ones in their nose to aide sniffing.

With my dogs, I do believe the pools help a lot as it is their natural go to method when hot from weather or exercise (work/walk/play). 41 degree weather, the dogs work hard, then a sit/stand in the pool for 30 seconds, and nap. Repeat all day. Why I believe it helps is that they don't feel the need to attempt to lay down as if to cool themselves, just put in their feet.

My dogs back home (Australia), also loved the children pools. 

[dick dasterdly]

11 minutes ago, wildewillie89 said:

They have sweat glands in their paws and nose, but what is debated is how effective the glands actually are for cooling down. Many believe that they use the sweat glands in the feet for traction, and the ones in their nose to aide sniffing.

With my dogs, I do believe the pools help a lot as it is their natural go to method when hot from weather or exercise (work/walk/play). 41 degree weather, the dogs work hard, then a sit/stand in the pool for 30 seconds, and nap. Repeat all day. Why I believe it helps is that they don't feel the need to attempt to lay down as if to cool themselves, just put in their feet.

My dogs back home (Australia), also loved the children pools. 

Entirely off topic, but this explains why I love the smell of their paws so much!

 

I always knew their paws smelt more strongly of 'them', but didn't know why, and had assumed they had peed on their paws!

[jak2002003]

I don't do anything for the dogs in hot weather.  They don't care about it, just get more sleepy in the daytime.  

 

We don't have air con.  But the floor ties in the house are cool enough to lay on and we have the ceiling fans on when its hot.

 

On the other hand, my silkie chickens really suffer in the heat... had one collapse of heat stroke last week, but after a dunk in a bucket of cool water it recovered.  Now spray them with water in the afternoon to keep them cool. The dogs would hate that idea though! 

 

 

[KhunBENQ]

No 1, mummy's favorite (avatar) is allowed to sleep inside just behind the door, tiled floor, fan on.

No 2, the big one is allowed when mummy is out

No 3, has a lot of long hair, smelly seems to suffer the least.

He sleeps under the car which is parked under a roof.

 

No 1 hates water, runs away.

No 2 loves being soaked.

No 3 is indifferent (sustains).

 

[wildewillie89]

Does anyone have one of those misting fans? Do they work well? I think quite expensive here. 

I read somewhere than misting set ups are getting popular (especially in America) as they can drop the temperature by up to 20 degrees. So people are having them set up around outdoor dining areas. They act like evaporative coolers or something along those lines, pump out a fine mist and the energy that it takes to evaporate the mist takes out the heat in the air. 

[meatboy]

17 hours ago, wildewillie89 said:

Does anyone have one of those misting fans? Do they work well? I think quite expensive here. I read somewhere than misting set ups are getting popular (especially in America) as they can drop the temperature by up to 20 degrees. So people are having them set up around outdoor dining areas. They act like evaporative coolers or something along those lines, pump out a fine mist and the energy that it takes to evaporate the mist takes out the heat in the air. 

what we bought was a hatari upright cooler with remort control.you fill the tank and add the freezer blocks,it has 3 settings,and the area is controlled the same as air con.[swing] the tank takes 4.5 lts.water,what we do is put 3 bottles of water in the fridge overnight and add any thing you can freeze aswell,allthough you get 2 freezer blocks with the machine.[3,200bht.] home pro.

you need one to look after your big boy,and keep him safe,as we know you find out how precious they are when they are taken from you.

its 46 days since my beloved was taken from us,and I still grieve every day. 

meatboy

[wildewillie89]

12 hours ago, meatboy said:

what we bought was a hatari upright cooler with remort control.you fill the tank and add the freezer blocks,it has 3 settings,and the area is controlled the same as air con.[swing] the tank takes 4.5 lts.water,what we do is put 3 bottles of water in the fridge overnight and add any thing you can freeze aswell,allthough you get 2 freezer blocks with the machine.[3,200bht.] home pro.

you need one to look after your big boy,and keep him safe,as we know you find out how precious they are when they are taken from you.

its 46 days since my beloved was taken from us,and I still grieve every day. 

meatboy

It wouldn't work outside though would it? Wonder if it would work in their cage, roughly 5mx4mx1.8m, lower half concrete upper half steel mesh fence. Shaded by mangoes on one side, bananas and a hut in front and shade cloth on other side. Just use it a few days a year to help out when it is extreme.

The Caucasian made the decision to live outside when she was about 9 months old. Before that slept inside every night, but one night she decided she wouldn't come in and hasn't since. Instincts ended up getting the better of her. One advantage of guardian breeds is they withstand extreme temperatures from both ends of the spectrum, so even though she is primarily built for harsh Soviet mountain regions, she seems to amazingly get by considering how much running/standing on 2 legs she does each day. One other thing I have found helps a lot is keeping them on the lean side. She still has some filling out to do, but right now I keep her between 47-50kg.

It is the Fila I worry about, he is one of those ball of muscle type dogs that just keeps going and going, which would be okay if he was smaller, but he is 50kg at 10 months already. A great worker, but I am hoping with age his instincts start to kick in (wait for things to get close enough, rather than chase). Currently, the Caucasian has got him doing patrols for her. If it wasn't so hot it would be kind of funny, as you can almost see the confusion on his face and movements of taught behaviour fighting instinctive behaviour. 

[meatboy]

it needs a electric point outside,but it does work a lot better than a fan,as the mist is cold,last about 2.5-3hrs.we always kept a reserve of iced water to it up.

[sappersrest]

If the dog will keep it on I find a large towel soaked in water works well.

[wildewillie89]

14 hours ago, sappersrest said:

If the dog will keep it on I find a large towel soaked in water works well.

Yes, the vet once recommended a wet towel.

On the really hot day I ended up spraying the ground with water and chucking on the outdoor fan. I also set the hose to the mist setting and shot it up in the air. They were pretty content to let themselves be drenched as it was hitting them softly like rain would, rather than a hose. 

[meatboy]

this one is for you willi.watching my favourite program bondi vet this morning this came up.most prolific in the summer heat is this gritter,PARALYSIS TICK,this one carries a potent toxin from the female tick,can be lethal in the summer heat.

as I have never heard from any vets mention this one,has it hit the shore's of Thailand.

[wildewillie89]

3 minutes ago, meatboy said:

this one is for you willi.watching my favourite program bondi vet this morning this came up.most prolific in the summer heat is this gritter,PARALYSIS TICK,this one carries a potent toxin from the female tick,can be lethal in the summer heat.

as I have never heard from any vets mention this one,has it hit the shore's of Thailand.

Ixodes Holocyclusis, the most medically important tick in Australia. I think it is only in Australia though. Much further North from where I was so I never had any experience with it, or any ticks. But many people concerned about it on Facebook. 

[meatboy]

On ‎4‎/‎18‎/‎2018 at 8:00 AM, wildewillie89 said:

Ixodes Holocyclusis, the most medically important tick in Australia. I think it is only in Australia though. Much further North from where I was so I never had any experience with it, or any ticks. But many people concerned about it on Facebook. 

this morning was about orphaned fruit bats,hundreds being cared for,all their mothers died from the PARALYSIS TICK.

customs in Thailand be ALERT.

[meatboy]

On ‎4‎/‎18‎/‎2018 at 7:46 AM, wildewillie89 said:

Yes, the vet once recommended a wet towel.

On the really hot day I ended up spraying the ground with water and chucking on the outdoor fan. I also set the hose to the mist setting and shot it up in the air. They were pretty content to let themselves be drenched as it was hitting them softly like rain would, rather than a hose. 

what we did buy about 8yrs.ago was 2 x hatari POWER WIND FANS with 18inch blades.wherever the dog laid in the morning these fans would keep the mossy's away.

[wildewillie89]

4 hours ago, meatboy said:

what we did buy about 8yrs.ago was 2 x hatari POWER WIND FANS with 18inch blades.wherever the dog laid in the morning these fans would keep the mossy's away.

Used one of them today. We currently have someone cutting the grass, so they have to be put away in their cage. I watered down the whole cage, the top of the roof, the roof inside, the walls and the floor. With that, their pool with the frozen bottle in it and the fan they were very happy. Weren't even panting...about 36 degrees here today.