I spend a lot of time on this blog talking about my own personal health and comfort. Today, let’s shift the spotlight to someone far furrier and less likely to hold a multi-year grudge: my dog.
Lucille, as you’ve probably realized, gets a lot of real estate on this page, and for good reason: she’s photogenic, she works for free and she’s at times larger than life — or at least larger than the back seat of a Kia Forte.
I’m writing about our family bear dog today because many of my readers are dog lovers, too, and as the mercury rises, we don’t always know the best ways to keep them from overheating. If it’s too hot for me to lace up and go for a run, it’s too hot for her, but with dogs unable to sweat or complain or crank up the fan, sometimes us dog mothers (fine, dog landlords) have to take cooling matters into our own human hands.
(Disclaimer: I’m not a veterinarian — just a pet owner whose dependent charge is constantly covered in 65 pounds of what I can only imagine feels like solid black felt.)
Now at our Queens apartment, Lucille does just fine even when the temperature pushes 100 — we keep her water bowl full, the AC blasting, the window coverings drawn, her outdoor walks short and the bathroom door open, so she can nap on the cool tile and lower her body heat/make it really hard for her humans to pee in privacy.
But every time we head to our upstate house, we start to worry that she won’t be able to cool herself down sufficiently in an 1840s home with no air conditioning and poor circulation and far too many centipedes. (That last bit doesn’t impact the weather so much as my personal wellbeing.) So we’ve devised a whole host of tricks to keep her cool, which — in tandem — have so far kept her from spontaneously combusting.
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- Keep water and ice-cubes within her reach: Dehydration is a major summer concern, so keep your dog’s bowl filled and offer the frozen variety if it doesn’t seem to bother his or her teeth.
- Limit outdoor time during the middle of the day: Plan big walks for early morning, and make sure there’s ample shade outside if you’re throwing your pup outback.
- Buy a cooling pad: This is a new tool in our toolbox, so not quite sure yet if she’ll warm to it, but she certainly stays on it all night without complaints.
- More unorthodox methods: Cover your dog in a cool wet towel. Take her for a swim. Or, if you’re weirdos like us, line her spine with ziplocks of ice. You know, normal things.
- Share your popsicle: Again, I may be alone in this camp, but she certainly seemed to like it.
Dog owners — what other tips can you share? Cat owners — I know you want an easy-to-manage pet but AT WHAT COST? (Just kidding. Maybe.)
Riled Up Runner 