Do you know how to keep your dog cool in the car during the summer heat? We never thought much about it until we started participating in dog sports where we are often in the car or in places with no a/c for hours or all day! I’ve found with just a few simple items, I manage to stay pretty cool!
This weekend, I’ll be in a nose work trial which means Mom and I will spend most of the day in the car, in the parking lot, in the sun. The forecast is for around ninety degrees and humid. Not being the fastest dog in nice temps, I really slow down if I’m too warm, so it’s important to keep me cool! You can bet your furs, I will have all these items along with me!
The newest addition to our heat busting arsenal is our aluminet shade cloth. Thankfully, we drive a white car with somewhat tinted windows, but this shade cloth makes a world of difference! It reflects a lot of the sun off the car, and you can have it over the car and windows even if they are open. Don’t forget to buy some clamps to keep it in place!
Bailie tested it out for the first time back in May. Look how calm and cool she was looking in the sun on an eighty plus degree day!
New for this weekend will be my large cooling mat. It will keep me cool just by lying down on it. I’ll add my Kool Kollar around my neck filled with ice from the cooler and I will feel good. This photo was from July 2015 when I was out in the hot and humid all day for my NW1 trial.
Fresh water and a bowl are a must, and I also enjoy my small portable fan. Actually, we now have two which I have blowing on me. Mom makes sure we have extra batteries on hand as well. I’m sure there are more tips out there, but these few items work really well to keep me cool. Do you have any great tips to add to my list?
My tip is stay home in the air conditioner!
But then they’d miss out on all sorts of adventures!
Dog sports are loads of fun for both humans and dogs. Not only do they give a sense of purpose and accomplishment, but sports also bring the human and dog closer together as often they have to perform as a team.
My beagles and I do Barn Hunting. The dog finds hidden rats in the hay, and I call them out as he finds them… and make sure he don’t alert on “fakes.” It’s all about learning to read my dogs’ body language while they learn to fine tune their sniffing abilities. 🙂
The heat part is just another challenge to a sport. Last year we did barn hunt in 90 degree weather and it was hot but we still had fun.
Thankfully our trials are in the fall, so we avoid the extreme FL heat. I used to travel to different venues in the Spring, but I found that Dexter didn’t do as well. I might try it out with Max though… we’ll see.
We don’t do tracking in the summer, but the other sports go on because we can’t do them in the winter with the extreme cold and snow up here.
That is what I usually do in the heat, but if I have a trial, I have to go so we make the best of it!
First of all…good luck this weekend! You certainly have your act together and ready for the heat. Stay cool, girls. XOXO, Sparkle
Thank you. Staying cool will probably be the easiest part of the day!
It sounds to us like you pretty much have everything covered there! We’ve never seen a full car sun shade like that, what a great find….if you can’t park in the shade, make your own!
Shade is usually not available. You can buy the sun shades in all different sizes and some people put two together.
Sound like you have a great plan! It’s hot here today!! have a great day and good luck this weekend. Your doodle friend Dash
It’s cold today, only around 70, but the heat is on the way back 🙁
First, good luck this weekend! I’m sure you and your Mom will do great!
I love that sun shade! Where did you get it? I need one for when I’m at the vet with Shadow or Ducky! We don’t spend much time in the afternoon heat – especially with Shadow – but it would be great for those times when it’s unavoidable.
Around here, everyone orders them from https://www.cleanrun.com/ They have sales sometimes too. Amazon may have them. We never really thought they were necessary, but they really help.
Thanks! I’ll check it out!
You are so brave to spend a hot day outside and in the car. Sounds like you’ve got it figured out, though. Good luck.
Love and licks,
Cupcake
But, it is for my favorite thing next to wabbit hunting, nose work, AND I get to spend the day with my mom. We will have fun no matter what the weather!
love the cooling cover for the car…that sounds like a really good thing! good luck for your nose trial!!! I hope you will rock that event!!! we go to a show… not sure if I will rock it… I probably just roll it ;o)
Roll in it after, rock it during 😉
These are great ideas. The only other thing I would probably do is run the car occasionally to get some AC going for a bit. Not environmentally friendly but I’d do it. Sometimes I also will get my dogs’ fur wet with some water. Do some of these events have kiddie pools filled with water available? One of the dog adoption groups here has pools set up at their events so dogs can cool off in the summer. I thought that was a great idea.
Running cars is discouraged because we are all outside parked together and the exhaust is not nice for the others around you. We can’t do pools either because we would be wet and going into a school with 30+ wet dogs would not be a good thing. It works for everyone as is. We all have our plans.
Good post to share since people don’t understand how important it is to keep us cool and out of hot cars
Lily & Edward
That’s right, and Mom is in the car with me most of the time, so she knows how warm or cool it really is.
The boys need a cooling mat too. I love your car cover! What a “cool” idea.
Those are great ideas, especially the cooling mat!
I think it is all going to keep me pretty comfortable in the heat this weekend.
Great suggestions. We find some of the same challenges keeping the boat cool for Honey. But our best strategy, which you don’t have when you’re doing dog sports, is to only leave her alone on the boat early in the morning when it is still cool. All other times, one of us is always with her so we can monitor her condition.
It would be silly to bring a boat to a trial to sit in, LOL! I imagine it does get warm on the boat. One always thinks the water cools, but you are on top of it in the sun.
Cooling mats are pawsome!! We don’t travel anywhere in the summer without ours!
xoxo
Arty & Jakey
I think it will be a huge help for me from the bottom side.
Stay safe and cool. We always try to find a spot that has some shade from a tree or fence. Good luck.
That is a great idea, but most of our trial sites have parking lots without shade. We still manage to stay pretty cool.
I was going to suggest a fan, but I see Mom already has that covered. Good luck in your trial this week!
Or two fans. I have two and they felt great yesterday!
A great list of stuff to keep in your car. Stay cool this weekend.
I survived the heat in the car yesterday. Actually, considering the temps, it wasn’t that bad with all my equipment.
That Kool Kollar’s a nifty thing – and we bet it feels gooooooood!
It really helps a girl stay cool! As the ice melts, the cold water wets our furs.
It’s so freaking hot here in Charleston, I’d be afraid that cloth would reflect the sun and burst into flames! LOL Great tips, I shall share…
LOL! We have not seen that happen yet, and it does stay cool to the touch so Mom was not burned putting it away after the day ended!