Our weather man says we will reach 100 today (at 95 right now) and after hearing that I made sure to fill the dog's water dish, pull the shades and set the AC to a decent temperature in the house before I left for work.

What does everyone do to keep their dogs cool and safe on these hot, hot days? Are you home with them? What if you have to work or run errands? Any thing special you do for your dogs just because it’s going to be a real HOT day? Any tips/tricks you've found for your keeping your dogs comfortable? Want to share with everyone?

AC!!!! I don't usually take Jax out to play unless it's to swim and then it's in the evenings when the sun isn't so hot. She won't play in a child's swimming pool. I think she thinks it's a bathtub. She just really does not deal with the heat very well at all.

I usually put out an extra dish of water, just incase the puppers need it. The A/C goes on, the shades are drawn and if we are outside, we are just hanging out not doing a lot of physical activity (which is hard for Oscar! ).

Oscar is actually at doggy day care today and I know they bring out the dog pools, the hose and have huge umbrellas that they put outside.

I work at home, so I am home with the dogs most of the time. In the hottest part of the summer, we often have 118-120 degree days. The dogs will only go outside to potty then quickly come inside. We do all of our training and playing in the late evening, often after 8 or 9 pm, and it is usually 95-100 at that time. Or, we exercise,train,and play before 8 am.

My A/C is kept at 77 all the time, so the inside of the house is kept comfortable for the dogs.

They do like to play in their pool on the weekends for a bit too.

Yup! Here are my tips:

Grimm is a large, heavy-boned Czech male of well over 90 lbs, who does not tolerate the heat well at all. Winter is his season for madcap snowdrift mayhem!

NO midday gallumping! As sad as this is, we take the worst of the summers "off" from our usual daily gallumps in the clearing. No gallumping early in the morning or sundown, because that's when "the nightshift" comes out here-- skunks, foxes, raccoons, coyotes. We'll pick back up with our daily gallumps in the clearing come cooler weather!

Increase walks in the early part of the day and in the early evenings.

Increase ballplaying and wild, outrageous squeaky-toy shenanigans in the house!

Increase grooming with the undercoat rake, pulling out gobs of underfluffs, every other evening.

I've bought my first air conditioner this year. Grimm deserves it!!

Bathe a bit more often, if the dog is dusty. In the heat, a dog needs to most easily be able to angle his fur however he can best insulate from the heat/cool himself.

I increase my dog's water only slightly. He's not excersising as much in the heat, and if my schedule remains the same, I don't want him to have to struggle in summer months having to hold his urine. (However, see my "increased walks" mention above) He's raw fed, so gets lots of moisture from his diet as well.

Shady cool grassy areas-- midday, we go there so Grimm can roll in the cool grass, flop down and relax.

Sorry, guys-- as much as everyone else seems to love summer, I'm eager for fall!

DH is home with the dogs during the day and he makes sure they have plenty of water. If he's working in the gardens, they go and hang out with him, but they mostly lay in the shade and supervise his work. If he's working in his shop in the basement, they hang out there with him.

When I get home, I'll take them for a walk when it has cooled down enough. It wasn't too bad today and they got their walks before dinner. Tomorrow and Thursday we're supposed to be getting your 90°+ weather and we won't walk until well after dinner. Or we might just hide in the basement for a while and do some woodworking.

We do run the AC at around 77-78 when it's really hot. And hide in the basement cause it's nice and cool down there.

I'm with Patti. I like the summer for the fresh veggies from the garder, but for anything else I prefer the cooler weather and the dogs do, too.

Air conditioning, a must! Max stays home and chills while I"m out. The bad thing is that he can't come run any errands with me, since I can't leave him in the car when it's so hot.

I'm home all day with the Hooligans. I set their little wadding pool up. Make sure they have fresh water. I put them out in the morning and on hot days bring them in by 10 AM or so. I'll put them out once or twice for a quickie during the day and always take them out at 5PM for maybe 15 minutes or so (longer in cooler weather). Then later in the evening they can go out and stay for longer periods of time as long as they're not barking.

Air con here too, I am also home all day so Molly gets her exercise early morning and when the sun goes down. She did have paddling pools but killed them so now she has her own bathtub outside!

All this talk of summer and I'm sitting here in thermals and freezing my butt off

I leave a bucket of water with a huge chunk of ice, to keep it cool all day. I am not a fan of AC, but all the ceiling fans are on. The dogs have their own floor fan to relax near. Thinking of ordering a cooling blanket from Saratoga horse works for my black Shepherd. I have a 200 year old oak tree in the back yard, so house and yard stay cooler.

we hit 100 yesterday!. I had to wake up real early ( 5ish) just so i can take Josie for a walk and have her do her usual run By the time it hits 9 it's already freakish hot!. Kiddie pools came out for her and a bucket of water. I threw a whole bunch of balls in the water and she played dunkn balls. She is a water maniac now .

Even my sheltie wouldn't come outside to play. You know it's hot if your sheltie rather stay inside.

Currently, we live in a place that doesn't get super hot. On warmer days, we head to the lake. We do our walks/runs in the morning and the temps are always ok then.

When we lived in San Digeo, they were either 1. inside with me and the AC (when I worked from home) and we exercised super early or late or took the day off. I would leave them inside for 3-4 hours at a time if need be. -OR- 2. when I didn't work from home, we set up a pop up shade outside along with their horse 5+ gallon bucket that we used for water so they could (and did) jump in and cool off. We would also exercise super early or late. On weekends, we would often head to the beach early in the mornings before the crowds got bad.

Our dogs stay inside with the AC on. In the evenings if it isn't so humid, I take them outside for a romp with the hose added with their play time. I'm heading to Wallyworld this weekend to buy them a pool.

We get more humidity than heat and even still the 2 days this week our humidex got near 39 there was a nice breeze. We do an early morning walk, - maybe 2 miles and a late evening walk of the same distance. (I aim for 5 miles a day for me) Couple times this week I left Oz home on the evening walk but that was his back more than the heat.
We have a/c and a dehumidifier, no pool, I have great grass this year and don't want a mud pit. Fortunately by approx. 12:30 each afternoon the sun is towards the front of the house so the deck is in shade or at least part shade. I despise being inside, I still hear my mother's voice in my head "It's a nice day, get outside". Oz, even in heat would rather lay outside and there's a shade on my daughter's playpen, so we're usually outside as soon as the deck has some shade.

Here in good ole N. Louisiana it is just Hot Hot, our days are usually in the upper 90's to lower 100's daily. Major stays inside while I am at work in the A/C, and as soon as I get home we fill the 5' round kiddy pool up and he goes for his swim in the nice cool water, play a little ball or frisbee. Sometimes I just take him on to the lake and I swim with him after work, It has gotten way to hot to hike except early weekend mornings. I also put ice blocks in the water bowls outside, give him frozen yogurt treats for a cool snack while I am outside working in the yard in the evevnings, he loves them. We usually end up the evening with a round of training in english, german and hand signals, he loves his homeade treats. On weekends I try to plan on visiting friends on the lake and take him with me were ever that may be flea market, fishing, canoeing. I run all erands after work so he is not in the car with me, just to hot.

Some members of my family tend to say I have gone overboard with my dog, but my belief is that I picked this pup to live with me and it is my duty to care for him, just as I did with Rex (rip).

AC in the house & truck - none of us would make it here in Central AR without this. For the most part, they're only out in the early morning and later at evening.

Last night at 2 AM the temp was actually rather nice out for our abbreviated walk.
Training today was in the shade between 8:30 & 9 AM or so. Few people were at the club so it was easy and quick and outathere.

In dry heat (not much of that in AR) I would use the cooler pads that were filled with pellets that hold moisture & the cooler collars, too. They really worked. Here, they just don't dry out quickly enough for me.

We've had the dog pool (neighbor threw it out) & hose out a time or two but the youngster gets so carried away I don't know if it is effective or not.

This is a great topic! I just read through it and have taken a few tips for Diogy.

He loves to play in the kids pool, run through the sprinkler, eat water and lay around in the shade.
I try to minimize car rides or errands on hot days just cause its too hot. (: We have AC too.
Yesterday it was 75 and the cement was HOT I walked out to get the mail, Diogy followed me and he was picking his paws up as soon as he put them down, he quickly ran back to the grass.

Thanks for the great topic!

No A/C here. I get us out early for our walk before it gets too incredibly hot. And, if it is warm, I make sure to stop and let Risa cool off partway through the walk so she doesn't overheat. I bring our portable water dish with me and get her a drink at one of the water fountains where we usually take our stroll.

When we lived in MT and CT, I would take her swimming as frequently as I could. I don't have a water source here. I did buy her a kiddie pool but haven't used it much yet. She's not much of a water dog anyway.

We spend as much time downstairs as we can; it's cooler down there. If her walks are cut short, I try and get her out for some brief playing in the yard or some brain-work inside to make up for it and keep her from going stir crazy!

I love ice cubes in the water. Even on hiking expeditions, I like to pop ice cubes in the doggy water bottles and make sure to keep offering water, take breaks in the shade, and even just avoid physical activity when it's way too hot. On the extreme heat days, go out when the sun isn't high in the sky and for short periods of time.

A/C!!!!! Wading pool!!!! Mister!!!!

It is 104 here right now. I wanted to track this morning. I got up at 5:30 and it was already 83. It was 90 by 8. No tracking today.

The temperatures here are still within the tolerable range 72 - 74.

When the extreme heat wave hits, I usually cut down on the leash walks and head for the cooler woods. On those trips I bring a water bottle filled half and half with ice/water.

At home we use the garden hose to keep cool. (No A/C here!) Last year I bought a kiddie pool thinking Yukon would enjoy cooling off in that. Nope, the only time he went in is when I threw treats and toys in or got in there myself.

[quote=OnePawtoAnother]Here in good ole N. Louisiana it is just Hot Hot, our days are usually in the upper 90's to lower 100's daily.

Yep! I'm your neighbor. Shreveport. It's hot as "the hinges..."

Jack and Sofie don't get their ball play much, but they do like to cool off in water.

Great topic! I am always afraid of leaving the window AC on if a t-storm has been announced. Metal sticking out, lightning? But gotta, it's just too hot. Thoughts, advice?

With Feli I got up at sunrise and drove down to the river, the only place during heat waves that still had some kind of a breeze.
With Chip I walk in the evening.

And doggie ice cream! The ones without additives. Or plain vanilla, yum!

AC is full blast, ice in the water bowls (multiple bowls around), pool is filled with ice and water on the balcony, lots of frozen toys. We do a lot of short walks and play sessions in the nice cool house. Swimming, hiking in the bush (cooler in the bush) are all things we do to keep cool in the heat.

If the dogs are outside, I have at least one full water trough. I spray down the patio (so it's not hot on their feet when they are drinking), spray the grass, or just spray the dogs. I do not work them and I let them move freely so they can go in the shade. There is also a moratorium on the digging ban so the dogs can find cool soil. I don't use ice or ice water as I've read this can cramp their stomachs? I just use water from the hose (spray out all the hot stagnant water first).

Inside, we've never had AC before recently (and even then don't usually run it b/c our house is tall and 75 years old so it does nothing). The basement always stays cool, so sometimes I gate the dogs down there for their own comfort (otherwise they'd rather follow me around the house or out in the sun). I leave an oscillating fan on.

At night, I leave the bedroom door open so they are free to find a comfortable spot. Nikon still insists on sleeping on the floor next to me, so I have a small fan sitting on the floor that is for him.

If we go on walks or train, I wait until the sun is below the houses.

The heat and sun is not so much the issue for my dogs but the humidity really gets to them. Sometimes it's just so hot and humid that even wetting them down doesn't help much. In generally I just make sure there is constant access to water and shade.

We always have the ac on nice and cool like 65 and he likes to lay on the tile by the door. I fill his water nice and cold and put ice in it a few times a day.

A friend just told me that a friend of his took his dog for a walk (Atlanta,Ga) and the dog died of heat stroke.

Don't know the details but you have to be careful in this heat.

We've been over 100º here with heat index up to 110º.

I try to just let my dogs wander the yard with me a couple of times a day and I have a pool so they can cool off.

They're going nuts getting so little exercise, but better that than heatstroke.

Max has been hanging out in the nice cool ac. Dad lets him out to do what needs doin' and maybe a frisbee toss or two but then its back into the ac. I tried a walk last night around 10pm but we got a block before Max was tripping over his tongue and I got tired of chewing the air before breathing it (temp was 87 and humidity was 95+) He was actually ready to turn around. He ended up doing steps: running up and down and up and down the carpeted steps in the house. Probably not the best idea but his energy levels needed tapped. He looked happy while he was doing it so we just let him go

We had his pool out before this heat wave hit. Dad said he just laid out there all day but its too hot even in the water right now. There's no shade until evening and its been too hot even then.

I'm pondering having a sleep over at my apt. for Max tonight (shhh, don't tell the landlord). That way, maybe we can get to the park at sunrise when it opens and have a bit of a romp before the heat knocks us both out.

Today was finally a little cooler but still very warm out. DnQ haven't been getting walks because of the heat. I have just been taking them out for short periods a couple of times when I get home from work. As much as Daisy loves outdoors she's running back up the steps to the door. lol Queen will sit under a tree in the yard (very shaded) ... I guess they are adjusting I haven't had a hard time to get them to go out at least. They were backing away from the door at one time.

Question on shepherds I heard that they love water .. we have a pool and one concern I used to have was I didn't want them to get in it because of the hair but they want no parts of it. They just run circles around it when I'm swimming they do love the water hose though.

We've had more than 20 days straight over over 100-degree temps. Some days it stays over 100 from 10 in the morning until 7:30 or 8pm.

We've become vampires. We take the dogs out for walks in full dark, usually around 9pm. During the day, we all stay inside and when the dogs go out, they come right back in.

In my neighborhood, and outside dog died from heat stroke.

We're doing lots of fetch, hide and seek, and obedience in the house.

OK,more heat stuff -- cooler today but due to soar again next week. So we have emptied the pool twice. Then in for a while (she didn't want to leave it) then back out laying in the damp earth from the pool (she digs the water out).
A few days ago I let her out when I had the pulse sprinkler on. I should have video-taped it! But I don't want her going full tilt even in water in this heat.

It's too hot to take her on trail rides with a newer horse. (With my old mare she'd have done fine because we could have gone for a very short ride. - Mr. new guy needs more than that or he'll get sour.)

Yeh i agree with Tarheel.. i have a big container of ice in his bowl for sax... and also he has fun trying to catch the water with the hose! when i wash the car, it cools him down ... i also brush him every day against the grain as it helps with the undercoat.. walks early morn and late arvo after sundown... its a nice cool day today in rutherford nsw... rainy and 16.5 deg C and he is inside lol

I got a kiddie pool to place under our tree for those hot summer days that DH and I would be gone all day. I used to take her on walks in the mornings but that was before my work hours changed and I wouldd have to walk the dog in the dark (not a good idea for a pregnant woman!)so I'm not walking her in the mornings anymore. I am going to hit the park in the evenings when it's cooler and on super-hot days that the dog needs a good long walk, I just drive a bit further to hit the wooded trails so Abbey can stay cool.

If we're going to be gone for several hours or less, we'd just leave her inside where it's cool.