Dear friends,

Whew. They don’t call them the dog days of summer for nothing! I’m pretty sure that phrase arrived because some pup was just exhausted and overheated on a super hot summer day. And we’ve been having a few of those this week!

A dog’s normal body temperature is 100-102°F and hot weather plus humidity can really be taxing on pets. Since it’s really crucial that dogs be cared for properly during the summer to prevent them from overheating, sunburn, dehydration and getting heat stroke, I thought I would take this opportunity to offer a few suggestions to keep your four-legged friends more comfortable this summer!

1. Always provide shade for your dog on sunny days. If you can bring him inside and offer up an air conditioning vent – even better. But any shade is vastly better than laying in the direct sun.
2. Keep plenty of fresh, cool water around. Always put the water bowl in a shaded area if it’s outside because that water will get fiery hot after the sun has been beating down on it for a while. Hot water is not going to help cool us dogs down!
3. Never leave your dog in a closed car, greenhouse or other space. Enclosed spaces heat up very quickly on warm, sunny days and your dog may not survive. For the same reason that you should never leave children or elderly individuals in the car on a summer day, you should also not leave your pets in there. It’s a health risk and it takes no time at all for heat stroke to set in. The temperature inside a car can increase by 40 degrees in just 1 hour. Leave your pets at home if you need to go run errands — they will appreciate the chance to be at home instead of in a boiling hot car. Trust me.
4. Make ice cream and other frozen treats for your pets. This not only tastes good to them, but will encourage some pets who are reluctant to drink a lot of water or eat plain ice cubes to cool themselves down. Mom used to make homemade doggie ice cream for me all the time but I got kinda bored with it. Now she just makes huge ice cubes for me in little plastic boxes.
5. Host a doggie wet t-shirt contest. I know that sounds silly, but  putting a wet t-shirt on us can really help cool us down as the water evaporates. There are also special cooling bandanas you can put in your fridge for this purpose.
6. Talk walks only in the morning when it’s cool – and find shade if possible. We are lucky enough to have a public orchard nearby with huge trees to walk through when it’s hot, and it’s got to be 5-10 degrees cooler in there most days. But if you can’t do that, walk your dog when it’s still cool out in the early morning, or late in the day when the sun has gone down and it’s cooling off again. NEVER take your dog for a run with you in the middle of the day. You’re not going putting your pet at risk, but also yourself.
7. Buy a cool bed for your pet. We used to have a couple Canine Cooler beds which were pretty good for a year or so until they burst and started to smell really funky. Basically it’s a thin dog bed that you fill with water for your pets to lay on. It not only helps them keep cool but also is good for dogs with arthritis or other joint problems since it keeps them from laying on the hard floor.
8. Give your dog a good grooming and perhaps a belly shave. Get as much of the winter coat off of your dog as you can and if your dog is still just too warm, consider trimming down fur on the belly. My humans did that to me last year and it was quite refreshing, especially when I was able to lay on the cool floor with my exposed belly. Heaven. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend shaving your entire long-haired pet (like a Newfie) because it can cause the hair to grow back kinda crazy. But a belly trimming is usually not only helpful in the summer, but helps keep odors reduced in the private area as well.
9. Provide water for splashing, swimming or laying. Whether it’s a small swimming pool, a lake, a river, a sprinkler or just a few squirts from the garden hose in the driveway, offer your dog a way to get wet so help cool them down. I’m not really a fan of little pools or anything like that, but if you take me to a river, stream or puddle, I’m going to be in it!
10. Apply doggy sunscreen. Light coated dogs and those with short fur (or recently shaved fur) are most likely to get sunburn, but any dog can get too much sun on the nose or ears, especially if you’re heading out for the day to the beach or a lake. There are sunscreens made specifically for dogs but you still usually don’t want to apply sunscreen on places like the belly where your dog is just going to lick it all off.