Cool your dog on a hot day

If you own a dog, chances are that your canine looks longingly towards you when you sip that cold drink on a hot summer day. Your dog is miserably hot with all that fur on its body. As an owner, it is your responsibility to protect it from a heatstroke. The latter is not so easy as it sounds. Many canines have died due to heat.

Help your dog by finding it a cool place in which it can relax. Take an outdoor thermometer and find the coolest area for your best friend. This could be the shade of a big tree or a small patio with a canvas canopy. You can also buy collapsible shade tents from garden stores or online. These can be folded and unfolded when required.Go for a swim with your dog if you have a natural pond or a pool beside where you and the canine currently are located. Be careful before you and your dog jumps in. Your dog could be harmed if its body is near to having a heat stroke. An abrupt lowering of the dog's surface temperature may lead to heating up of the internal organs. This may lead the dog's body to overheat and consequently fall sick. To avoid this, ensure the dog enters the cool waters of the waterbody slowly. The animal should stand in the water and first cool its feet. Measure your dog's body temperature with a rectal thermometer. It should not drop below 103 degrees Fahrenheit. If there is no lake or pool beside your house, place a wading pool to allow your dog to dip in the water. This works even if they stand on the pool surface with water submerging the feet base. Your dog's foot pads help it to dissipate heat.

Another way to cool your dog down is to provide a breeze. Place a table or window fan to make a pleasant wind. It helps to cool through evaporation. Dogs do not perspire much, and you may have to switch on the fan for a longer period of time. You can spray mist to cool it down. Hosing down may not work as it not only wastes water, many dogs are afraid of it. Spraying mist in comparison is much more comfortable to the canine. Wonder not, these fan attachments are not expensive. A number of gardening shops sell such kind of equipment.You can also use any wet blanket to cool down the dog. Take a bath towel which you have dampened in water and then kept inside a refrigerator. This makes an excellent cooling material. You can also place frozen cans on the dog's head, groin or neck. Put some ice in your dog's watering bowl.