Entertaining your dogs in the hot weather..

Not everyone is able to access a river, or provide a kiddie pool full of water in a garden. However, your dogs still need entertainment and exercise, otherwise they will become bored and despondent. We are lucky enough to be around ten minutes walk away from a river, which our two play in. We still don't take them down there until it's out of the hottest period of the day, because the heat from the ground, and direct sunlight, isn't so much fun for a dog with bare pads, and a fur coat.

There is some contention surrounding feeding ice to your dog during summer, to keep them cool. Some people believe it causes bloat, some people believe it's harmless. A bucket filled with water and toys/treats, and then frozen, is supposedly a good way to entertain a dog in the hotter weather. I haven't done it, and I'm not sure about its safety, so I need to do more research on that first.

How do you entertain your dogs when it's too hot?

 

I don't know about feeding ice because we haven't tried it yet so I can't help you with that, but when it comes to entertaining, my dog's favourite thing to do during hot days is sitting in a window and looking at the street. My house is old so it's always quite cold in there. So every day he sits on the windowsill and barks at everyone who is passing by. We go for a walk only in early morning and in the evening when it's not so hot.

 

I've never had a dog that was interested in ice. I don't think it would cause problems since it would take them awhile to get through it and most of it would melt on the ground.

We're lucky to live in an area that doesn't get too warm in the Summer. We have temps in the 80s, but it rarely gets over 90. But, on warm days, I walk Misha early in the morning. I don't deal well with heat, so it works for both of us. I usually use her treat balls on warm days to give her something to do.

She is terrified of the water sprinklers. I can't get her to come near them. When we are out walking, she will walk behind me for protection. LOL

 

Nah, my dog isn't keen on ice. Sometimes when she's panting outside I lay cubes on her, which she seems to enjoy, as they melt slowly and must give her some sort of pleasure and relief from the sun. Other wise she just plays ball a bit and then goes and cools down in the shade... bare in mind that I'm from the UK and we rarely get hot days anyway!