Keeping dogs cool

[E.K.]

We are about to move from Sydney to the north coast of NSW where it is quite a bit warmer due to being closer to Queensland.  Am a bit worried about keeping our 11 and 12 year old male toy poodles cool.  Last week we had some days over 30 degrees celsius in Sydney and I noticed them panting a bit with their mouths open.  They are not house trained therefore will have to be outside the house when we are not at home.  There is shade around the new house but I'm still worried that the heat and humidity with adversely affect them.  Any suggestions?

[Sivaro]

I was going to suggest a shade house but you have that.  Maybe something a bit more open so some breeze comes in.  I know those cool mats only last so long.  All I can say is keep plenty of water in there as they must keep their fluids up.
Maybe someone from that area would have a better suggestion.

[zefi]

Have you moved yet?

The best type of shade is usually under dense folliage, so if you have that the dogs will be ok I would think. The type of shade offered by a tin roof or shadecloth is nowhere near as refreshing...

Under a deck maybe, in the dirt... I know that in summer my dogs love to go under the pine tree or under the shrubs next to the house and lie on the dirt which is cooler.

[E.K.]

We will be living there by the end of October.  Our new house is on an acre of unfenced land surrounded by mostly tall gum trees.  We will be putting up a fenced area especially for the dogs to run around in.  The house has front and back patio areas which are partly shaded depending on the angle of the sun.

[Lushbaby]

I think when the temperature gets to the stage they are panting you have to bring them inside even if not house trained. It got to 45 degrees here last summer. Mine are inside dogs but I had to bring all my stud cats inside when it got to a certain temperature & put them back out when it cooled. How about a couple of large dog crates for extreme heat times or the laundry. I got large crates for $50 from deals direct.
Under decking is not good as there may be snakes there & you wont know. Or maybe you could enclose the back patio & put an air con in there.

[E.K.]

I think when the temperature gets to the stage they are panting you have to bring them inside even if not house trained. It got to 45 degrees here last summer. Mine are inside dogs but I had to bring all my stud cats inside when it got to a certain temperature & put them back out when it cooled. How about a couple of large dog crates for extreme heat times or the laundry. I got large crates for $50 from deals direct.
Under decking is not good as there may be snakes there & you wont know. Or maybe you could enclose the back patio & put an air con in there.

So we should leave them in crates inside the house with the air conditioning on while we are out on a hot day?

We have a separate garage from the house which is where they will be sleeping at night.. perhaps we could leave them in there when we are out as it is fairly cool.

[Lushbaby]

Buy a cheap garden thermometer & hang it in the garage to check the temp on hot days
If the garage is brick it should be fine but if it is tin/metal be careful. There was an incident on another forum where 2 dogs were locked inside a large shed to keep them safe while the people went out on New years Eve. They died. Test it first,even inside can get hot with no air con in some homes. I have a timer on the air con so if I have to go out I set it appropriately.

[E.K.]

Buy a cheap garden thermometer & hang it in the garage to check the temp on hot days
If the garage is brick it should be fine but if it is tin/metal be careful. There was an incident on another forum where 2 dogs were locked inside a large shed to keep them safe while the people went out on New years Eve. They died. Test it first,even inside can get hot with no air con in some homes. I have a timer on the air con so if I have to go out I set it appropriately.

The garage is brick with an insulated colorbond roof and a large window.  Good idea about the thermometer.  We plan on fencing off an area outside the garage door so they can come and go as they please.  That way hopefully they'll do their doggie doos outside.

[zefi]

I read somewhere once that circulating air was usually enough if they were in a 'cooler' area but it was still hot. If the garage is brick and insulated and cooler than outside, maybe just placing a large standing fan at one end will make the difference. I mean a lot of people make do with fans - not everyone has airconditioning.

When I lived in Melbourne the spare room the dogs had as their own was on the afternoon sun side of the house. In summer I would line the windows with aluminium foil (bet the neighbours hate it! LOL) and put a fan on for them. It was amazing how much heat the foil cut down. They had a dog door from there to the enclosed yard.

Here in Tasmania people dont think it gets hot but the sun is fierce. Once again the guest room where the dogs stay when I'm not home is on the afternoon sun side. I put two sails out on that side of the house to stop the worst of it. I also draw the curtains over the afternoon sun when its hottest and leave a fan on. I dont have airconditioning here, just fans.

I have two different types of cooling mats for the dogs which I never really use. One is the type you soak in water and it swells up. That never gets cold but cool and stays cool for quite a while, hours. The other type is a padded one which you put frozen blocks into. It came with these gel pack type things you freeze but I figure you could put the blue plastic eskie ice blocks things in and they would last longer. Not hours though...

However I'd never leave a dog unattended with anything that has the gel type filling if they're the kind to chew things just in case.

This is probably what I'd do: If the penned area outside the garage doesn't have shade I'd put up a shelter to make it shady, that will help. Not shadecloth as thats not shady enough, either corregated iron or timber or something in a kind of awning. Maybe a sail over the whole door/doggie door area. Sails are cheap.

I'd put a sail over the window if it gets the sun too, and probably over the roller door area if you dont have a carport at the front of the garage. Garage doors are usually metal and if the sun hits them they'd get pretty hot and emmanate heat. Shading that would cut down on the heat that will emanate from it. That and a fan should help a lot. And of course plenty of water!

[E.K.]

Thanks Zefi. We're going to make a tiled patio area on one side of the garage wall and have a roof over it. Have been having a few hot days in Sydney recently already and notice that Starr the older dog lies on the tiled patio area to keep cool, especially after his walk. 

[zefi]

Good! Seems you've worked out what you need! I do tend to lean towards overkill most of the time!