Can someone please turn off the oven!!! I feel like I am a cake in the oven or a woman who is in menopause. I am puffy all over! I hope you all are surviving this incredible heat wave back here in the East; well really throughout the country.

I envy those with air conditioned kennel buildings. Unfortunately, we do not have that perfect set up yet. So we made a make-shift kennel in the basement/whelping room. We had crates and ex-pens everywhere!!! I don’t even want to tell you how many were in the thaw room, but let’s say I felt like a boarding kennel rotating dogs throughout the day to the puppy run for no more than a 5 minute potty break.

As the house is air conditioned, thank heavens, the dogs have been much cooler than they would have been outside. I think that 70 degrees was much better and safer than the near 110 degree temp, with the heat index, here yesterday... YUCK!

So what do you all do to keep your dogs cool? I thought I would ask as I hear of the horror stories when Kim gets home from the clinic at night about dogs overheating. I thought we could share what we find works.

There is always something I can learn. And if it keeps my dogs from being uncomfortable and/or death I will listen carefully.

I know one thing for sure; I am going to stock-pile a bunch of wire crates for the next heat wave.

By the “Humidity Sucks!”

Cheers!
Michael

Instead of stockpiling crates, why not put AC in the kennel?

Ahhh... Good idea, but you need a kennel to put the air conditioning in. We plan on converting our barn, eventually, to a dog kennel, but don't have that big bank roll, just yet, that will be required. Fixing the old house comes first and we still have a few things that are necessary. In the meantime, we have a scaled down kennel in the garage.

And not everyone has a kennel. That is why I wanted to brainstorm with everyone to get some good ideas for those of us that don't have them.

M

I have a kennel facility , and I think it is pretty comfortable . It was wrapped with a foil/w/air pockets in it. The over head HartKool Livestock fan w/1/2 HP motor , keeps them cool on the inside, on the outside I have an overhead mister/and kiddie pools. When it was 100 degrees here , it was 75 inside that building. Humidity is another story, that is just miserable for all of us.
If I didn't have a kennel building I would call Jerry and Joan Saldana, and get some of their great shade screen products.

I am a Vet Tech and we have been seeing so many heat stroke patients this past week. One was a young Labrador that was only out for 15 minutes he was running around like a typical young dog but he no water. His owner brought him in with a 106 degree body temp in a full blown seizure. Thank God he survived. Another was in an air conditioned car while the owner ran in the store for a few minutes, unfortunately the car stalled and the windows were closed. This dog survived as well but it was touch and go for several hours.

I just keep my dogs in the house with the AC and fans on. For treats I freeze fat free low sodium chicken broth in ice cube trays to make "pupcicles" I also freeze no sugar added apple juice for them to enjoy. I put a kiddie pool on my front porch and throw in some blocks of ice. They will go out and lay down in the pool and cool off, then back in the house.

I was at Tractor supply the other day and saw some HUGE livestock fans reasonably priced. They're pretty powerful too!

Everyone stay safe and as cool as possible.

Check out Sam's Club price on their big fans. We got one from there. They do move a lot of air, they are not fast but do more air good. Sam's had the best price when we got ours.


http://www.samsclub.com/sams/shop/product.jsp?productId=200085&navAction=

we have a kennel in our converted pole barn, it sits about 50 yards from the house.
we closed in half the building, 20 x 50 with a 10 ft ceiling. above the room is a large open storage area.
concrete floors and runs.

Inside the room I have one large fenced area 20 x 15 that holds 6 crates along the walls for feeding. the remaining area has rubber mats for the dogs to lay on, this area also has outside access to a outside kennel run with shade tarps and a low sided water trough to swim in., then this leads to a 2 acre yard.
This area holds 4-5 young adults just fine.

I also have 3 - 6 x 6 inside kennels that lead to 10 x 20 outside runs covered with shade cloth and access to pools. These have the option of opening up into another yard. This area works well for older pups or young adults.

My senior dogs have free access to the rest of the of the room which has counters, sinks, our freezers,etc. they can come and go as they please between barn and house porches.

our kennel is not AC or heated as it is not completely closed tight.

during the summer months we have 2 industrial size shop fans that are on timers, they come on around 9 AM and kick off around 7 PM. I am not talking about the ones you get from Lowes, these are square, stand about 5 ft tall and when the dogs sit in front of them their ears flap around. they really do a great job of keeping the air moving. they look alot like this

http://www.proxibid.com/asp/showImageFullSize.asp?url=/AuctionImages/282/38492/82.jpg&t=5%20Foot%20Box%20Shop%20Fan


During the winters, we still get about 2 weeks of freezing temps and a month or so below 40 off and on. we use several of the low sided rubbermaid plastic animal troughs and fill with straw ( same ones we use for water pools in the summer) .

http://www.doitbest.com/Livestock+dipping+tanks-Rubbermaid+Comm+Prod-model-4243-00-doitbest-sku-741004.dib

these are in each kennel area and the dogs love to snuggle up. we also have large heat mats on the grounds so they have options. If we have young dogs they will get a very secure heat lamp in their kennel and the older dogs have access to all three options in the open area.

while I am home the labs are always with me on the farm and run as a pack, when I am at work or at night they are put up for safety.

Here in Vegas, thank the Lord, we arent having our typical 115 summer, yet. Luckily, though it gets hotter than a hot tamale on the pavement in Death Valley, it's a dry heat, and what a differance that makes! I feel for you guys with that humidity!!!! I dont have a kennel, just a big house, the dogs have their own bedroom, which can hold 5 Giant crates, as of now, we only have 4, so 2 pups are room mates WHEN they are in there. Fans, fans, fans, helps the a/c out, and I would imagine it would help in the humid areas. Try too keep cool, I would love the luxury of a kennel also Micheal, but...you do what you can with what you've got. Good luck! Hope the heat breaks soon!

Here in the South we have to have AC. My little building is 12 by 24 and we have a unit that does both air and heat for Winter. The big fan also that blows the air throughout the building. For the very few minutes we are out now, we have the Rubbermaid tubs, keep lots of ice frozen in plastic tubs so they can play with it or just ice cubes. Older guys in the house, younger ones sure don't understand. They rotate all around. Just keep those boys cool..or they won't be stud dogs by Fall. Heat can be awful on them. Hopefully you all will be better soon.

I am in CNY and believe me I've been living with humid summers practically all my life. All I can say is living in Las Vegas with temps as high as 110 and legs feeling like they were "frying" taking walks on pavement, or out in the desert on hikes were never as bad as the humidity paired with extreme heat...and this has been extreme heat.I have Central Air and a walkout basement. My walkout basement has my Grooming business and hubby's workshop, but when the weather is like this my business becomes the "keep dogs cool room". It is very comfortable and they lie around on the tiled floor, or in crates. If they want to come upstairs I let them go up and down as they like within the house. The two 6 month old girls are upstairs in crates, or with me in the kitchen/family room when I'm not working. If I had to leave the house for work they would all be in crates in the basement for the most part. Michael, do you have a walkout basement? If not I can sympathize with your situation. You will need to get ceiling fans made for barns and that will make a big improvement in your temporary kennel. My vet has these in her horse barn and she said they would be suffering without them. You can also add those huge fans from a Tractor Supply, or farm equipment retailer. They really keep the cows cool at the NYS Fair!!! Have as much ventilation as possible and if you need to add a security fence around the doorways and accessible areas to your barn then do so. All that would create more ways to keep air going through. Oh yeah...welcome to the East Coast...where we bottle and sell humidity!!!

Ooops. I guess you really can't make fenced areas around your garage for security. Is your garage attached to your house, or separate? You have to keep the doors partly open, or pref. completely open for ventilation, but that is a security risk. When I am not home my garage doors are partly open when the dogs are in their kennel runs which are inside and off the back of the garage. I also have a window on the side of the garage, but when it's this hot no one goes in the kennels. If they had to be out there I would buy the things I mentioned to you in my previous reply. A lot of superior quality fans...and the overhead ones for sure.

My dogs are very comfortable in the finished walk-out basement which is two rooms - one a whelping room and two a kids game room. It is air conditioned to 70 degrees right now so all the dogs are great. Off the whelping room is a very good sized puppy run where I am letting dogs out to potty.

If I didn't have the basement it would be miserable. I have a small fan running to move the cool air around.

I wanted to post to find out what others do without kennels as not everyone is so lucky to have the luxury of a kennel. The post was not only for my insight, but for others as well.

Thank you for all responding.
Michael

Bringing the dogs in is as much as we can do. Kiddy pools, mists, and short potty breaks until the heat goes away help. The poor black dogs sit at the door 5 minutes after they go out. We are all miserable.

I guess we all have to scramble a bit when we have extremes in temp. either way. I don't have a kennel building either, but really don't need one at 7 dogs. Sounds like you are coping pretty well then. I wouldn't be without a walkout basement ever again. I love it too!

No kennel here, either.
Last year, I had to buy a A/C for my old girl (who has since passed), who had Laryngeal Paralysis.I wouldn't spend that kind of money on myself, but you know how that goes. I was lucky that her favorite room was my bedroom and kept quite comfortable.
One of my puppy people gave me another A/C for the dog rooms, which are right across from each other. They also have wading pools and I play with the hose, with them.
I leave them out for a while, in the AM, before it gets beastly hot and then they are out for a few minutes and back in, several times a day. They have been very good.
Today isn't as bad as the last 2 days and there is a breeze, so my 4 ceiling fans and 2 floor fans are doing the job. I couldn't live without my ceiling fans, summer and winter.
Keep cool everybody.

Gosh Michael...How are the little Frenchies dealing with all this heat and humidity??? This is definitely not "Frenchie Friendly" weather!

We have a raised ranch house with a walk out basement. We have kennels in the basement most of which are nice sized that two or three dogs are in with perla beds. It is all air conditioned and we have two big fans going plus a dehumidifier. The dogs go out for very short peroids about 4 or 5 times a day. I fill the kiddie pool for them to cool their feet when outside. We have a canopy over the gravel yard right outside of the basement door so they don't have to be in the sun on days like this. There is a much larger fenced yard but I don't let them down there in this weather. We have 4 girls upstairs in the house and they just get leashed walked a few times a day otherwise are sacked out in the air conditioned house. Must be awful not to have A/C for the dogs in this climate. Hopefully it will break soon!
Traci

Misting fans are great, about $250 at a feed store or AgriSupply.

Stay cool

You might want to consider a misting system. Just have to watch things for mold growth.

But i don't think misting fans will work well with humidity, but great for dry heat.

Being from Texas this is a common problem. All I can say is that big fans constantly going helps. It never really cools off at night here so they stay on all the time. Keeps the flies away! Also, you may want to look at the large (6' diameter) stock tanks. You can chlorinate them and fill them with water(not too much chlorine, just enough to keep it from being green). They have to be pumped out and cleaned frequently and it helps to partially bury them. The dogs get in the pool and then sit in front of the fans...no hotspots if they do that.

Hi Micheal,

You could move to Alaska, it has been really nice, about 70 - 75 degrees. Of course the winters are brutal, but I don't have to worry about AC.

Gosh..... this must be terrible for you all! We never have to worry about over heating here in Iceland! It's been around 60 to 75 or 80 this summer so both dogs and humans can be outside all they want, + it doesn't get humid here either!
Hope it cools down for you all soon!

"My dogs are very comfortable in the finished walk-out basement which is two rooms - one a whelping room and two a kids game room. It is air conditioned to 70 degrees right now so all the dogs are great."

We have a bi-level home, lots of windows in the unfinished cement walled lower level. Three quarters of the height of the 3 walls is built into the ground, so it stays pretty cool like a bank barn. Walk out door to 2 fenced yards. Stays pretty comfortable most days without the a/c running, but this past week with 110 heat index and high humidity I've been turning the a/c on (set to 71 degrees) at 7 a.m. because it feels so stuffy. Safety kennels set up down there(can't remember the name of the company I bought them from, but modular panels are made so even a puppy couldn't get a paw between the panels). Dogs literally going out for 2 or 3 minutes to potty while I stand at door to bring them back in. Up at 5 a.m. to get them some time out before it really heats up. Once sun goes down after 9 pm, they get extended periods of yard time... not getting to bed till close to midnight these days.

Also trying to keep horses cool. They are loving the hose rinses.

Michael, opinions are just that. That said, I have always kept our dogs in wire crates except for shipping. I like to be able to see them at a glance, and I consider the ventilation an absolute must, especially in the heat. Our crates are in our air conditioned and heated garage and the dogs sleep there. In weather like this, we also bring them in and crate them during mid-day while the heat is brutal. Our outdoor runs, which aren't getting much use right now, are covered with shade cloth and each has a plastic wading pool that we empty and fill 3 times a week, and we do add a touch of clorine to prevent turning green. We also having an in ground pool, and we haven't been above letting them take a dip to cool off. We spend a lot of time cleaning the skimmer!

We built a pole barn a few years ago that is 24' x 16'. It was supposed to be a combination dog kennel and garage for hubby. However its mostly for the dogs. They are in 4' square pens with wire fronts so that i can easily see them all.
When one of the dogs was discovered to be EIC affected i purchased an air conditioner for them and had it installed. It works great. They can go out or stay inside what ever they want to do.
However my house is not air conditioned. I have pups in the house and had to shift them to the cellar to remain cool enough. The difference was about 10 degrees and not as sticky in the cellar. All the dogs are doing fine in this heat, however i am not sure how i will survive. I have considered moving the bed and the tv into the barn and just "chill" with the dogs.

What I am wondering is , why does everyone take dogs in and out of air conditioning. If they are used /conditioned to heat , then they can handle it , as long as they have shade , a fan , and a kiddie pool, taking them in and out only makes it worse on them.
Coming from a livestock background, I know if you take animals in and out of temp extremes , you are just asking for a heat stroke. Allow their body to become adjusted to either outdoor temps or indoor, if outside then of course provide extra shade,[quality shade cloths do work] extra time in the pond, and a fan, but taking a dog that lives outside and placing them in air cond, then take them back out, you are just asking for trouble.

I always feel that is true for people as well. We do not have air and the heat does not bother me or my dogs all that much. We sit in the shade outside, or with fans in the house and nobody is too uncomfortable.

If it's 100 in the shade, there's no way i'm leaving my pets outside as an only option. I give usually give them the option to go in or out with a dogdoor...jmo. When areas are experiencing higher than normal temps, I think you have to make adjustments to their "normal" living arrangements. In extreme heat and humidity, there's no "cooling" off, the only way to cool, is to be able to dry out, and get a breeze...that is why heat exhaustion is so bad in humidity, the natural cooling process can't be acheived.

We live in the heat in Charleston, SC... right now about 95 degrees with 100% humidity, so heat index of say 105. It's not fun for us or the dogs, but the dogs get acclimated to the heat as it comes, just as they do the cold.

We have a total outdoor set up with concrete pads and gable roofed metal cover over all the kennels. The paddocks have lots of shade & have run-in-sheds (think 3 sided horse stall) if the weather turns and we miraculously get some much needed rain. The dogs are used to the heat and sleep much of the day. They always have access to fresh water. Mike- the pics on your website look like you have great paddocks with good shading... I might leave them out all day and bring them in at night with fans. Just a thought.

Some of you must not know what extreme heat like we are having down South is. The humidity will kill you. My dogs are not going in and out of the air. They are going out to do their business and back in. They do not have to adjust to that. It is not just hot when its 105, it is dangerous.

I couldnt agree more! Even livestock are dropping dead...and they are used to being outside. It's bad, I pitty any animal made to stand in that heat, shaded or not.

There is no way I would ever think of leaving my dogs out in this weather. I am sorry, but they are “not” going to acclimate to this heat. I also do not believe that bringing them in to a cooler environment is going to harm them. Seriously???

As the temperatures climbed the dog looked worse and worse. I even think a couple of them had their tongues on the ground… and they were sitting up! Just kidding… They were miserable, to say the least. About an hour after I brought them in, they were all so peaceful and bright-eyed. It was as if they were at a resort lounging in a recliner with a fan on them. They were so much happier.

I had the unfortunate encounter of seeing, first-hand, a dog from overheating at Kim’s clinic. It was gut-wrenching to see this poor girl die from heatstroke. It was a senseless and cruel death. That will not happen here. Temps like the ones we had are so dangerous!

I, myself, cannot take the heat due to my asthma. I would in no way subject my dogs to it. They can’t complain to let me know they are uncomfortable so it is my job as their caretaker to make sure they are “safe” and comfortable.”

Michael

So....Micheal, you missin' Calif. yet?

Thanks for the informative link. Our dogs depend on us to care for them and protect them, whether they are pets or our "show dogs."

Michael--I love that you are concerned enough to post this for all of us to stop and think about. Your concern and empathy for your dogs has always been evident.

Okay Michael...that isn't even funny to a woman in menopause living in Virginia!!!

Couldn't agree more Michael. I wonder what heat like this will do to your studs semen quality?

Nope... Not missing California at all. I still love it here in the East.

Let's not forget it gets extremely hot in CA as well. Living in the valley, I can recall a summer when we had 113-116 degree heat for more than 4 days straight. It was awful as well!

Take care of your dogs as another round of heat is coming. Thanks for all of the replies I hope it helped someone. I know I got a couple of new ideas!

Best,
Michael

That is the bad part, some do not think about what happens with Male dogs and extreme heat. Doesn't matter male or female they need a place to find relief.

I just put a pan with lots of ice on my 6 weeks old puppies' pen and they are quiet, happy, and sleeping better than ever. They take turns to sleep on it. I can use a quiet home for a change.

Testicles on any male mammal hang away from the body in order to keep the testes cool, if overheated, they will not produce good sperm quality. Think of the tighty whites vs boxer shorts argument for men with fertility problems.