Keeping Your Dog Cool in the Summer

As you all know I have a black dog.  It is almost impossible to keep a black dog cool in the summer in the South, especially if you have a black dog that HATES water.    But I can't keep him locked inside all summer - that's not fair to my super duper agility dog.  He still loves his agility class, he LOVES his big backyard, he loves ROLLING in the freshly cut grass and he loves chasing all the critters out of the garden.

So what's a dog mom to do?  Well we have to find creative ways of keeping him cool during these horrible summer days.

The most important thing is we do keep him inside during the worst heat of the day. If he has to go out - then he is only out for a few minutes then it's straight back in.  He's constantly hydrated, he has water bowls all over the house. I don't leave home without plenty of water for the dog.  And occasionally I DO hose him down, or throw him in the dock diving pool after agility class if it's available.  Then I just end up with a mad black dog that looks like a drowned rat that I am sure is muttering obscenities at my under his breath.

But in the interest of trying to be creative here are some other things I have found to do:

A cool coat - this one is from Clean Run. It's not where I got mine, but this is close to it.  You can either put it on the dog as is, to reflect the light off the dog and keep them cooler or you can dunk them in water and them put them on the dog to keep them cool and that's usually what I choose to do.

Cool Coat

I also have decided to make him some nice cool treats this summer. I tried going the yogurt and fruit route but I discovered that he was spitting the fruit out once he ate the yogurt. :)

So I am going to make these this weekend and I will let you know if they are a hit!

Frozen Peanut Butter Banana Yogurt Treats  - Courtesy of TodaysMama.com

Don't they look yummy?