How to help your dog in the heat

Linn Cecilia Svensson

Linn Radsted

How to help your dog in the heat

Summer is upon us, and while we humans are mostly excited about the heat and sun, dogs may have a little more difficulty in the warm months.

Dogs do not sweat like people do, but instead release body heat through their paws, tongue and panting. Therefore, a good drink of water and a rinse are the best ways to cool your dog.

But there are also other ways you can help your dog when it gets hot:

  • Give your dog a summer haircut if you have a breed with a lot of fur.
  • NEVER leave a dog in your car.
  • Always bring water on car rides.
  • Let the dog bathe in the sea or lakes (if they are not full of algae); It's a good way to cool down warm snouts!
  • Set up a wading pool at home if you can. 
  • If your dog does not like bathing, but it is very warm, then saturate a towel in cool water and wrap it around the dog.
  • Take the cooling elements from a cooler in your car and put them in a towel where the dog can lie down.
  • If your dog doesn’t drink much, then "cheat" by giving him, for example, watermelon or stir a dollop of wet dog food into his water.
  • Cold snacks are good to cool down with. Some dogs like frozen fruit or a frozen mixture of dry food blended with water and liver pate, or frozen wet food. You can also make “ice cream” for your dog. Try, for example, mashing a banana and stirring it up with yogurt.