Dogs and hot houses

With the temperatures hitting 35°C(95°F) yesterday I thought it might be worth talking about how we keep our dogs cool during these times given that we don't have air-conditioning in the house

The house

When we know it's going to be a really hot day we take certain steps to keep the house as comfortable as possible for the dogs.

• We leave all the windows open at night with curtains open to let as much cool air in as possible.
• When we get up at 6am we close all the curtains on the side of the house facing the sun. Don't forget to do first floor windows as well, and don't ignore small windows. Close them all. This stops the sun getting in and warming up all the floors and furniture and raising the temperature inside the house. If you're going out, close all the curtains.
• As the sun moves round, follow it by making sure the curtains are always closed on the side facing the sun. Don't let the sun hit anything inside the house.

Doing this keeps the inside of the house 5-7 degrees cooler than the outside temperature. We know this because we have a weather station and a thermometer. The outside temperature yesterday was 34°C(93°F), but inside the house it was only 27°C(81°F).

Update July 2019: In the heatwave ☀️☀️☀️ last week the temperate outside reached 37°C and we managed to keep the temperature inside the house at 27°C - a difference of 10°C. Happy dogs 🐶 (and people).

Tips

• Do make sure your dogs have access to plenty of clean, fresh water at all times.
• Do close the curtains on the side of the house facing the sun.
• Don't walk them during the middle of the day when it's hottest. Instead take them out first thing in the morning or last thing at night when it's cooled down. We just let ours out in the garden for a toilet break when it's hot.
• If you do take them out during the day, don't walk them on tarmac. Tarmac gets incredibly hot in full sun, easily hot enough to burn a dog's foot. If you're unsure put your hand on the tarmac and leave it there. If it's too hot for you to touch, it's too hot for your dog's paws.

"There is no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather." - John Ruskin

Header image credit: Pixabay.com/Pexels