Ms. Zulu and I have a doggie door and can go outside to our doggie yard pretty much whenever we want. But, like any canine, we were born ready for our daily exercise walks. As the summer gets into full swing we try to get our morning walk in as early as possible and we try to walk in shaded areas. Here in Florida, we have to watch out for biting bugs and use pet safe products to repel them.
We prefer to walk on cool and soft surfaces such as grass. If we have to walk on hot pavement or sand we check the temperature to make sure that it’s not too hot for our sensitive paws. You can even get dog booties if there is no way around that conundrum. In the evening we prefer to walk as late as possible.
We always bring water with some plain ice cubes wherever we go. And how could I forget?! The treats, we bring those too! OK, ok, it’s mostly dinner-kibble but there are treat-crumbs in there for sure. Above we are showing the water Rover water dispenser. What we like: we don’t waste any water as our assistant can easily pour the unused water back in the bottle. What we don’t like: it’s plastic. So we are looking for a sturdy durable stainless steel version. The H2O4K9-Water-Bottle is close to what we are looking for but doesn’t have the convenient top of the Rover. I heard that there is a curious Rover on Mars maybe we should ask him.
We don’t have a lot of sweat glands and panting is our major cooling method. The sweat glands that we do have are mostly located around the paw pads. That’s why it helps to stand in a pool or on a wet towel when we are too hot. I think I will err on the side of caution; I’m not gonna get wet, period. And that is one h_ll of a big period, period. As a refresher, here are the signs of heat exhaustion and impending heat stroke in dogs according to Pet MD: “sluggishness, very heavy panting, bright red gums, hypersalivation (which can progress to the opposite: dry tacky gums), vomiting or diarrhea, and collapse. In the later stages, death can occur rapidly if not treated in an ER.”
Even though they haven’t officially arrived yet, we do hope that the Dog Days are over before we know it!
Not sure if running fast will help to stay cool. Well, maybe at Mach 2+ and some cooling liquid for the pawerful machine. And no, I’m not talking about some water with plain ice cubes here.
Stay cool my friends and please tell your friends not to leave live animals in a car, hot unshaded area, hot unventilated room, or hot anything…,
Benji
Life of Benji 
I like the bottle you have…. ours is sadly a plastic bottle too and it is a water-waste-bottle :o( the worst is that the most common waterbootles turn your bag into a pool so we started to use normal bottled water and a common bowl …. or I drink directly from the bottle (huge mess lol)
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That’s the advantage of this bottle, you can close it once your pour the water back in the bottle. My mess is now a lot more contained (not my words). Benji
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Hello Benji! (&Ms. Zulu)
I’m over at Toronto mom’s other blog, Art Gowns. We come here every once in awhile when she designs an Art Gown. Speaking of gowns, I know she made a very special one for Sol. All the girl ducks are talking about it!
Of course we can’t see it until the wedding, which is very soon.
Well, stay cool as you can my friend!
Drake
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Hi Drake, M says “Art Gowns (https://artgowns.com/) is a gorgeous place to visit. It’s very creative. People should check it out” We are looking forward to your wedding; can’t wait to be there in dogson. Ms. Zulu and Benji
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Hey Benji and Ms. Zulu…we don’t get any plastic anything. Kali is allergic so we get stainless steel or ceramic.
Shoko
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We do too at home, we just haven’t found anything good for animal therapy visits.
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It doesn’t surprise me that extra smart doggies like Ms. Zulu and Benji have such good ideas for warm weather safety, and I hope their ideas help other dogs be safe this summer!
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A safe and cool summer that sounds great!
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We haven’t entered the hot weather up here yet. We’ve seen a few days here and there in the 80s,but it is back in the mid 60s today. The hottest I have ever seen on the porch thermometer was 112, back in 2009.
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112 that is hot hot! Mid 60s sound soooo nice. A
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Hi Benji, I love your wise advice for the summer, this is also an interesting mission, the humans, with our shoes … we sometimes forget how hot the streets are.
On the weekend we made ice cream for puppies, it’s fun and refreshing.
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I bet the puppies love the ice cream! I’m going to ask if Ms. Zulu and I can get some more. Benji.
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the dog days begin when Sirius (the dog star) rises in the south.During July to early September. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog_days
hang in there!
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We know! And it is already so hot… if we stop posting send help!
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will send a team of Polar bears with some cool fresh drinks!We use them like Saint Bernard’s up here for emergency coolness!
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Sounds like a plan to me! Benji
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We have a collapsible canvas water bowl but like you guys, we try to go either early or late when it’s the coolest part of the day. At a mile high, we’re closer to the intense sun rays and having a black dog with epilepsy, we have to take even greater care keeping core temperatures as low as possible. P.S. Love the Florence and the Machine vid. Too cool. I can’t stop tapping my toes. 🙂
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We have the collapsible canvas water bowl too, we just don’t take it as much. I bet that a black dog will have a hard time in a hot climate. Better be safe than sorry. Your pooches are lucky with an M like you. My M plays F & M so much that it is imprinted on my brain fur-ever. 🙂 Benji
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🙂 I may have to download a few of her tunes for the next road trip tony parents. ღ
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Good idea!
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