Keeping puppies comfortable during heat waves.

[asal]

Keeping puppies comfortable during heat waves.

 

I realise I should have posted this before the heatwaves, but better late than never.

 

Over the years, where I live we used to have frequent blackouts so air conditioning wasn’t reliable if you had puppies.

I discovered decades ago, keeping a supply of frozen water bottles, preferably 3 litres, (as they take 8 hours and sometimes more to defrost) 

 

I know from experience a 3 litre bottle of frozen water is still frozen in the middle 8 hours later after being put out with the puppies at 12 pm.  That was during a 117 F heatwave.  They were so comfortable they slept right through it.

In the past I would turn on the sprinklers on the roof, but during water restrictions that’s not an option.

 

So share this with anyone who is in a situation where their area can experience heatwave conditions.

 

It works.  Another alternative is frozen ice cream containers 2 or 4 litre. Just fill them up almost to the top but leave half an inch so when frozen you then pop the lid on and put it with the puppies, the cold air settles around the floor with the puppies,  it doesn’t take them long to snuggle up around it.  Works best if they are in a litter box or kennel with at least a 2 inch lip so there remains 2 inches of cold air on the floor.

I’ve used it for Chihuahua, Cavalier and Cattledog puppies.   For the chi puppies I used to cut out half of those 20 litre water carriers leaving a 3 inch lip to hold the cool air in, and put a 2 litre frozen soft drink bottle  in the bottom beside them. Mum couldn’t get in there fast enough either to curl up in the nice cool spot as well.   Her body heat wasn’t a problem; it was still cool enough to get them through the 8 hours till the cool change arrived that night.

 

At a pinch if you had no electricity to freeze bottles. Some empty ice-cream tubs/ buckets. Go buy ice from the nearest service station and fill up the ice cream buckets and put with pups and mum would do the job too. (put the lids on in case they get rolled over) Although if you have shavings or blankets underneath they will soak it up anyway and still cool them without getting too wet.

[asal]

Update,

 

Been advised if you had salt to the water it remains frozen even longer.

[leac1801]

We got Atlas at Christmas time, and he really struggled with the heat. We did frozen water bottles in his crate at night when we turned the aircon off, and it wasn’t unusual to find him draped across one, or curled around it.