hot and humid weather...

[guinnessgirl]

my guinness girl is not loving the very muggy weather we have been having here on the east coast. we don't have central air conditioning as yet (next on hubby's list of things to do...), and we only have a unit in my bedroom. guinness sleeps in there with us at night, but won't hang out in there by herself during the day. so she stays out in the rest of the house and suffers. soooooooo..... on to my question. what can i do to help her stay cool? she does NOT like the water (try getting her to go outside when it rains!!!), but will *sometimes* stand in a baby pool. most of the time, she won't.
so, are there any kind of doggie pillows or something that i could get for her to lay on that would keep her cool??? i feel so bad for her, and i don't know what to do!!!!
any suggestions would be very much appreciated.

signed,
melting in new york

[Puppy Love]

This weather is horriable!! I am melting here in Pa also. But when it gets really hot I freeze plastic bottles and put them in socks in their crates.

[TagVonTitan]

At Petsmart, they have cool mats, exactly for dog owners in your same position. They seem pretty good, but I have not tried them.

[Sargeant_C]

I also place a fan in front of my dogs crate for them. They have one in the kitchen that they go lie in front of and drift off to sleep.
Sarge also hates water and I do not have AC right now so I make sure he has plenty of water and a fan and I have picked up the cooling mats.

[Daisy Duke]

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...&N=2001+113234

These things are supposed to work very well...a little on the pricy side though.

[Brooke&Ryan]

We actually just got an airconditioning unit for our small house & it's helped greatly. Hallelujah!!!

Before we had airconditioning, we had at least 5 box fans that were throughout the house. Julius was always planted in front of one! Now the whole house is cool!


Brooke

[guinnessgirl]

i currently have a fan on her right now, but... she still seems so uncomfortable, laying there with her tongue hanging out on the floor panting. she's got lots of cool water that she's been drinking all day... and she "perks up" a bit for a few minutes.. but i guess drinking water can cool you off only so much. i've also been going in and out of my bedroom periodically so that she follows me in there and cools off in the AC.

but, daisy duke, that vest thing looks AWESOME! i might have to look into trying something like that!

[miccmill]

If you can swing a window unit, Target has one on sale this week for $75.00. It won't cool a huge area but it will assist the fans and remove some of the humidity.

Good Grief! it's muggy

[guinnessgirl]

oooh, thanks, thats good to know. i reeeeeally need a window unit for my human baby's bedroom too. its getting kinda crowded in my bedroom with a king size bed, a crib, a sprawled out rottie and a psychotic kitty.

maybe i'll just get one of those $75 window units for each window in the house. can i advertise that as central air when we decide to move? LOL!!!

[miccmill]

Originally Posted by guinnessgirl

can i advertise that as central air when we decide to move? LOL!!!

I'm tellin ya, we're almost there with window units. Just a few hot spots. I've got an old colonial, no open floor plan but when you walk in the front door or back door you're tempted to think there's central air in the house.

[szky]

Home Depot and other home improvment stores have the portable A/C's. However, they run about $450-$500.00. We use those mister stands on the patio in the shady area and the dogs seem to like it when they're outside.

[SABELLESMOM]

OR: You can make your own "COOL MAT!"

www.ceannmor.com/cool_ties_cool_mats.html

I found using plain cotton (like your sheets) works best. Plaids and stripes also help when you're sewing the channels. Channels work best going the long way. (length not width) I have a serger but did not use one in making mine.

I also found, in the house, at least, that measuting it to fit inside your crate tray (taken OUT of the crate) makes it into a nice portable bed you can place anywhere.

If your dog sleeps IN his crate, make it smaller, so he can shove it aside if it's TOO COOL. Also, these granules are non-toxic and that's nicwe to know if you have a here-to-fore unbeknownst chewer.

[guinnessgirl]

oooh. i have a sewing machine AND a serger... cool beans, i can make my own?

but i can't get through the link, so i am going to google it...

thanks! you guys are really awesome here!!!

[majicka]

We have one of those "portable units" as well..you are still tethered to a window so it's only good if you have a window that's close between 2 rooms..or feel like moving the thing to different windows..not really difficult it's a small plate and a tube..but we have old windows so it's a project. we have ours in our living room and we can conviently move it to face the kitchen to cool off the dogs (their crates are there). It was expensive..but worth it for us.

Window units are so cheap now...we paid almost $300 for ours a few years ago and now I've seen them for under $100!

We're going central soon..yay!

[ACERSMOM]

Even thought we have AC my boy still likes to lay on his cool bed, like you are considering making. There is a vendor that goes to the shows and sells them rather cheaply and she also makes the "cool collars" that my guys use on their walks. They are always so willing to have their special colors put on them as they realize how comfortable they are. I found really cute designs that match my dogs personalities. You can also wear them yourself.

We tried the very expensive plastic bed that you fill with water, but the seams split and I had water everywhere. It also took my boy a while to even lay on it as he did not like the plastic. Not worth the expense at all in my book.