Best cooling coats for dogs who get overheated?

[Bicoastal]

Spray bottle with a bit of rubbing alcohol to increase evaporate effect spritzed on paws, belly, inner thighs. Acclimation and thoughtful exercise. I know you are cautious and trying to give her a little bit more help. My BC runs hot, too. He comes inside and dives onto bare concrete or his cooling mat. I don’t always remember to put the cooling mat in the freezer or fridge and he still seeks it out. Does she like to chew ice? Frozen kongs?

I don’t think the coats will help a light-colored whippet. I like them best for keeping sun off a dark-colored dog when it has to loiter around in the sun. Too bad we can’t sweat-scrape our pups. I’m not sure there’s a whole lot more you can do, especially since she’ll be in AC soon. I bet she cools down in an appropriate time frame. Interestingly, I read once that heat stroke is more frequent in cooler months when owners are not as conscious about exercise-induced overheating.

Acclimation and care are really the best tools. Oh! And walking her out. So many dog people skip that step and shove hot dogs straight from sprinting into crates. I know you won’t!

ETA: would a frozen hand towel or washcloth be easier in the freezer space equation? Peke people carry ice packs like I carry chapstick :lol:. Somehow I doubt a sighthound would appreciate it as much!

[SarahandSam]

I think the Kool Coat works great on my dachshunds, as long as you keep it damp. I feel a noticeable difference when I touch their coats underneath. I keep them moistened with a spray bottle of ice water at trials.

Those cooling gel pads are also nice, but they do need to be watched for when they’ve absorbed too much heat and become warm. They don’t need to go in the freezer or fridge, they just naturally wick away the heat. I would say after an hour or so you’d need to remove it from the crate, stick it in the shade, and let it cool down again.

[Dr_Doolittle]

Thanks to everyone for the very helpful advice! Yes, I usually do walk her out if I can – but when she becomes overheated I usually prioritize encouraging her to drink, and cooling her down with water or cold washcloths to her face and neck and belly. Will try to look at cooling crate pads, etc.

NoVa gets extremely humid in the summer

We are trying to figure out how to fix the spigot!

[Foxtrot_s]

Anybody used the reflective mesh coats?

[SarahandSam]

@Foxtrot's

Anybody used the reflective mesh coats?

I haven’t used them personally, but know a couple people who use them. I think they’re a good choice for long-haired dogs for whom the Kool Coat isn’t going to work as well. For a short-haired dog I’d still go with the Kool Coat since it’s still at least mostly reflective (bright white) and also has the cooling element.

I don’t know if this was brought up before, but the reflective Aluminet sheets to drape over the car or crates work great also. I can park my car in no shade, use the Aluminet and some other sunblockers, and with the hatchback and windows and sunroof open it’s super nice and cool inside the car.

[D_BaldStockings]

If you have a wire crate, it can help to loosely drape an icewater soaked white sheet or towel over the crate top for evaporative cooling along with the cold crate pad. Small fans blowing on the wet towel moving the air speed the effect.

[S1969]

@Foxtrot's

Anybody used the reflective mesh coats?

No, but they wouldn’t help to cool a hot dog. They might help a dog keep from getting hot if just standing in the sun - e.g. at a conformation show. But I don’t really think they would do anything more than that. The only thing they really do is keep the dog from absorbing the sun. So, a black dog waiting ringside at a dog show might be better off with one than without.

But beyond that, i don’t know that they would be very useful.