Cooling Dog Beds for hot weather

Your dog may be suffering a bit in the heat wave. Imagine having a coat like a Labrador or even like a Newfoundlander and never be able to take it off! It is a miracle that dogs don’t die from heat stroke more often than what is the case. If a dog is in a warm dog bed, he or she will be able to get off to cool down, but he can’t take his coat off. If you plan to strip or shave your dog, this is a good time to do it. At this time of the year the farmers shear the sheep and it is probably only in our minds, but it looks like the sheep are so much happier when they come back out on the grass after the shearing with their heavy jumpers off.

The danger of leaving a dog stuck in a hot car is something we are all aware of and every effort is made by dog owners to ensure that dogs don’t cook in the cars in the summer.

Taking all this in to account, there is still the question of which type of dog bed you should get for your dog in the summer. During an acute heat wave you will kind of need to allow your dog to lie where ever he is most comfortable. If that is the tiles in your utility room, then he should probably be allowed to lie there. It is a hard floor and not the best for joints and elbow callus, but even during a two week heat wave, the tiles are not going to do him any harm.

However, as a standard dog bed for the summer, it might be a good idea to change from a cosy, warm nest dog bed that your dog enjoyed in the winter to a flat mattress bed that allows air to flow and cool around him.

If you prefer to have covers that can be machine washed, we have now got two types of covers: The Twill Cover in a 100% cotton:

Tuffie Twill cover with stars

And the Summer Covers that are 100% Polyester:

Tuffie Summer Cover

Both of these light, airy covers are great for helping your dog to stay cool during a normal, warm summer.

The best idea is to allow your dog to have a choice between the mattress dog beds and the nest (if you have the space for this).