3 inexpensive ways to help your dog 'beat the heat' this summer.

I am not sure if summer has officially arrived or not as it keeps coming and going? Although on those spontaneous boiling hot days that turn up, I have learned a few things that help keep puppy cool.
These are not ground breaking but I have found them helpful and I hope you do to...

1. Doggo's are partial to an Ice cube!

So simple and they work a treat, Ice cubes are a great way to encourage your dog to drink.

Especially if your dog is like ours who doesn't tend to drink a lot.
Chewie has wet and dry food so apparently a lot of his liquid intake in a day comes from the wet food.

Although we do try and get him to drink as much as possible.
Ice cubes seem to really excite him, he finds them fun to play with and he licks them like crazy. Which also cools him down. Handy! When he is finished we normally just pop it in his water bowl so there are no messy puddles and it cools his drinking water at the same time.

2. Bargain cooling mat

These handy little things can be found in places such as B&M and Home Bargains for under £10.

They are wipe clean, fold-able, portable and when your pup lies on it the body weight activates the cooling gel inside the mat which turns the mat pretty cold very quickly.

Our dog learn't pretty quickly that this is very enjoyable.
We take the mat on our trips out to picnics, beer gardens and on holiday.
It can easily be popped under a bench where you are sitting or next to you on the beach to cool them down nicely.

3. Quick & Easy 3 ingredient Homemade Pupsicles 

I found a recipe for Pupsicles online and I thought I would mix it up and try to make my own version. Chewie absolutely loves these and they have really helped him to regulate his body temperature.

Plus they are tasty and if you get the right ingredients they can have some health benefits too.
I would only recommend one of a day of these really as some dogs can be lactose intolerant and over doing it with the yogurt may cause some dodgy bellies!

You will need:

• One regular ice cube tray 
• Dog biscuits 
• Natural Yogurt/ Plain Greek Style. Probiotic if you can. (Also check there is no nasty extras such as Xylitol which is toxic for dogs. Look for Yogurt without artificial sweeteners and any added sugar.) 
• Peanut Butter ( any without Xylitol or chocolate should be fine for your dog.)
• Room in your freezer, as I did not check this and became annoyed trying to squeeze the tray into the freezer draw! 

Fill the tray segments up a little under half way with yogurt. Then spoon a little peanut butter on top.
Smooth over with a knife, push a dog biscuit into each segment. This might get a little messy but it can always be wiped away with a damp cloth or left the way it is.
If it spills over the sides a bit, it will just freeze like the rest of the mixture.

Pop in the freezer until frozen, I left mine a couple for about three hours.
Once frozen cut out the pupsicle with a knife and put into a dog bowl.

Alternatively hold it by the biscuit and let them eat it like an ice cream.
It's adorable and this is the best way to get Chewie to eat it.
A whole tray should last you awhile.


Let me know if you make these and if your dog likes them.
Also  tell me if you found this post helpful or not.

If you want to see more of the life of Chewie the Jackapoo check out my Instagram @astoldbyemmi
There is also a link on this page in the Social Icon section.

See you there!