The weather over the past couple of weeks has been very warm in Chicago. We are starting to see how the weather is affecting Caine. It has been well into the 80's here, and he has been hot! I took him for a walk the other morning and when he came home, he first visited the water fountain and then went into his wading pool for a few minutes. He walks around the pool and attempts to drink water from it. I'm sure he is getting some of it. He also walks to the faucet of the hose and I turn it on for him. When he came inside, he went downstairs and laid on the cold floor. He may be crazy, but he's no idiot! He is only allowed to be outside for a few minutes during the hottest part of the day, and the air conditioning has been on for him (and us!)
Boxers are naturally more sensitive to hot weather. This, of course, works against Caine. On the other hand, he is not full boxer, so that is helping him. I came across a collar that he can wear that supposedly helps keep dogs cooler. (http://www.koolcollarstore.com/ ) You add ice to it, and as the ice melts, and the water will run down his chest. Since dogs cannot sweat, this acts as a sort of pseduo-sweating. The dogs chest is a very vascular area, so it helps to cool his body. In addition to that, he also has a cooling vest. The only issue with the cooling vest is that he keeps messing with it!
I have the summer issue of Modern Dog, and Caine is not in that one. Hopefully he will be in the fall issue!
You should check out a swamp cooler jacket for dogs. You get it wet and put it on, and as the water evaporates, it cools the dog. We have one for our 'furrier' dog and it seems to work great. It's a little pricy, but it would definitely help out Caine. Glad to see he's doing so well!! =) Jennifer
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