Do you love your furry friend and want to take him everywhere?
Are you worried about your dog staying cool in the hot summer days while camping?
Taking a dog camping may seem like a lot of work, but it’s actually a blast! But you need to make sure you’re taking care of your pet when it gets hot.
This is why it’s important to know how to keep dogs cool while camping.
Keeping a dog cool while camping isn’t tricky at all, but you do need to be strategic about it. Use these tips to help you:
- Offer shade
- Use a cooling dog bed
- Lots of clean water for drinking
- Use a fan
- Rest during the hottest parts of the day
- Watch for signs of overheating
- Doggie Sunscreen
- Use wet towels
- Cooling bandana
- Go swimming
- Doggy shoes
- Kiddie Pools
Read on to see why these will help you keep your dog cool and some of my favorite resources.
Table of Contents
12 Tricks For Keeping Your Dogs Cool While Camping
In this section, I’ll share some of my favorite tricks for cooling your dog. Many of these can be used for free or cheap, but where there are products, I’ll recommend the ones I personally use.
Any links to Amazon are affiliate in nature which means I earn a small commission if you click and purchase a product at no extra cost to you. However, I don’t recommend a product unless I believe in it.
Offer Shade
When we’re hot, we head for the shade. It’s no different with dogs.
But dogs can’t always just move to find the shade, so you can help provide some. I like using the Wolfwise Popup Canopy.
It may be designed for babies, but it works well for medium to small doggies like mine. You could also get away with making your own.
Use A Cooling Dog Bed
At home, my dog (Remy) uses a thick cozy bed, and he loves it. But this would not be a great choice for him out in the hot sun.
Fortunately, there are cooler options than this. Taking a thin blanket or towel will work just fine, but if you a specially made option there are some available.
Honestly, I just use a large towel for my dog, but my sister-in-law uses this one cooling dog mat by Arf Pets for both of her small Italian Greyhounds.
Lots Of Clean Water For Drinking
It goes without saying that water is one of the keys to a dog’s well-regulated body temperature. Keeping a water dish nearby and filled with water at all times goes a long way to keeping your dog cool in the hot weather.
Use A Fan
Fans and the moving air can cool things down real quick. We know this as people (this is why I have one in every room in my house).
Dogs can get a lot of coolness out of a small fan placed near them. Believe me, they’ll like it.
Even if you’re camping without power, you can get a small battery-powered one like this Pro Select fan. I like this one because it has retractable arms to attach to the tent or pop-up shade.
Rest During The Hottest Parts Of The Day
Dogs, especially young ones, don’t always have the self-control to stop themselves when their bodies are overworked and in trouble. In other words, when you’re playing with your dog, it won’t stop if gets overheated.
This means it’s up to you to know when you should or shouldn’t be playing with your dog or letting him get worked up. The hottest part of the day are often from 11am-2pm, so try to avoid getting your pet worked up during this time.
Watch For Signs Of Overheating
Even outside of the hottest times, you still need to watch your pet for signs of heat exhaustion and overheating. If you see these signs, then you need to force your pet to relax, drink, and find shade and air.
Look for these signs:
- Rapid panting
- Dry, pale gums
- Confusion
- Weakness
- Hot ears
Disclaimer: This information is common knowledge, but you should always trust the knowledge of a vet first.
Doggie Sunscreen
Believe it or not, there’s such a thing as doggy sunscreen. Though your dog may have a lot of fur, they can still benefit from this by protecting its skin underneath and reflecting more of the sun’s rays away from its body.
I don’t usually use sunscreen on my dog’s body (although I have some of this Emmy’s Best sun protection and it works well). I do always make sure to put something on my dog’s nose.
As long as it’s safe to ingest, the dogs can use human sunscreen too. I have young kids, so I’ll just put some of a baby sunscreen stick on my pup’s nose.
Use Wet Towels
This is a good tip for humans too. In fact, there’s a whole new market for specialized towels you can use wet to help you cool down in the summer heat.
You don’t have to get fancy.
If your dog lets you, get a towel wet and then wring it out well. Place it on your friend’s back and let him cool down.
Cooling Bandana
But if you do want to get fancy with cooling down, you can use a cooling bandana. These are specially designed to cool your pet down as the water evaporates in the bandana.
From personal experience, I know these work (I have a human one for when I’m working band camps in the summer). My dog, however, has never let us put anything on his neck like that.
So I asked my cousin with 2 golden retrievers what he likes to use. He recommends these Go Fresh Pet bandanas. They’re affordable, durable, and come in different sizes for your dog.
Just get it wet and put it over your dog’s neck.
Go Swimming
Water is your friend. If your camping spot is near any water, take your dog swimming to keep him cool.
You’ll help your dog stay healthy and build fun memories!
Doggy Shoes
A dog’s foot pads are one of the most sensitive parts of your pet’s body. In winter, they’ll lift their legs constantly to avoid the cold.
In summer, hot ground can burn their paws and cause pain.
Obviously, we don’t want to let them be in pain, so doggy shoes may be a good idea. My sister (the one with the little greyhounds) likes the My Busy Dog shoes.
The higher cost is offset by their durability and usefulness in winter and summer.
Kiddie Pools
This is one of my personal favorite tricks. If you don’t have any water nearby from a lake or pond, you can just use a kiddie pool filled up.
Even if there is one nearby, you may want to keep one with you. We do this anyway for our kids, but my dog loves it too.
I love watching them all play together in the water. These are great memories, and isn’t that what’s camping all about?
Conclusion
I hope you enjoyed learning how to keep dogs cool while camping. These tricks are great for making your furry friend even happier to be in the great outdoors with you.
Now get out there and enjoy the fresh air!