How mud can save a dog from heat stroke

I met up with Raffi today. He is my oldest friend from the park and he is the one who introduced me to mud diving back in the cold winter months.

Back then, we just did it for a bit of fun. You jump in, run around, chase each other a little before putting your muddy paw prints on someone’s trousers. But now its serious business. I’ve realized that as I’m black almost all over, the sun heats me up in no time. Running around in the park might look like just a little bit of fun but its actually hard work. And with soaring summer temperatures coming up soon, this is something every dog need to take very seriously. This leads me to the topic of this post – how to keep cool in the sun. Here are a couple of methods I’ve tried so far:

How to keep cool – without loosing your cool:
1. Use your nose and find mud – then roll around in it. Make sure your back and head get covered, as it will turn into a sort of natural sun screen protecting you from the sun rays. If you’re really hot, stay put for a while and ignore the humans calling for you. If you have Discovery Channel, check out the hippos and elephants as they know this technique well. It might change your colouring to brown, but a good mud bath is good for your skin, well being AND it cools you down.

2. Find water, roll around in it or drink it. Better still, train your human to bring water and a travel bowl. This might require some forward planning so you need to give them a gentle reminder every time you go for a walk. These dogs have this down to a tee! Check out their swamp cooler!

3. Find a nice shaded area and take a nap. Don’t let the humans distract you – if you need to sleep its your choice.

4. Dig a hole and lie in it. This works especially well in gardens where you can find shaded areas under small trees or bushes.

What methods do you use to keep cool in summer?

Share your ideas!