How does a dog cool off?
Summertime means the temperatures are going up. Here in Wyoming, we are hovering around 90-100 degrees most days during the summer. Many parts of the northern hemisphere are in the same range or higher.
I kind of like the heat. Not too bad for me, but it makes people sweat a lot. Dogs don’t like it nearly as much as humans do.
Dogs don’t sweat like we do. To cool off, they can sweat through the pads of their feet. While it’s not sweating, the other thing they can do is pant. Panting allows evaporation through the saliva of the mouth.
Since these are such small areas, they don’t work very quickly and are not very effective for keeping your dog cool in higher temperatures.
What is evaporation?
Evaporation is a process in which liquid turns to gas. It happens naturally with no help from us. While evaporation is taking place, the temperature of the air around it goes down several degrees. Maybe you remember something about that in high school physics class?
For me, that was quite a while ago, but you can look it up at this site. And more importantly, you can feel it. Put your hand next to but not directly on something that’s wet and in the process of drying. Do you feel it?
This process can be used to help your dog cool off in places where they can’t sweat, which is most of their body. Putting a wet towel on them can help, although it’s pretty messy. Your dog ends up drippy, and that dripping water ends up anywhere close to your dog.
How can you use evaporation to keep your dog cool?
What if you could find something that allows evaporative cooling but doesn’t cause the mess of a wet dog. A few years ago, I started to experiment with this methods. I found this synthetic chamois made out of 100% rayon. It was being sold as a cleaning product but could be repurposed into clothing. Specifically dog clothing.
It turns out that this fabric holds onto water for several hours. It can be wrung out so that it doesn’t drip and still keep cooling. And when the extra water is gone, the dog wearing the coat doesn’t get wet either.
I started making coats that could be worn by dogs and started testing them out. My dogs would go from panting excessively to resting quietly and breathing normally in about 10 minutes. They recognized the improvement and line up at the sink when I pull out the cool coats, so they can have theirs put on.
I know there are many different brands of dog cool coats out there. I hope you'll consider buying one from Made by De because
1) They are made just for your dog, so the cool coat will fit.
2) They are made with quality materials that last for years.
3) They really work!
Find out more at www.madebyde.com. Don't forget to sign up for the Made by De insiders when you go there so you can get lots of useful information and info about sales.