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FREE DELIVERY | 100% HAPPINESS GUARANTEE
FREE DELIVERY | 100% HAPPINESS GUARANTEE
June 23, 2026 6 min read
TL;DR: Dogs cool themselves mostly by panting, which is far less efficient than human sweating, so they overheat fast. Keep your dog cool with constant shade and fresh water, walks early or late (never midday), a cooling mat or wet towel to lie on, frozen treats and frozen toys, and a hard rule of never leaving a dog in a parked car. Watch for heavy panting, drooling, bright red gums, wobbliness, or vomiting, those are heat stress and they can turn into heatstroke quickly. Flat-faced breeds, seniors, puppies, and overweight dogs need extra caution.
Dogs are not built for heat the way we are. We sweat across our whole body to cool down. Dogs have only a handful of sweat glands in their paw pads, so their main cooling tool is panting, which moves a lot less heat. That gap is why a summer afternoon that feels merely warm to you can be genuinely dangerous for your dog, especially if they are running around, carrying a thick coat, or have a short snout.
The good news is that keeping a dog cool is mostly about a few simple habits. None of this is complicated or expensive. Here are twelve practical, vet-backed ways to get your dog through a hot summer comfortably and safely.
If your dog spends any time outside, they need a shaded spot they can retreat to at all times. A tree, a covered porch, a pop-up canopy, or a dog house positioned out of direct sun all work. Be aware that shade moves with the sun, the shady corner at 10 a.m. can be in full sun by 2 p.m., so check throughout the day.
One caution: a dog house can actually be hotter than open shade because it traps air and blocks the breeze. On the hottest days, an open shaded area with airflow beats an enclosed structure.
Hydration is the single most important thing. A dog that is panting hard is losing water fast. Put out multiple bowls (inside and out), refill them often, and add a few ice cubes to keep the water cool and tempting. Dogs drink more when the water is cold.
On outings, bring a collapsible bowl and your own water. Do not assume you will find a tap. If your dog seems uninterested in drinking, try adding a splash of low-sodium, onion-and-garlic-free bone broth to the bowl to encourage them.
A frozen treat does two jobs at once: it lowers your dog's core temperature a little and it keeps them happily occupied in the shade instead of tearing around in the heat. This is one of the easiest summer wins there is.
You can freeze plain Greek yogurt in an ice cube tray, blend frozen banana into a soft "nice cream," or use a purpose-built mix. Our Summer Pupsicle Bundle was built for exactly this stretch of the year: just-add-water frozen treat mixes, silicone molds, and everything you need to keep a steady supply in the freezer. Each Pupsicle is about 20 calories, real meat, no sugar, no dairy, so you can hand them out generously on hot days without blowing the calorie budget.
For the full rundown on why cold treats work so well in summer, see our guide to frozen dog treats as the perfect summer snack.
Shift your walks to early morning and after sunset, when both the air and the pavement have cooled off. The midday hours (roughly 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.) are the most dangerous, and that is also when asphalt gets hot enough to burn paw pads.
A quick check before any walk: press the back of your hand flat against the pavement for seven seconds. If you cannot hold it there comfortably, it is too hot for your dog's paws. Stick to grass, walk in the shade, or skip the walk and do indoor games instead.
A cooling mat (the pressure-activated gel kind) gives your dog a cool surface to lie on without any electricity or refrigeration. A cheaper version: lay a damp towel on the floor in a shaded, breezy spot. Many dogs will seek out tile or concrete floors on their own because they hold cool, so do not block them from the bathroom or basement on a hot day.
For dogs that like water, a shallow plastic kiddie pool in the shade is a cheap, effective cool-down. Wading wets the belly and paws, which is where dogs shed heat most efficiently. A gentle sprinkler works too. Always supervise, and let your dog choose, do not force a water-averse dog in.
When it is too hot to be active, a frozen lick mat gives your dog a calm, mentally tiring job indoors. Smear plain yogurt, a thin layer of pumpkin, or a Pupsicle mix across the grooves and freeze it. A frozen lick mat can keep a dog happily occupied for 20 to 30 minutes in the cool of the house, burning mental energy so they do not pester you to go outside into the heat.
This is the rule with no exceptions. On a 70 degree day, the inside of a car can hit 100 degrees in 20 minutes, even with the windows cracked. On an 85 degree day it can reach 120 degrees. A dog can suffer fatal heatstroke in minutes. "I'll only be five minutes" is how dogs die every single summer. If you cannot bring your dog inside with you, leave them at home.
Panting works by evaporating moisture off the tongue and airways. When humidity is high, that evaporation slows down, so a dog cannot cool itself even at moderate temperatures. An 80 degree day at 90 percent humidity is more dangerous than a dry 90 degree day. Factor humidity into your decisions about outdoor time.
Brush out the loose undercoat so air can move through the fur. But resist the urge to shave a double-coated breed (Huskies, Golden Retrievers, German Shepherds) down to the skin. Their coat actually insulates against heat and protects against sunburn. Shaving it can make overheating worse and expose pale skin to UV damage. A tidy brush-out is enough.
Some dogs overheat far more easily and need extra caution:
If your dog falls into any of these groups, be conservative: shorter outings, more shade, more water breaks.
Catching overheating early is what keeps it from becoming an emergency. Watch for:
If you see these signs, move your dog to shade or air conditioning immediately, offer small amounts of cool (not ice-cold) water, and wet their belly, paws, and groin with cool water. If they do not recover quickly, or if they collapse, vomit, or seem confused, get to a vet right away. Heatstroke is a true medical emergency.
A few hydrating, dog-safe foods double as cool-down snacks:
Speaking of which, skip the ice cream itself. Most of it is too sugary, too dairy-heavy, and some flavors are outright dangerous. Our ice cream for dogs guide covers why, and what to give instead.
Our whole product line started with a simple summer problem: how do you give a dog a genuinely cooling, genuinely healthy cold treat without the sugar, dairy, and mystery ingredients of store-bought options? The answer was a just-add-water frozen treat made from real meat. Pour the mix, add water, fill the silicone molds, freeze, and in about an hour you have a freezer full of roughly-20-calorie Pupsicles. The Pupsicle Starter Kit has everything to get going, and the summer bundle stocks you up for the whole season.
Frozen treats are not a substitute for shade, water, and good judgment about heat. But they are a genuinely useful tool in the kit, they cool from the inside, keep dogs calm and occupied, and give you an easy way to reward a dog for chilling out instead of overheating.
If your dog ever shows signs of true heatstroke (collapse, confusion, vomiting, or panting that will not stop), cool them with water and get to an emergency vet immediately. Minutes matter.
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