4 treats to keep your dog cool on hot days

It might not get hot often in Britain, but when it’s hot it’s HOT. And that can make looking after your dog pretty difficult. You can’t walk them in case they get heat stroke or their paws burn on the pavement. But if you don’t walk them they go stir crazy and bounce off your walls. Which leaves you worrying they’ll overheat anyway…

Luckily there’s a way to entertain your dog on hot days and help them stay cool: make them their own frozen dog treats. Licking and chewing a tasty treat will help your dog relax instead of racing around your house bored. And a cool snack will bring their temperature down when they’re feeling hot. You can easily make cooling treats yourself with ingredients you probably have at home. Just pop them in the freezer for a few hours and you’ve got an awesome treat to keep your dog cool and entertained in the hot weather.

1. Doggy ice cream

We all love an ice cream to cool us down on a hot day. And our dogs are no different. Most ice cream that we’d buy for ourselves isn’t safe or healthy for dogs, but luckily we can make them their own doggy ice cream from Greek yoghurt. Check your yoghurt is 0% fat and only contains milk. You can just freeze that if you want. Or you can mix in basically anything your dog would enjoy. Mashed banana and peanut butter (make sure it doesn’t contain xylitol/birch sugar) is a hit with a lot of dogs. You could also mix some berries (strawberry, raspberry or blueberry) with a tiny bit of honey for a healthy sweet treat. Freeze your doggy ice cream in ice cube trays for a smaller snack. Or freeze it in a slow feeder to help keep your dog entertained for longer.

2. Chicken broth ice cubes

Lots of dogs love crunching on ice cubes. And they’re a great way to get your dog to drink a bit more water in the hot weather. You can turn an ice cube into an extra special treat by making it chicken flavoured. All you need is some skinless, boneless chicken thighs. Boil them in lots of water until they’re fully cooked and add some veg (e.g. carrot, broccoli) for a few minutes at the end. Take the chicken and veg out of the water and chop into pea-sized (or smaller) pieces. Add back into the tasty chicken broth, put the broth, chicken and veg into a large ice cube tray or small plastic pots then freeze. If you have any leftover chicken broth, chill it in the fridge. Once it’s cool you can put it in a bowl to encourage your dog to drink more. Or cover your dog’s kibble with a little chicken broth to help keep them hydrated.

3. Frozen carrot or broccoli chews

Vegetables are an amazing snack for dogs - they’re super healthy and (mostly) super cheap to buy. You can make a carrot or a stalk of broccoli into a cooling chew easily by boiling in water for a few minutes (until slightly soft) and then freezing whole or in chunks for smaller dogs. Or if you're making chicken broth ice cubes, boil for a few minutes in the broth at the end, then freeze, to make the chew extra tasty.

4. Frozen banana

Want an easy, cheap, healthy cooling snack you can prepare in less than a minute? Just freeze a banana. You can freeze a whole banana for larger dogs or cut into chunks if your dog is smaller. After a few hours in the freezer you’ve got a delicious, cold treat to give to your dog for basically no effort. Although, you might have a mess to clean up if your dog doesn’t eat all the banana before it defrosts.

Written by Juniper Indigo, dog trainer in Tiverton and Exeter