Keeping Dogs Cool in the Car

Note from the future:  I’ve gone back through to add a note about the fans changing over time and to add in affiliate links to some of the products. I intend to do an update on this post in summer 2018. Check back!

Last week at an agility seminar I closely watched how everyone would set up their cars. The shade cloths! Fans! How everything was put together. One man spent over 45 minutes in the morning to get his set up perfect.

This weekend at the retriever seminar we had to keep our dogs in the car while we waited for our turns. Saturday and Sunday the temperature got up to 85 (and humid) and some of the field areas had no natural shade.  We also had to move locations many times per day.  There was no way for 45 minute set ups.

The dogs were all cool and comfortable. How did we do it?

The Right Vehicle:

We had everything from small cars to giant vans and camper vans.   I will say that my current van works way better than the one I used to have.  Being able to open the doors on both sides allowed for a lot of ventilation through the van.

In my old van, the battery would die if doors were left open for too long. The lights never shut off. I repeatedly asked different car repair professionals on the situation. They seemed to think this was typical despite my attempts to explain that many dog people leave their doors open all day without a problem.  My newer van shuts off the interior lights after 5-10 minutes of doors being open.

Shade cloths:

There are numerous designs.  They are also really expensive. Many people have the silver mesh ones.  The smaller ones are really nice because they can be attached at various places to keep your dog as shaded as possible.  Most of the cloths are attached with magnets or clips.

I have a van and so it requires more surface area to be covered.  I looked into the products available and ended up purchasing this one that is about 11’x11′ and only around $50 (including shipping).  Amazon has a few brands that sell the product in huge rolls. If I had a group of people interested in getting shade cloth I would have bought a roll and split it.

I was very happy with my shade cloth, it’s a great size for my vehicle and it’s amazing what a difference this product can make to the temperature of a vehicle. It seems silly to think a piece of cloth can help, but it really does.   I will be buying an additional one to drape over the back door of my van when the sun is coming from that direction.

Fans:
 Many companies make battery powered fans. I ended up buying the one that was recommended for this event, the Ryobi fan.**  I just purchased mine (one last month and one on Friday!) and have the older style that folds flat.  The fan is only around $30, however the charger and batteries are much more expensive. It costs around $100 for two batteries and a charger.  The batteries lasted all day on a low setting and I was able to recharge them in the hotel before the next day. It didn’t take as long as I expected. I expect as the batteries age, they’ll not work quite as well but they should have a long life.

I used bungees to hang the fan on the crate. Per a recommendation, I hung mine upside down. This supposedly makes it harder for water to get onto the battery.

Water: 

Obviously the dogs needed water. I have buckets I clip in the crates, this creates less spilling than bowls (especially when driving over the bouncy dirt roads!).  Before we left, I froze jugs of water and kept them in a cooler. The containers Tropicana is using right now are really nice and more durable than milk jugs.  During the first part of he weekend I could set the frozen jugs into the crates so cool air would blow onto the dogs.

Other set ups: 

Most people had very similar set ups.  A few people who do a lot of field work had special dog trailers or dog trucks. These vehicles have crates built into the vehicle that had vents, good insulation, and built in fans for keeping the dogs comfortable.

** In late 2012 the product changed and now the fan looks different and is a different shape. As of Jan 2013, it’s not showing up on the Home Depot website.