8 Ways to Keep a Your Dog's House Cool
After making sure you are doing what you can to help cool your pup's body, focus on keeping her shelter chill too. A doghouse is a beneficial structure where he can retreat, refresh, and, well, chill out. Here are nine ways to keep an outdoor doghouse cool in summer.
Keep your Dog's House in the Shade
if you can, Move your dog's house to a place that is shadded or, brint shadeto the house with a outdoor deck umbrela. Create shade with a tarp can even help. If your dog's house is a dark color or has a dark-color roof (like asphalt shingles), it will capture the sun's heat, making the interior of the house even warmer. Consider painting the house a light color and covering the roof with a light-color tarp or other material that will reflect, rather than absorb, heat.
Use Air Vents or Windows to Create a Breeze
If your doghouse has closable air vents, open them! If it doesn't you can create a vent by drilling holes around the tops of the walls or installing a couple of small vents that are closable (for when winter returns). And while you're at it, turn the house into the prevailing winds so that the door or window can catch a breeze when it blows.
Keep the Air Flowing
If you have heavy-duty vinyl or another material covering the door and window of the dog house, you might consider removing those items for the summer because they trap body heat inside the dog house and don't allow for air movement from outside to inside. Of course, if you plan on installing doghouse air conditioning, you want to keep the coverings in place to keep the cool air in.
Step It Up
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Raising the doghouse off the ground by a few inches will give you a climate control solution in both hot summers and cold winters. The space between the ground and the floor allows air to flow and will help cool the house on hot days. Similarly, an elevated pet bed helps keep pets sleep cooler indoors or out.
Insulate
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Insulation works to help heat a doghouse in winter, but it also works to keep a doghouse cool in the summer. You can easily DIY this doghouse upgrade by lining the floor, walls, and ceiling with foam board, aluminum foil bubble insulation, or rolls of fiberglass insulation. For safety, install a solid surface like plywood over the insulation to keep your dog from chewing and potentially ingesting the insulation. This permanent upgrade will help a heated and cooled doghouse stay at moderate temperatures, no matter the conditions outside.
Ice, Ice Baby
In addition to giving your pup ice in his water and as a fun, edible toy, place some frozen water bottles in his doghouse. Laying against the bottles will help him cool off. A cooling mat or pad is another option that will give your pup an all-over cool when he lays on the pressure-sensitive, gel-filled mat—no electricity required.
Rethink your Dog's Bedding
Think of changing your bed sheets from flannel to light-weight cotton during warmer months. For his summer bedding, give your dog a cotton sheet (or something similar) or invest in a dog bed with cooling technology.
8. Cool off with a fan.
Utilize a small doghouse cooling fan to keep air circulating inside. After all, air movement=heat exchange and that will help your pup stay cooler. Choose a fan that runs on batteries or plugs in. Or, go green with a solar-powered fan.
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