How do you keep pets cool?

[Bonzothemac]

I am looking to be a full time RV'er by this fall and will be traveling with my Schipperke (small, black, furry dog). I'm curious how other people deal with preventing over heating in their pets if they need to leave them in the unit for several hours if there is no power available. I've looked at cooling pads, fans etc but I haven't found what looks like a good solution without running a generator and cooling the whole RV. I would like to hear any suggestions from fellow pet owners.

[jepalmer]

FYI. If you have an android phone there is an app that will text you if the power in the rv goes out. I bought the cheapest phone and package (Best Buy) that I could

Power Outage Alarm Pro

[rockhillmanor]

RV's are NOT houses. I can leave my dogs in a house with windows shut and no air for a short time and they will not die.

Leave them in a car or RV for 10 minutes on a hot day windows open and you are still looking at a dead pet period. And keep in mind many that post this question rarely say WHERE they are parked. In the southern states in summer you simply just can NOT leave them in an RV for ANY amount of time with out air cond, not fans but A/C on and hope and pray there is not a power outage while you are gone. 😞

[resmas]

Bonzothemac wrote:

BoxerPitMix wrote:
I have remote start on my trucks. If I run in the store for a few, I'll just crank the air, shut the truck off, then as soon as I get out and lock it - remote start it and let the mutts sit in the A/C. 🙂

That's a great idea.

I do the same thing. My truck is a dark navy blue, almost black, and heats up quickly. My auto start system does not run continuously, it will time itself out - I am not quite sure on the limit, I've never timed it. I think it may be 10 or 15 minutes... So we generally try to get back to the truck before it times out, or be sure to "restart" it if we know we will be longer. One nice thing about how mine is set up is that you cannot modify the heat/cool settings while it is on autostart. If the a/c is on, it will be running on highest fan, max cold. The truck is an icebox when I come back, which also gives me a few extra minutes before the truck heats up to an unsafe temp when the engine shuts off.

[gmw_photos]

I have on occasion done my grocery shopping early in the morning or late in the evening when it's cooler and the sun is low so that I can leave my Schipperke in the truck while I am shopping.

[TugCE]

If I have to leave my Girls in my Truck, I take the Remote off of my key chain and leave the truck running when I get out. I just use the remote to lock the doors. I also put some paper towels under the window switches just in case one of them step on one of the switches. This is one time that I hate the Auto Down feature on the drivers window.

[Deb_and_Ed_M]

I suppose it depends a bit on one's RV, also. Mine is a "huge white box" (reflects heat away) so it seldom if ever gets warmer than the ambient air temp*

If one has a full-body-paint job with dark colors - it's probably a different story?

*One thing we've learn with our Class C: we always turn the dashboard vent control on the E-450 chassis to "off" when we stop, because a lot of engine heat can come into the RV via the open vents! We even raise the engine hood to let it cool off faster if needed.

[Bonzothemac]

BoxerPitMix wrote:
I have remote start on my trucks. If I run in the store for a few, I'll just crank the air, shut the truck off, then as soon as I get out and lock it - remote start it and let the mutts sit in the A/C. 🙂

That's a great idea.

[BoxerPitMix]

I have remote start on my trucks. If I run in the store for a few, I'll just crank the air, shut the truck off, then as soon as I get out and lock it - remote start it and let the mutts sit in the A/C. 🙂

[I_am_still_wayn]

There has been some good advice given here about being cautious, and Bonzothemac is being responsible and cautious. If the RV is parked in a RV park in the shade with windows open and fans running, then that is different than on the asphalt parking lot in the broiling sun. Having said that, I have used two sets of keys for my vehicle, and just left my dog in the truck with the engine running and air conditioning on. Of course, there is an element of risk of theft, but that risk was less than heat stroke if just left in the truck without the A/C.

[dturm]

dturm wrote:

Dogs and cats (a little less sensitive than dogs) don't do well when ambient temps are above 80 without some sort of relief.

The animals seek shade, dig into cooler ground, pant more, drink more water, find a breeze. If these methods of cooling are not available serious side effects result.

85-90 and above is a lot more serious than 80 and for many breeds (brachycephalic) the 80 is a reasonable caution level. Generalization is not always a good thing as people can usually find exceptions.

[Pawz4me]

skipnchar wrote:
Dogs (like humans) have survived for thousands of years without air conditioning. Open some windows.

There are many things wrong with that statement. The most logical being, of course, that surviving w/o air conditioning is a totally different thing than surviving w/o air conditioning while locked in a heat absorbing metal box.

[colliehauler]

skipnchar wrote:
Dogs (like humans) have survived for thousands of years without air conditioning. Open some windows.

I did not know that thousands of years ago they had RV's, A RV in the sun can become a oven if there is no breeze. Sadly older people die as well from extreme heat every summer. And then you have the clueless that lock there kids (or pets) in a hot car only to perish.

[BCSnob]

dturm wrote:

skipnchar wrote:
Dogs (like humans) have survived for thousands of years without air conditioning. Open some windows.

Not to be too argumentative, but they don't always survive. Given hot conditions animals seek shade, cool spots - some way to mitigate the heat and are not locked in a metal box in the middle of an asphalt field.

Dogs and cats (a little less sensitive than dogs) don't do well when ambient temps are above 80 without some sort of relief. If there is any kind of medical condition there can be life threatening results.

We leave AC with generator when indicated by conditions.

Doug, DVM

Healthy dogs are fine when the ambient is in the 80s; I know this for fact since our milk house (kennel) is running in the 80s and none of our dogs (smooth coated and rough coated) are even panting. (The milk house needs to be this warm right now for the chicks we are raising.) The keys are our dogs are not in the sun and they are inactive.

Unhealthy dogs and certain breeds may not be fine when the ambient is in the 80s.

The problem with just opening windows (and running a fan) in a vehicle/RV is making sure the ventilation can offset the increasing temperature due to the sun and making sure the fresh air coming in is not hot. Power ventilated & insulated aluminum dog boxes work to keep dogs cool even in the bed of a truck sitting in the sun so it can be done.

BTW our house gets into the 80s everyday; we don't have central air and have not unpacked the window units.

[Code2High]

skipnchar wrote:
Dogs (like humans) have survived for thousands of years without air conditioning. Open some windows.

As a species, yes. As individuals, frequently not. Animals and humans perish every summer in hot buildings, hot vehicles, and just in the hot sun.

As a police officer I can tell you that heat waves always mean one thing... death investigations. Lots of them.

Many dogs, bred by humans for their appearance and other traits, have heavy coats, short noses and other impediments to cooling or otherwise managing in hot weather.