Tuesday Tips: Cool treats for your dog

Gimme something cool!

Gimme something cool!

Summer time will soon be upon us bringing very hot and dry weather with it.  One of the lessons we all know is to stay hydrated and one of the things we love are cool treats in the summer.  Right?  Frozen yogurt or ice cream, cool refreshing drinks.  Well humans aren’t the only ones who can dig on cool treats, doggies love them too!

Dogs can only pant to help cool themselves and it’s really not all that effective.  Just like people, some dogs handle hot weather better than others.  I have a boxer and their squishy faces makes it harder for them to breath during extreme heat.  They are also more susceptible to heat stroke.  Because of this I make sure Rocky gets his outdoor exercise early in the morning and after the sun has gone down in the evenings.  I also make sure to have plenty of cool treats for him in the summer.

One of his favorite things is yogurt.  Plain yogurt (dogs don’t need the extra sugar of flavored yogurts) and just like with humans, yogurt helps keep our dog’s digestive tract healthy and in order.  In the summer, I take regular ice cube trays and fill them with plain yogurt and place in the freezer.  Once the yogurt is frozen, I dump the cubes out into a freezer bag and store in the freezer.  Rocky will get a yogurt cube after playing  or when we get back from a walk.  It’s a healthy treat and also cool on a hot day. For smaller dogs, I suggest not filling the individual cubes all the way, which will result in smaller cubes for your smaller kids. :)

Frozen fruit can also be given and provides a nice healthy snack as well.  At the OHC HQ we have frozen pineapple, peaches, raspberries, and blueberries as treats.  Rocky loves them and again they provide a nice cool little treat on a hot day.  Stay away from grapes because grapes and raisins can be toxic to doggies.  Pits and seeds of any kind should also not be fed.

Don’t forget about your doggie family members this summer, and give them some cool treats as well! :D

8 thoughts on “Tuesday Tips: Cool treats for your dog

  1. I haven’t a dog now, but when I did he loved drinking milk. You could be pouring milk in your cereal and he’d be there jumping up trying to get to it. Another story about my dog, one day my Dad had baked some corned beef hash and left it on the side to cook later. My dog jumped up and ate everything but the veg. He’s like kids who won’t eat their greens.

  2. Great idea! Do the yogurt cubes make a mess all over the floor? That would be my only concern – although – Lando makes a mess of every corner of the house 365 days a year, so I’m not sure why I’m concerned :)

    • Allison, I actually don’t know because in our house they don’t make it to the floor. :p Rocky has such a big mouth the cubes are “small” treats for him. :) If they eat it quickly I would think nothing a small wipe couldn’t handle.

  3. Ginger likes to throw ice cubes in the air and play fetch with herself, so our ice cubes end up sliding all over the place and eventually dropped on our laps after she has lost interest. But if I made yogurt cubes maybe she would like the taste so much that she would skip playing and go straight to eating. I love this idea and I just got the cutest ice cube tray. Hmmmm… BTW I “lost” my other e-mail address so I have a new one now (included in this comment).

  4. Heidi says:

    I love this idea too! I have a small Yorkie who loves it when I drop an ice cube. She would definitely go for the yogurt treats and the fruit too. Will give that a try now that the hotter weather is upon us.

  5. Pingback: The Heat Is On

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