The rottweiler next door has a kiddy pool.  EXCELLENT idea I thought, and glad you posted this.  Unfortunately, diva Ginger dog (picture, left) doesn't *DO* water.  But we do have a large galvanized bucket full of water in the shade for her.

She's part of the family and mostly stays in with us.  And unfortunately, you're right, some families have to leave their pets outside.  

I hope they consider the points you have posted. 

we've had the plastic wading pool, misters, and my dad built a lean-to for our pets. adn they loved it.

forget where i read this, but somewhere it said to give them cool water, but not ice water?????????????????/

JUST A THOUGHT: 

I would love to see the water misters & other cooling alternatives for our local animal shelters too!

I left my misters at my old house so when the weather started getting hot I went out and bought another set.  Allie the Queen Lab stays outside most of the time when I'm home and always when I'm at work so, hopefully, the misters will help her stay fairly comfortable.  Yesterday I went around and made sure all the dirt areas were soaked with water for a cool place to snooze.  Another thing I used to do was to leave a box fan sitting on the patio on low speed.  Both dogs would sleep in front of it surrounded by misters.  It doesn't take a lot to make sure they stay as comfortable as possible and with the expected 110 heat coming up this week, they deserve a little extra attention.  After all, they pay their way by being my indoor and outdoor alarm system.

I'm another one who remembers the days of the swamp cooler when the temp was 110-112.  What a miserable time that was.  And I'M the one who's spoiled now.  I was watching a family sit outside in the shade today and thought, If I couldn't have A/C I'd move out of this valley.  As much as I love it here, I can't take the heat that much anymore.

Thanks BPC.  My thinking is that when I took these animals, one raised and the other adopted at the shelter, I made a commitment to care for them.   I got a gorgeous two year old border collie at the pound a few years ago and one day came home to find her paralyzed from mid back down.  By the time we did the emergency clinic, and my vet the next day...with xrays, IV's and steroids to try to reduce the swelling in her spine, and the eventual euthanasia, I was out about 600 bucks.  I really couldn't afford it but Fannie deserved the best that I could give her.  She trusted me to care for her and I did as best I could.  I held her in my arms while she closed her eyes for the last time. 

I only had her 4 months when she was injured.  We never knew how it happened but the vet thought it was possible that while being the champion jumper and frisbee catcher that she was, she may have twisted her spine causing the nerve to be pinched between discs.  Now, when I play frisbee with Allie, I never throw it high and I never bounce a ball to watch her jump for it.  It's not worth the risk.

I've never been able to tolerate a dog in the house.  They drive me nuts, get in the way, under your feet, and dog hair drifts into everything.  Then along came Zack, a Westie cross.  He sheds very, very little, is a bit hair impaired, sleeps 75% of the time, holds court from the bay window seat, and barks at anything that moves past the house, and is a great companion to Allie the Lab.  I think at one time there might have been a bit of a romance there.  Sort of like Mutt (no pun intended) and Jeff.  However, the vet nipped that in the bud (again, no pun intended) and they are just platonic friends.  They tag play like kids.  Zack gets on one side of the shrubs and barks at Allie until she chases him all over the yard.  Being small, he's more agile than his 68 pound buddy so he runs through the briars and he runs thru the brambles .  He runs through the bushes where a rabbit couldn't go.  Ooooops...wrong description there...   Anyway, they play til they're exhausted and are a riot to watch.

He has another attribute.  He loves kids and babies.  Zack licks Aidans toes and fingers and makes him giggle.  That in itself is enough to endear him to me.   Zack, not Aidan.  Although Aidan is already endeared to me.  You know what I mean.

We need to have some dog dates at the dog park....that would be a HOWL.....it's part of my morning routine at University Park in the NE.  Basset Hounds, Shepards, Boxers, Westies, throw in a St. Bernard and a hyper Irish Setter and ya got a dog party.....

ok, so I'm a little behind in my blogging efforts here.  I have two large dogs that mostly stay outside, but when it gets hot like high 90's and in the 3 digits, I bring them in unless I'm at work and no one else is here.  I have a 10 yr old black labrador that I just love because he was my faithful compaion after an ugly breakup with an old boyfriend and because poor thing doesn't have enough sense in his big ol head to know what to do for himself.  I have a Shepard/Pit mix of sorts, which I think she is really a Shepard/Pit/Akita mix who found me one morning as I came home from working graveyards, she was approx 6 mos old and very, very skinny from running the streets.  I took her in about 4 1/2 yrs ago and she's been the very best bark alarm ever, I love her.  Then of course we have our little princess SweetPea, a Chihuahua mix that always stays in the house because she is just too small to stay out. 

My husband just recently, as of yesterday, put up misters under our patio for our big dogs who will have to stay behind when we leave on vacation because it would be too crowed in the RV with all of them and Cali my Shepard mix isn't welcome in any of the RV campgrounds we're staying at because of her breed.  Sad but understandable.  While we're gone the mister's are set to come on during the hottest part of the day and we have automatic drip systems for our plants on the patio which also sprays water on the patio and fills their water bucket, and we will also get another tub of water for them to wade in.  They do that now in their water bucket making it difficult for them to keep clean drinking water, lol. 

Lynn thank you for reminding everyone to also think of their pets during the heat.  I hope you have an enjoyable vacation too!

How Queen Isabella (not named after the former Queen of Spain) stays cool in the summer:

She even has her own (pre-owned by my daughter) weenie-kini:

I had one of those evaporative portable coolers and loaned it to Mark (motopoet) when he was laid up with the broken femur.  He wore it out and I never replaced it.  I don't know if the newer ones are better or not but the one I had had to be blowing right on you for it to do any good.  It certainly wouldn't cool off a room.

When I moved into the house on Daggett it had a MasterCool on the roof and it was great.  Until the temp hit 100 degrees that is.  They will only lower the temp about 20 degrees so aren't of much use over 100.  The other problem is with the humidity we've been having lately, MasterCools just pump more moisture in.  When the old furnace went out th elandlord replaced it with a dual pack and I lost the cooler.  I hated to do that since the coolers do cut the bill down and you can leave your doors and windows open while they run.  Then I moved in this place in Nov and darned if the furnace didn't go out and it got replaced with a dual pack.  And I lost the cooler again.  Bout the best I can do is keep the box fan going..and it really helps.

I put it on  idog.com and those folks were amazed too.  Maybe it's happened and people didn't know what caused it.