Hi All,

Nando & I are off to our first show on Sunday. Not sure I actually want to enter him for anything but with the weather we're having I'm worried it will be too hot for him!!!

I am going to take a few frozen goodies for him but what else can I do? I've seen cool-coats online but I'm not 100% sure our local food supplier carries anything like this and obviously ordering online wouldn't get it there on time.

I'm really worried about him getting over heated and considering not taking him, however I feel it is too good of an opportunity to miss!

Josh

The cool coats are made of the same material that the synthetic car chamois are.
These used to be sold in Halfords and the like (might be worth checking out)
Some are also sold in horse equipment shops as they are also used in the prep of horses as an absorbent 'towel'.

Use a fishing umbrella or the like to have some shade for him - some shows don't allow you to use your umbrella's as it's health and safety...
someone might walk into your umbrella or you could accidentally poke someone with it (yup gone are the days where good old common sense
was allowed)

Wet towel either put in the fridge or freezer in a carrier bag, then popped in the the cool box taken to shows.
The your dog can lay on the towel to keep cool when at the show.

Then keep your water in the fridge the night before and keep it in the cool box when going to the shows.
You can also freeze some water bottles and then take them out of the morning of the show use as 'air conditioning' in the back of car.

Space blankets to keep the car cool whilst at the shows, sheet over your car on arrival to keep it cool for when you go back to the car.

Find shady spot to sit in at show.

Am I the only person who takes a spray bottle of water to keep the dog cool?   Used on the neck and throat, under the belly, under the ears (if drop ears)  and inside the backlegs it's very effective ;)   It's also useful for getting moisture into the dog if they're like mine and won't drink when travelling :)

I have taken one of my bitches in the ring on a blistering day in August, soaking wet   By the time the judge got to her she was dry and cool, other bitches were looking hot and bothered by then.    She took her last CC and BOB that day and was still fresh when she went in the group ring :-D 

I do tend to make use of any shade available, even in the ring it's possible to shade the dog with your body most of the time ;)

Thanks for all your responses. I have put our spray bottle in the freezer so he can have a nice spray. I think I've chickened out of entering him into anything, though!

dont give up with the entering have a look  and see what you can do

Don't duck out...have a go.

You've got to have a first time sometime. :-)

I usually take towels and wet them through and drape them over the dog/dogs.

Spray bottles are good for spraying into the mouth also.  At the bigger show's where they have outside taps etc I take a water bowl and pour water on them also, as said above in really hot weather they do dry very quickly, I am not that bothered about them being damp or wet in parts when in the ring, I would be shocked if this would affect a placing given the circumstances.

I use a cool coat on my black cocker with success and it doesn't wet the coat.  Ideally you want one with a strap that will come under the belly as that will keep them cooler.  Also bare in mind, especially with heavy coated dogs, having a coat can actually prevent them naturally loosing the heat

Another option is the cooler mats, these are really good (and I've stuck them on my bed under the sheet from time to time too) http://www.k9-massage.co.uk/Soothsoft-Ltd-CANINE-COOLER-MATS.asp?nCat_ID={1C11060F-AF4D-4A0F-9500-1CC302FCA325}&src=KEEPING%2DCOOL%2Easp

We're back from the show already! Didn't enter Nando into anything as to be honest the socialisation part of it was fantastic for him, and he was surprisingly one of the better behaved dogs there!! We had to come home early to collect my niece as my sister isn't very well so we didn't get to enter him. Our dog walkers had a stall there advertising their services and giving out some free doggy treats too. Nando loved them!

It was a smashing day out and I managed to give out quite a few leaflets for my chipping business too.

There was a 'have-a-go' agility field there but they were very responsible and would only allow 15 months+ dogs to go in, which ruled Nando out as he is only just coming up to 12 months old.

Cool coats are fantastic - worth their weight in gold, ours all have them, we've used them for about 6 years. Nowadays you can buy them at any Ch show.