Hot Dog--Annie the lab

[richnwendy]

Traveling 299 east toward Redding at 110 degrees. Cab AC on and off as we climb 3 different summits. Annie travels low profile for stability on thick dog bed near BFT seats. Suddenly heat stressed !! and we quickly found shade and cooled her with ice water. Need "cooler" bed for her, as floor is pretty warm. Anyone tried commercial products or have suggestions?

[Nancy]

There is a lot of heat that comes off the dog house Annie is laying in front of...have you thought about a small, I mean really small fan that plugs into a port and put it on the floor for her?

[fair winds]

Jack, my 60+ lb standard poodle is sensitive to the heat, especially if we're using the generator (warms the floor where he likes to stretch out) or when it's a hot Florida day. I have frozen bags of ice as well as another way to cool him down. Take thin towels and roll them in tight rolls, wet them down a bit and stick the tight rolls in the freezer. If needed, they can be easily unrolled and laid on the animal to get an immediate cooling effect. It does take a bit of freezer space, but it's worth it.
Another idea I'm working on is a light doggie vest with a couple big pockets in which I can stick those blue gel freezer thingies(can't remember what they're called but they freeze up nicely) ...velcro on pocket flap to keep Jack from chewing on them may be on the final project. I'm sure they make commercial stuff, too for overheating problems, but I like to do my own thing.
Hope this helps.
Donnis in Born Free 27' RSB

[Nancy]

is she laying on the floor? We have a mattress type dog bed on the floor between the seats for them to lay on. Keeps them from the direct heat of the floor.

[fair winds]

Jack has an extra large crate in which he likes to travel and sleep...I've tried to offer other options such as big fluffy beds, et cetera, but he wants his crate, so the a/c from the dash breezes into it when we're rolling and when we're hooked up to electric, the roof a/c goes fine for us, when no elec. the gen runs for a/c. He is a very large standard that I took when he was a tiny chocolate puppy, thinking a regular size of poodle. But he grew and grew, a beautiful, healthy dog, and I find he stretches out "largely" on the floor. Eventually, I will get a setup with a side "sofa" like I've seen in older BF's. It's really rare that we have to resort to the frozen towel rolls, as I've never had a breakdown on the road with my BF, not since I bought it. However, in a recent event during the mother of all lightning storms, the park was hit with a resounding boom and the elec at the pole was melted. Thank heaven for Progressive surge protector. Then we had the gen to run and the heat until things could be fixed. That's when the extra cooling from the ice and cold towels really helped. It's a situational measure like having a first aid box. I find RVers are quite creative, have some spiffy ideas and share them.

[taprjoan]

One of our greyhounds likes to lay on the floor next to the driver and his belly would get hot....so I took the old silver sunshade that you put in the window,....folded it so it fit between the 2 front seats and up to the doghouse, and covered it with a small rubber backed bath mat. It worked for us/him. If I don't do it, the dog moves back away from the front of the cab. Hope this helps.

[richnwendy]

Thank you all for great suggestions. Frozen towels nice for humans, too!
We gave up looking for commercial products $$$, so we are constructing an air-layered base for Annie's bed, using two pieces of 3/4" foamed plastic (Insulfoam), separated with (TBD) bars providing air pocket in between layers. Then will top off with her usual bed. That should block floor-board heat at least.
Also suggested was running the generator with a/c on while driving (if gasoline tank allows). Anyone ever do that? Safe?
Last, we are staying away from Redding, California, except maybe in the winter!
Thanks again and safe travels/4th of July.

[Nancy]

yes we have driven with the generator and ac on.....works great.

[CuJo's Pride]

Curt built a cushion platform for the dogs that sits between the seats in the front. It is the same level as the front seats. We store maps and other items we want to keep handy in it. We covered it with a cute fabric so it looks nice and adds an extra place to sit as will. It works really well and they can look out the front window and see the sites.

[bcope01]

Pictures of your clever designs please.

Bill

[CuJo's Pride]

Cute.....

[CuJo's Pride]

Will do..

[CuJo's Pride]

Bench Curt made for our dogs to sit on. It also opens up and stores maps, dog supplies or whatever you want to put in it.

[CuJo's Pride]

The bench is on hinges so it can be opened from the top.

[Dallas Baillio]

I purchased an ottoman, or footstool, from Target that perfectly fits between the driver and passenger seats. It was a couple of inches too high so I took off the legs. Has a hinged top with storage space inside. It is a brown vinyl that goes well with the tan interior of my BF. Around $50 as I recall.