About this time last year, we started looking into getting a Cool Bed or something similar. My Defender does not have an air conditioner and even if it did, most of the cool air would probably never reach Ayla. She has the back seat to herself (most of the time) and we’ve removed the double seat from the rear so she has plenty of space to lay down and has enough space to jump in comfortably. But because there is no seat she has to sit and lay on the floor most of the time…unless she’s sitting like this 🙂

The floorboard of the truck tends to get very warm when we drive for long distances so it’s really not suitable for her to be on it all the time. The last thing we want is for her to get heatstroke and we enjoy traveling with her so this must be remedied.

There are a few things which can be done aside from getting a cooling bed which we have also done…but they are not enough. These things include:

• Freezing water in bottles and using the melted water for her to drink. This provides a nice, refreshing drink for both of us. 🙂
• Freeze fruit or other treats to take along on the ride…especially if they are bite-size and won’t make a complete mess of the car.
• Having a wet t-shirt contest. Yes, seriously. Putting a damp t-shirt on her will help keep her cooled down without her having to be soaking wet. Plus if we use a white shirt, it will help reflect some of the sun instead of beating down into her black fur.
• Buying a cooling bed…which is the point we have now reached 🙂

We were originally looking at getting a Cool Bed 2 and it was pretty much the first one we’d come across. Since last year they have apparently also come out with a Cool Bed 3 but I’m not sure if there are any upgrades to the bed itself. But now, thanks to the wonderfully smart people on Newf-L list, we have learned about Canine Coolers which seem to be the Ferrari of thermo-regulating cooling beds.

Canine Cooler is made by Chillow and they look cool as well as keep pets cool although it will still need to be covered with something so the sun doesn’t heat it up too quickly. They come with a 2 year warranty which is a very nice feature when you have a rather destructive dog and Newf-L listers have said that the company is great about replacing the beds. The Canine Cooler is a bit more expensive than the Cool Bed but seems to be much better quality and I really like the memory foam. We figure that we will end up with a medium bed for the truck and then will probably buy a large bed for the house if Ayla seems to enjoy it. We have lots of tile floor in the house now which stays quite cool so we’ll see how it goes this summer.

Chillow even makes pillows for people which I may be very tempted to try after getting a bed for Ayla. There’s nothing quite like spending a hot summer in a house with no air conditioning and I would definitely be willing to give these a try.

Visit Chillow’s website to learn more. Chillow’s site is not nearly as descriptive as I would like but there are many other great places which sell these beds and give you more details. PetStreetMall has lots of information about Canine Coolers and other dog cooling devices and I also found some good prices on the beds on ebay.