With summer upon us once again, we are looking for ways to keep our dogs cool. . . .try keeping plastic drink bottles filled them with water in the freezer.

Puppies and adults love to curl up around a frozen bottle on hot humid days, and as the ice begins to melt it rattles which makes it an attractive toy. Less water makes a better toy, the ice really cracks up quickly and gets noisier. A 16 oz. pop bottle will fit in my water bucket, so on the hottest days I just take one out of the freezer and drop it in the water. Keeps their water really cool!

I take several bottles along in my cooler to summer shows, which not only saves the mess that melting ice usually makes in the cooler, but as it thaws I have fresh ice-water from home to give the dogs. I usually freeze several 2-litre bottles for long trips. I lay one in each crate for the dogs to snooze against on the way there, and then I have enough water for everyone when it's thawed.

Plastic drink bottles are my dogs favorite toys, whether they're filled with ice or not. I take the rings and caps off and toss a few in their play yard and they carry them around proudly and growl over them like bones. When they get them flat enough to really chew on and possibly get pieces of plastic off, I put them in the recycle bin and toss out fresh ones.

I carry a few zip-loc bags of ice cubes too, so I can not only have clean ice for drinks but quick cool-off treats for the dogs ringside (especially at outdoor shows). Freezing broth is a great idea for dogs who don't ordinarily eat ice cubes. The smell gets 'em interested and they get cooled off quick!

Freezing a very saturated washcloth, and carrying it in a zip-loc bag in the cooler is a good idea for quick ringside cool offs too. For you and your dog.

Cool mats: do it yourself Cool Mats. Want to do it yourself, i.e. make a cool mat for your dog or the neckerchief for yourself and save some money? Go to your plant nursery and get a package of Polymer Granules, it will probably have a brand name but the stuff is the same, aka x-linked polyacrylamide. It has a fantastic adsorption rate--1 pound of the granules will hold 50 gallons of pure water, much less if high in minerals or salts. Lay out the size mat you think you'll want, top and bottom pieces, sew around three sides, sew parallel tubes about 1 1/2 inches wide. Put about 1 teaspoon of the granules per 12 inches of length of each tube. Sew across the 4th side. Place it in water, about 30 minutes will give you 1/2 adsorption, 60-90 minutes should give 100% saturation. If you find its too full or not full enough, leave it dry completely out several days and add or take out granules as you see the need. Take an ordinary bandana and make a cool collar for yourself. The granules you don't use this way you can mix in with your soil for your plants as per the instructions with the granules. Cuts down the need for watering.