What bedding do you use in the hot weather?

[cockerdoo]

Just wondered what every one else does about bedding in the crate during this hot spell.  Autumn only goes in her crate at bedtime now and I shut the door to it because we also have a greyhound who gets a bit spooked if he is disturbed in the night .  She likes going in there but I was a bit worried about her overheating as she can't get out to cool down on the tiles.  At the moment I have got some vet bed in there - what do you all think?

[SophieBlueRoanLover]

I had problems with this last year when I had my new puppy. I used vet bed, but usually had a small blanket, towel and toy in the cage too (what he was used to). I tried taking out the vet bed when it was really hot and the pup didn't like that at all. He spent most days lying on the cool white tiles in the kitchen, but has been fine on carpet this year.

As long as the rooms not too hot I think vet bed should be okay. I leave the windows open a crack to give some ventilation and rarely open the blinds during the day so the room doesn't heat up too much.

[mlynnf50]

Selby doesn't sleep in his crate now because of this, I was worried that he would overheat as he was panting quite alot, so leave him now, but it's driving me mad he jumps on me in the middle of the night but at least I now get nice cuddles

[Emilyoliver]

No change to bedding - covered mattress - puppy sleeps in crate in my bedroom and I always have the windows open.  He's not been uncomfortable so far.

[PopPops]

We've been managing in a closed crate with an overhead fan and pillar fan (not directly on her) and on the one night she was uncomfortable, damping her down a little solved the problem.

We also work hard on keeping the house cool with the blinds closed, open windows only at night and early morning when it's cooler out than in and that's stopped the bedrooms from getting too hot.

[Ben's mum]

I just put a cotton sheet on the bed and that stays nice and cool.

[ShelleyandRosie]

I use an older thin piece of vet bed in her crate during the summer, water in her bowl inside it and move the crate to a cooler area of my kitchen.  This seems to work fine for her, it helps I think that she doesn't have a thick coat ( a downside when I'm trying to groom her to look like a proper spaniel).

[Cam1]

If your crate is big enough it is definitely preferable to allow an area for a puppy to sleep off his bedding if he chooses in this hot weather. I have 2 puppies left at the moment ( one I'm keeping and one goes to his new home this weekend). Now they are 'dry' within their puppy pen they often opt to sleep on the newspaper rather than their cozy bed.  This is when a puppy pen is great as it allows more space. I always make sure the water is replaced fresh for the night too. The puppies have been choosing to go out to sleep in the shade on the patio direct on the slabs in the day, even though I have a crate outside in the shade with vet bed in it.

[cockerdoo]

Yeah I agree Cam1, wish I had bought a puppy pen, will have a look at them now and see what they cost. Thanks for all your replies, we have got fans in very room at the moment so keeping it fairly comfortable, but I think he is sleeping on the paper quite a bit in the night in his crate.

[Sarah/G]

Brodie has his quilt, the top is cotton, so it stays really cool.
 As crazy as it sounds try damping a towel, he likes laying on that too, or putting the towel in a bag and into the freezer during the day, then take it out at night xxx