How do you steam a hot dog? As much as I love to cook, this is not about making a hot dog and a bun. But that is exactly what happens day after day at dog shows held outdoors in hot weather – a steamed dog!
We spent an inordinate amount of time over the summer at shows. Our breed, the Danish-Swedish Farmdog, was granted full recognition by the American Kennel Club on January 1, 2025. To showcase the AKC’s newest breed, Number 202, we hit as many shows as we could. That meant many outdoor shows during a particularly warm summer. We showed in January indoors in St. Paul at negative 17F and in July at 100F in Cambridge, Minnesota, during an outdoor event. Of course, the judges are sensitive to the fact that it is hot and do their best to move dogs into the shade whenever possible, but sometimes just getting a dog into the shade isn’t enough to prevent overheating and other heat-related illnesses.
At the August AKC Parent Club meeting in North Carolina, important research results were presented. The most unexpected report was from the Penn Vet Working Dog Center about how to cool a hot dog – a dog that is in very warm environmental conditions.
Common Cooling Mistakes Owners Make
What we see at shows is well-meaning handlers who take a wet towel and lay it over the overheating dog. After reviewing these research results, it is clear that this approach is not effective for cooling a dog. This essentially “steams” the hot dog as their body heat warms up the wet towel, and the towel prevents the heat from escaping.
The danger of relying on ineffective cooling methods is that dogs can quickly progress from mild overheating to serious heat stress or even heatstroke very quickly. Once a dog’s core temperature rises too high, it can cause major damage to bodily systems, resulting in organ damage or collapse, or, in severe cases, become life-threatening. That’s why knowing what actually works to cool a dog down isn’t just about comfort; it’s about safety and health.
What the Research Found on the Best Ways to Keep a Dog Cool
After researching various approaches to cooling the dogs, one technique clearly surpassed all the others. And when I say “research,” that is exactly what this team at the University of Pennsylvania did – research. This is not the same as googling something you are curious about. It is the actual process of developing a hypothesis and then applying it to a variety of techniques, recording the outcome.
They found that, among four cooling protocols tested, this one produced the lowest average core temperature in the five minutes after exercise. It was the only intervention to decrease core body temperature within the first 30 seconds, and it resulted in the lowest temperatures six to 40 minutes after the intervention.
How to Keep Dogs Cool Outside and at Shows
What was found to be most effective was teaching a dog to voluntarily dunk its head into a bucket of water with specific training. You can teach it similarly to bobbing for apples – by placing a high-value item in the bucket with a small amount of water, gradually increasing the water depth, and teaching the dog to retrieve the item. It can be a tennis ball or a treat. The premise is that when dogs are hot, the blood flow to their heads increases. By teaching the dog to blow bubbles underwater and dunk its head, it is rapidly cooled. A nice side benefit is that for dogs who have been working in the field, this also helps irrigate their nasal passages and eyes, eliminating some of the foreign material they picked up while working.
Importantly, to be specific, you need to train the dog BEFORE you are in a crisis situation. It is likely that some dogs will take to this better than others. And some owners will as well – a Saint Bernard or Standard Poodle in full show coat will not look as beautiful to the judge with water dripping off its lips and ears. But I challenge the judges to become accepting of this technique on hot days in outdoor show venues.
Of course, it was developed for working dogs at the University of Pennsylvania. Dogs in the field are doing their jobs. But adapting it to our show dogs is not difficult. Obviously, the dog needs to be trained prior to needing to use this. You can’t take a dog that is panting and distressed and shove its head into a bucket of water – that is destined to have a bad outcome.
So training is key, as it is in everything we do in the ring. Whether it is a performance or a conformation event, the dog needs to be trained and acclimated to this. But I venture to say that the overheated or overheating dog will find enough relief to become adept at this technique, given the opportunity.
Other techniques researched included:
- Securing two ice packs on a collar around the dog’s neck
- Putting a wet towel around the neck and placing two wet towels under the dog’s armpits
- Putting a wet dog into a crate, which was shown to steam the poor dog and provide unfavorable cooling outcomes
Changing the Norm for Handling the Heat at Dog Shows
Ultimately, the bucket technique will catch on as viewers see the value of this technique for keeping dogs cool. The video and information from the research are compelling. Of course, owners and handlers are naturally going to want to do what is best to keep their dog comfortable.
With a few training sessions, as shown specifically in the above links, and some education of our handlers and judges, we will see this become our new normal in events where everyone – the dogs and the people – are uncomfortable.
I am sure handlers will still want to bring their portable battery-operated fan ringside. It makes the handler cooler. But since dogs don’t sweat and fans work by evaporative cooling, blowing on your sweaty body, dogs do not benefit from fans. Humans do. It is time to use this important research for these events and bring it to the AKC to provide better – and cooler – conditions for dogs participating in shows, which was the source of this funded project.
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