I purchased a house recently and me and the pup have moved in! One issue though...we have no AC upstairs until I get a new thermostat installed. This past week has been okay temperature wise. He usually pants when we go upstairs but after awhile will calm down and find somewhere comfortable to sleep. Temperatures here have been in the 70/80s during the day and 60/70s at night, however, starting next week they are going to rapidly climb into the 90s during the day and 70s (thought it feels much warmer) at night. I'm find without air conditioning upstairs for the time being since I'm accustomed to the desert heat, but I am worried about my pup since this will be his first ever summer. I have no thermostat upstairs and don't really have the extra money to spend on purchasing one and getting it installed, especially since he has a vet appointment coming up next week that I need to pay for. How hot can he handle indoors? We're both fine during the daytime but I do notice him panting more at night when it's time for bed. I've tried fans but he doesn't like to be near them, and I could leave the AC on downstairs but he'd follow me upstairs anyways. I always leave out a bowl of ice which he loves, but I'm not sure how much good it does. Will he be fine? I could buy a thermostat now but finances are getting tight and if he can do without it, I'd prefer to wait to purchase.
Coming from England this isn't a situation we have to contend with, unfortunately! I'd personally always err on the side of caution and go for taking the hit of putting the AC in upstairs as well, but when you see your vet at your appointment next week she might in a good position to advise you on whether this is a cause for concern. If he's got the choice of going to an area with AC and is choosing to stay with you in the hotter part of the house that suggests he's probably not overheating, but sadly in my experience they aren't always that sensible Hopefully someone who has experience of owning a pet in a hotter country than mine will have more insight too
We live in Aus. I've found that your judge of temperature and how comfortable you are is a pretty good guide. My girl Ella definitely feels the heat but, when I compare it to the experiences of my friends in the UK, I can see that her tolerance of heat has definitely adapted to the higher temps that we deal with. If you can comfortably relax and pup can settle and relax without too much panting, then you're probably ok. We find that on days above 30 degrees, we tend to leave the aircon on for Ella if we're going out Hope that helps a little
Ruff wear also has a cooling vest I thought that looked pretty cool (see what I did there) When I was las t on it was out of stock, but maybe they got more in.
Does it cool off outside at night. In Oregon it can get quite hot in the daytime, but cools down into the 60s or 70s at night. I don't know where you are, but if it is cool outside the consider blowing some outside air into the bedroom. Fans directly on dogs don't help like they do for people, because dogs have fur insulation and they don't sweat. If the pup is not panting hard she is probably ok. When we exercise our Labs in the Summer they will often stop and head for the creek when they get too hot. As much as they like water, they will head to the creek for any reason.
