Plea to protect four-legged friends during hot weather spell
Precious Paws in Liverpool have a number of ways of keeping their pups cool
As Merseyside continues to experience sweltering conditions, a doggy day care centre in Liverpool is doing all it can to keep their pups cool!
An amber heat alert has been issued by the UK Health Security Agency until 9pm on Sunday.
At Precious Paws in Liverpool, the pups in their care are being given all the tools to keep cool!
Kim Barrow, owner of Precious Paws Liverpool, said:
"We message out on all our social media as soon as we know there's going to be some really hot weather, so it lets all our customers know they need to bring the wet coats in with their dogs. A lot of them leave them here all the time anyway, so we've got them readily available.
"We have pools, we have four or five gazebos that we'll put in various places depending on where the sun is, we've got an indoor area which is kept cool during the day so that we can use that in the afternoon when the heat is at its worst.
"We've got a big undercover area, we also have an ice machine so we can keep the water nice and iced but also the dogs loved ice treats.
"We do treasure hunts and find the treat, things where they can use their brain, where they can use their nose because that's much more calming. We don't really want them running around like crazy things when its really hot because that makes them overheat more."
With the weather set to stay warm over the coming days, pet owners across the region are being urged to take sensible precautions with their pups.
Kim added:
"With any dog, don't take them out in the heart of the day when the sun is at its hottest. People forget that tarmac gets very hot, so if you're walking with your dog, they're walking with bare paws on that tarmac and they can easily burn their feet.
"Don't take them in cars. You might have air conditioning which is great, but when you're engine's off, the air-con isn't working, don't leave them in hot car parks - it's just not safe for your dogs.
"Keep them in the shade, give them plenty to drink. If you're using a cooling mat, please make sure its in the shade. If it's in the sun, it acts like a radiator and that's going to make your dog get hotter. You can wet them as well, that helps to keep them cool.
"Nice iced drinks, lollies, frozen snuffle mats, frozen licky mats, you can use some yoghurt, some ice-cream made with goats milk, you can use peanut butter - mix it all together with some fresh fruit and pop it in the freezer and give that to your dog, it'll keep them calm for a lot longer and it's nice and cool."