Ice Treats- Are They Safe???

25 Jul Ice Treats- Are They Safe???

Just like you, your dog will love some cooling treats during the heat wave so here are a few ideas for you!

Before giving your dog anything frozen, a word of caution. As with anything, there are posts all over the Internet with examples of dogs getting seriously ill and even dying when given ice. Ice itself is not dangerous. What is dangerous, is the same as what would be dangerous for us, aka drinking ice water on a hot day, going from heat to a freezing bath, and biting down hard on a big block of ice. Use common sense and always ere on the side of caution. Supervise your dog and always look out for signs of heat stroke (see my earlier article.) Contact your vet immediately if you suspect any heat stroke, do not waste time trying to get your dog to drink.

Something I love to do with my dogs on a hot day is feed their normal meal portions but frozen. Simply don’t defrost your dogs food. Or if it’s a biscuit, soak it in water then freeze for a few hours or over night. Your dog will love taking the time to slowly work on getting its food (as opposed to wolfing it down in under 5 seconds!).

Another thing I do is make my dogs little milky ice cubes! Fill an ice tray with milk (preferably goats milk) and put in little pieces of fruit or veg. Through your day, give the dog one of these to push around the floor and lick its way through!

A healthier alternative that’s better for dogs with a slightly sensitive stomach is just to freeze chicken or some type of broth.

Some of my clients love to fill their kong toys with the dogs food and then freeze this.

Any frozen or chilled veggies usually go down a treat also! My dogs will look at me like I’m crazy if I give them a thawed green been but a frozen one they’ll take any day.

Come and find me this weekend at The Game Fair this weekend right in front of the retail village (stand number E475) for more tips and tricks!