Originally published June 7, 2016 and updated July 16, 2020. This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #PawsToSavor #CollectiveBias
Any dog, but especially your senior dog, will appreciate a DIY dog cooling mat on a hot summer day. This is an easy beginner’s project that can be sewn by hand or by machine.
As my “babies” are growing up and leaving home for college one by one, I find that my dog, Lila, is becoming the recipient of my mom attention.
Lila is a fun-loving dog, always the life of the party. I know she loves us and we love her, but she is not a cuddly dog. I have to find other ways to demonstrate my affection for her.
I want Lila to enjoy every day and her senior years as much as she wants to enjoy them. I decided to make her a DIY dog cooling mat so that she can savor her summer walks. The dog cooling pad is easy to make and she really enjoys relaxing on it.
She’s now 16 years old, although she thinks she’s a much younger dog. Until about a year ago, she still loved her long, long walks as much as ever. After she turned 10, I began to noticed that it took her a bit longer to bounce back after a walk, especially a walk in warm weather.
I cannot believe that she is well over 16 years old! Even at the age of 14, she acted like a three year old dog. Even the vet has commented on it.
She’s the one that always wants the long walk (she’s dragging me along, not me dragging her) and she enjoys every second of our walks. I enjoy spending time with her and really get a kick out of how much she relives her puppy days through her walks.
Now that Lila is getting older, it takes her a longer time to recover from her walks. A walk on a hot day really wipes her out.
She searches for the coolest spot in the house, which is the hard tile floor. Now that she’s older, I feel badly that she has to lay on the hard tile floor to help her cool down after a walk. She certainly deserves her own cooling mat for dogs to pamper her a bit.
I decided to make a DIY dog cooling mat for Lila to lay on after a fun, but hot walk. The cooling dog mat helps her recover from the heat of a summer walk and is much softer than the hard tile floor.
When Lila’s not hot from a walk, her favorite place to lay is on her Brentwood Home delux Runyon dog bed. It’s unbelievably soft on her old bones and I love that the cover is washable and blends with my home decor. Lila and I are tough graders and we give her comfy dog bed an A+++.
DIY Dog Cooling Mat
1 – You can use an old or thrifted towel.
2 – I chose to use two bath mats to give my senior dog a bit more padding under her old bones.
3 – Line up the edges of the towel or bath mats and stitch them together by hand using a whip stitch or with a sewing machine straight stitch.
4 – Leave an opening on one side so that you can insert the cold packs.
I have found it best to use zipper bags of frozen peas. The frozen peas do a great job of providing a cooling effect and are flexible enough to be comfortable for Lila to lay on.
Although, Lila has never once tried to eat the bags of peas, please always supervise your dog while using this DIY dog cooling mat to ensure their safety.
Lila is comfortable and much cooler on her DIY dog cooling mat. It cushions her old bones and she definitely deserves a bit of pampering in her old age.
Lila has always been my adventuring buddy. She sees every outing as a grand adventure. We recently took a trip to PetSmart to pick up her dog food. You can tell by how focused Lila is that she knew we were heading to a fun place. Lila and I both appreciate that dogs are welcome to come shopping with you at PetSmart.
We went to check out the Purina® Pro Plan® dog food aisle. I know that Purina uses high-quality ingredients, including real meat, poultry or fish, and are 100% complete and balanced for each stage of a dog’s life. We decided to give Purina® Pro Plan® Savor® Shredded Blend dog food a try. With savor in the name, it caught my eye. Lila deserves to savor every minute and every meal of her senior years. Purina Pro Plan Savor is made with real poultry, meat or fish as the first ingredient in all the dry formulas. We feed Lila dry dog food and the dry formula is a combination of crunch kibble and tender shredded pieces to give Lila more variety in her meal.
Lila was so excited to get home with her bag of Purina Pro Plan Savor Shredded Blend that she decided to pose like the dog on the bag. Lila is so clever isn’t she?
“Hey, mom! Would you please let me eat my yummy dinner already?!!” Can you see by her expression that Lila’s just about had enough of waiting to eat? She makes me laugh. She is more than ready to savor her meal as soon as I stop taking photos!
After a nice long walk, a big bowl of dog food and a nap on her DIY dog cooling mat, Lila is definitely savoring the good life. Be sure to do all you can to help your dog savor every one of her days with a DIY dog cooling bed and nutritious meals.
More Ideas to Care for Your Dog:
- Pamper Your Senior Dog with a DIY Hooded Towel
- Growing Old(er) Together with Lila
- Life Lessons with My Fun-Loving Dog
- DIY Dog Treat Lei
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