Trucks and Keeping Dogs Cool - Page 1

My truck is great for hauling dogs. The cap protects the dogs from the rain and stuff and I don't get the smell in the main cabin. But in the summer time it gets awful hot and the hoses the big names sell to funnel the ac don't cut it and boots that supposed to keep the main cabine and truck bed together don't cutit either. Do you have any ideas on how to keep dogs in a truck bed cool by adding another ac?

If you live someplace not too humid, a roof-mounted, auxilliary battery driven,  RV evaporative cooler works very well. Here in the East Coast however, its useless.

IMO truck caps get too hot and are dangerous.  Unload your dogs when you get to your destination and put the crates outside the truck under a tent or reflective tarp.  Caps simply get too hot, no way they are safe in the hot weather - they are barely aired enough while the truck is moving, but when it's parked, no way can it be kept cool enough even with fans and air.  My truck is open (no cap) and I've been traveling with dogs in the back (in vari kennels) with no problems, in all weather (cold, wind, rain, hot, humid) for 20+ years without ever a problem. In the very hottest weather the dogs aren't even panting.  I put a reflective tarp over them (still in the back of the truck usually) just to make myself feel better, but basically the crates themselves shade them and the open bed gives them the air circulation they need.  The only disadvantage of an open bed I've found is you can lock the cap in case you want to leave dogs in the truck overnight somewhere. 

molly

bottles of water frozen wrap them in towels works great!! it lasts for 2 + hours  cage fans are ok also

  well, being that i was into car audio for a while! are you against cutting the metal in your truck. but first i'll ask about the boot you spoke of. was it an accordian type boot, or the inflatable kind? did you use it between the sliding windows? if you would like to email me and discuss a solution. i know of a few way's to ''pipe'' the ac to them. it all depends on how much effort and money you would like to spend to cool the doggies.

as soon as i get the money/time to build it. i'm going with a cap for my truck with a self made metal dual dog setup. but i'm also going to cut a 6'' x 24'' slot in my bed and back of the cab with 3 small fans to ''push the ac/heat'' back to them.   as it will vent right into their kennels.

for those of you wandering yes my dogs are spoiled! but it's also ''something'' for me to do! i always need a project to be working on, and i told the wife it's cheaper than building a race car .

kenny

Pat-I remember seeing this website a good while ago: swampy.net 

I don't know anything about the quality or your price range. Just throwing it out there for you to look at.

Good luck with it and please come back and post if you find something you like. I would be interested to hear about it.

Dawgs

I would say plenty of ventilation and soem sort of extraction