Lifestyle

So what do you do with a hot dog? Just give it a shower! Overheating hounds stay cool in the soaring temperatures by getting a soaking from their owners

  • Leonbergers – like quite a few of us – have found the heatwave hard going
  • The 2ft 6in-high dogs, which have thick coats, struggle in the extreme heat 
  • Archie, 4, enjoyed a drenching by student Karina Samee, 17, in Byfleet, Surrey 
  • Angela Cairns, 60, gave Jackson and Kodi a cooling shower in Dorking, Surrey

The gentle giants are red-hot favourites among many dog lovers.

But Leonbergers – like quite a few of us – have found the heatwave hard going. The 2ft 6in-high dogs, which have thick coats, struggle in the extreme heat.

But owners have found ways to keep them cool. Four-year-old Archie, who weighs 13 stone, enjoyed being drenched by student Karina Samee, 17, as she emptied a watering can over him and splashed him with a hose in Byfleet, Surrey. Karina’s mother Emma, 42, said: ‘Archie loves anything to do with water and gets in the canal when we take him for a walk. One day someone asked me why I was walking a pony in the water!’

Four-year-old Archie, who weighs 13 stone, enjoyed being drenched by student Karina Samee, 17, as she emptied a watering can over him in Byfleet, Surrey

Fellow Surrey Leonbergers Jackson and Kodi climbed into a paddling pool as owner Angela Cairns gave them a cooling shower in Dorking

Meanwhile, fellow Surrey Leonbergers Jackson and Kodi climbed into a paddling pool as owner Angela Cairns gave them a cooling shower in Dorking.

Mrs Cairns, 60, said: ‘There’s no hose pipe ban here yet, thank goodness.’

She added: ‘You get soaked when they have a shake afterwards, but that’s a benefit in this weather!’

She also helps the pair chill out with cooling mats for them to lie on indoors and buckets of water for them to drink from.

Four-year-old Archie, who weighs 13 stone, enjoyed being drenched by student Karina Samee, 17, as she splashed him with a hose in Byfleet, Surrey

‘They’re a very laid back breed and love being in the water. They have webbed feet like Newfoundlands,’ said Mrs Cairns, whose husband David, 63, is a mechanic.

‘We’ve had Leonbergers for 20 years and the dogs we’ve had in the past have done rescue training. We’re hoping to start Jackson and Kodi on water rescue training once the weather has cooled down.’

Leonbergers originate from Leonberg in Germany where they were bred from St Bernards crossed with Newfoundlands in the 19th century to resemble the lions on the town’s heraldic crest. Puppies cost around £1,600 each.

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