Is Your Home Ready for Hotter Summers?

Keeping Bulldogs Cool in a Country Built for Rain

It is now widely accepted that the UK’s climate is changing. We are moving towards warmer, wetter winters and hotter, generally drier summers, with more frequent and intense periods of extreme weather.

Natural climate patterns, including El Niño, can temporarily increase global temperatures and influence individual years. However, they sit on top of the longer-term warming caused by climate change rather than causing that underlying trend themselves.

​Unfortunately, most British houses were built with keeping heat inside, not keeping it out.

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That is uncomfortable for people, but it can be genuinely dangerous for any dog. Bulldogs are Flat-faced dogs are particularly vulnerable because panting is their main method of losing heat, yet their shortened airways can make this less efficient.
   
​Recent veterinary warnings have made an important point: dogs are now presenting with heatstroke even when their owners have avoided walks and kept them at home. Some have overheated simply while resting indoors, wandering in the garden or becoming stressed during a journey.

Preparing for hot weather can no longer mean finding a desk fan when the temperature reaches 30°C. We need to start preparing our homes properly.

After several warm days, our brick walls, roofs and paving absorb heat and gradually release it back into the house. By the time the evening arrives, you may open every window and discover that the building itself has become an enormous storage heater.

In other words, it starts slowly roasting and toasting us.

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