Dog days of summer

It's hot where we live. Hot and humid, and we are all praying for cool October weather. Our dog's both have black fur coats and they hate it outside during these blazing summer days.

A Pest solution is to crawl under the end table and lay right on top of the A/C vent so that the cold air blows right up his nose while no one else in the room gets any of the cooling benefit. We keep the ceiling fan on to keep the air moving, but he's not really into the breeze as much as the freeze.

I accidentally dropped an ice cube on the kitchen floor over the weekend and he lunged for it like it was a chicken leg. I tried to pick it up to give to him, but his chin remained on it as protection from all intruders. Meanwhile, skating it along with his chin, the rest of his body was contorted in an awkward arch trying to keep up with his glide. Graceful on the ice, he wasn't. And the longer he pushed it the smaller it got until all that was left was a puddle to lick up. At least it was a chilly puddle.

The Pest does, by design, have to venture outside several times during the day, no matter what the temperature threatens. He trots into the shade to take care of business and then he wants right back in. If the sprinkler is on, he wants back in even faster. When I was a kid, I loved to play in the sprinkler to cool off. But remember, we are talking about a dog in a black fur coat in the late summer. Wearing a soggy wet black fur coat, steam rising, doesn't even hint at heat relief.

His oasis is the tile floor upstairs where the A/C vent blows down from the ceiling. It's a Two-for-one deal for Pest because he gets his tummy flat down on the cool tile and the A/C vent blows cold air right on his back. He sleeps there at night and naps there sometimes during the day, dreaming of someone to fan him with a big palm leaf, rub his ears and feed him grapes and the occasional ice cube.