Even on the hottest of days Indy will be up to mischief somewhere, most likely trying to find lizards behind a plant pot or imagining there is one hiding from her somewhere. Yes Indy has a vivid imagination bless her. Self cooling mats are activated by weight or pressure. No water, refrigeration or electricity is required. When your dog moves the mat automatically recharges. These mats are filled with gel which absorbs your dog’s body heat when pressure (their weight) is applied to the mat. The Petic cooling mat is a self cooling mat so as soon as pressure is applied from a dog lying on it, the gel extracts heat from their body. Banjo finally, after turning his nose up at all the other cooling mats, settled on this one. He didn’t move for 2 solid hours – it definitely passed the ‘is it comfortable?’ test. Banjo falls fast asleep on the Petic cooling mat

A lot of cooling mats will have a limited amount of time in which they can stay cool and refreshing before they will need to be ‘recharged’. This can range drastically from around 30 minutes all the way up to an impressive 5 hours. Naturally then, you want something that is probably at least 2.5 hours or more to be considered good quality. Recharge time The Iokheria mat doesn’t have the sturdiness that some of it’s competitor’s have and feels rather flimsy. Additionally it doesn’t have the indents making it harder to fold to put away. Not a huge problem at all if you don’t intend to take this out and about with you. Their mats boast incredible multi-functionality, and are suitable as both a standalone mattress or a dog bed topper, or perhaps even just a handy travel blanket for picnics!We decided to test these cooling mats on our own adopted rescue dogs – they are so so understanding and good at us spending so much time looking after all the doggies at the shelter that we thought why not include them in the testing and reviewing process? And with a humongous 102 cm large mat available, you might even be able to fittingly squeeze a Great Dane onto one of their chilly blankets!

The feel to the cooling mat’s material is soft and strong. By placing our hand under both Banjo and Rufus’s bodies (or paws) we could feel the cold seeping through the material. Rufus keeps his paws cool on the Petic Cooling Mat The Details

Ah Denmark… a nation of innovators and architects, schemers and dreamers, famous for bringing us Lego, Lurpak and er… well… those things. Beloved for their range of different doggy cooling products, All For Paws are well known for their Chill Out Canine Bandana which has helped canines stay cool in temperature and get even cooler in style over the last few years. If you’re going for a gel-based pad, it’s absolutely critical that the manufacturer states somewhere in it’s description that the gel is non-toxic. Some mats don’t use non-toxic gels which means if there is any damage to the mat and it begins to leak, your dog could become ill or worse if they ingest the unsafe contents. Durability Cooing mats are designed to keep dogs (or other pets) cool on hot days but how do they work and most importantly do they actually work?