Gun Dog Forum

I'm looking to get one of the above.

My dogs ride in crates in a canopied truck bed, and I worry about the temperature, mostly if it's too hot.

I'd like some suggestions of which wireless thermometer models have you used and liked, and which ones have been ones to steer away from.

Looking at the $35-$50 range.

And while I'm at it, since the heat is more a worrisome factor than cold (I have insulated crate covers and dog blankets like horse blankets for them) how do those cool mats work? I have sliders on the side and a slider on the front, but still when it's hotter than Hades at a red light, I wonder if it's too hot back there. The truck as an AC outlet, but those crate fans are about useless. I don't suppose, while I'm asking, that there's such a thing as a mini-air conditioner I could plug in...

Too many dogs to fit in the back of the cab, else I'd put them all in there!

Thanks all,

Karen

You could freeze a two litter pop bottle of water and put in the crate with them.

I have one of the ones from Bass Pro works great at the house, have not thought about putting it in the truck, but I am going to this weekend. Great idea!

As an aside... we are taking the dogs on a trip this weekend and it's supposed to be miserable hot 100+ of course the side vents on the camper shell will be open and the dogs will be in open wire crates. I plan on stopping every couple hours and watering and walking. Is this sufficient as long as we don't get stuck in traffic etc?

What are the max temps you would let your dogs see in a crate?

Just went and checked, mine does receive the signal inside the cab through all the steel and glass to the camper shell area. Model #WS-9077U-IT. It will run three sensors (in addition to the one in the receiving unit) so you could put on in a trailer as well if needed.

Mine is similar to this one except no humidity and relatively less cheesy forecasting icons.

http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/store ... 00_750-7-0

Karen - I run the same setup and have tried the cheapo Walmart and Lowe's versions of the wireless thermometers (ie, $8-$15 range). They both worked great for a couple weeks, but obviously weren't made to withstand any bouncing/jarring motion and trashed soon after. Hopefully a higher quality unit will work better - just wanted to steer you away from the cheapo route. I plan to try a new one this year as well - thanks for the reminder.

What about something like this, they are small and should work well.

http://www.maverickhousewares.com/et71os.htm

I have one of the cheap ones from Radio Shack that worked great when the trailer was motionless in my driveway, but would only work intermitedly when I needed it going down the road. Never did figure why this was. That, and since I lost the manual I could not figure out how to adjust (turn off) the freeze alarm, so it went off about every 15 minutes from mid-night to 3:00 am, until one of the guys threw it out the window on a trip to SD.

Neil

That's just the info I was looking for... especially the ones to stay away from!

I'm wanting to stick the sensor unit inside the crate on the "ceiling" if possible depending on the size of the sensor..

Thanks all!

Karen

We talked about buying one of these this past season (1 trial was extremely warm and we worried about the dogs in the truck...bought a DC fan to move air back there, but still worried).

I like the frozen 2 liter bottle idea also.

Good info!

I was trying figure out if a block of ice set in front of the crate door and then a fan moving the air over the ice into the crate would work. I've heard of people putting block ice in the feeder of a horse trailer so the air moves over the ice to the horse as they're traveling.

Then of course there's those hose products that fit over a vent of the AC in the cab and attach to the crate to blow AC into the crate. But then you've got to leave the sliders open. K9 Komfort or something like that...

Remote thermometer seems a great idea....I simply keep a digital on the crate door and adjust airflow but the remote would add to peace of mind...as would a remote CO device.
Keeping a dog fit and providing cool crate water seems a good start but xtra steps of any kind are a small price to pay.
Good seasonal thread.
Thanks

Something to consider, most new trucks have an outside air sensor located infront of the radiator, I thought about relocating mine into the back of the topper, that way all I have to do is look at my mirror to see how hot or cold it is. As far as I can tell the truck only uses it for displaying the temp in the rear view mirror, no other functions, however, you would want to verify that with your dealer as to not void any warranties....

May want to look at farm products, Farm Tek has a few remote temperature sensors, from the very basic to very high tech (it wall send you a text, email, or phone call if it gets too hot,)

k2k wrote:I was trying figure out if a block of ice set in front of the crate door and then a fan moving the air over the ice into the crate would work. I've heard of people putting block ice in the feeder of a horse trailer so the air moves over the ice to the horse as they're traveling.

Then of course there's those hose products that fit over a vent of the AC in the cab and attach to the crate to blow AC into the crate. But then you've got to leave the sliders open. K9 Komfort or something like that...

If you have a sliding window in the topper & one in the back window of the truck I've seen an air inflatable donut that fits between the cab rear & topper front. When inflated it creates a seal around the sliders. With a 12V fan you could circulate cab cooling directly through the open sliders into the topper. Of course for that to really work well you'd want to insulate the topper. The other heat source comes from the drive train & perhaps you've noted the floor of a truck box gets very warm on a trip due to the radiated heat from the drive train & tires.

I've never tried them but if you google 'swamp cooler' or 'swamp air conditioner' you might find what you're looking for.

So I got a Lacrosse thermometer/sensor and the unit is set up. Used cable ties and drilled a couple of holes in the top of the crate and secured it to the inside of the top of the crate. I don't think the dog even saw it there (I hope not!).

Took a road trip Wednesday, and it was interesting to know just what the temp was inside the crate compared to outside, when doing 60-70 mph.

I'm at work today, and it's about 83 outside (per my truck thermometer) and it says that inside the crate is 95 degrees! Of course the truck's been sitting outside in the sun for hours. Still, good info to know! I'm glad I got it.

Resurrecting an old thread here - anyone come across new wireless thermometers for watching temps inside their topper/trailer that have held up well and been effective?

I use a wireless thermometer I got at Walmart. The inside of my truck cap (AKA Topper) is carpeted, so I put the hook side of the Velcro on the back and stuck it to the carpet. I put Velcro on the back of the receiver and the mating piece on my overhead console. It has worked fine for 2 years.

To keep the dogs cool, I have battery powered crate fans. I have 2 qt flat sided buckets hanging inside the crates, and when it's really hot I put ice in the buckets. With the fan blowing over the ice it's sort of like air conditioning. If it gets over 95 in the back the dogs get upgraded to first class and ride up front in the back seat.

Hi has anyone come up with new temperature sensor options and/or cooling the crates? I have some long trips ahead of me in the west.

I put an AccRite thermometer I got off Amazon in the back to monitor temps and humidity. I think they are pretty much all the same. I have a fan that runs off 12v for air movement that I can run when driving and I also have a portable Ryobi fan that runs off batteries, for when I am stopped.

I have a dedicated battery under the hood of my pickup, wired into the alternator so it recharges while driving, with leads run to the back of my truck. I use the ruff/tuff fans which are small car radiator fans attached to the front of my crates. I have been at hunt tests where the fans ran all day with no failure. I also carry a Dewalt fan in case I need it.

If it's hot enough out to worry about it, then any sort of active cooling while driving is a wasted time and energy. The sun beating down on the canopy alone will heat faster than you can cool.

Like mentioned above, focus on keeping the air moving across the dog and through the canopy. Open the slider windows and if you have any vents in the roof, open those as well. Keep the fans going and you will be fine. If your really worried then travel at night.

There are thousands of dogs every year that travel thousands of miles in the july heat to summer camp. As far as I can tell there is some events on the trailer doors that get slid open and the dogs are let out a couple times a day. Otherwise they are in those dog boxes just fine.

Just go to Target or Walmart. They have tons of them.