There are some great icicles you can make and store ready for that really hot day to make life a little easier for your dog. They’re  also  a whole lot of fun too. Mixes such as pet milk watered down, some squished sardines and water are great and cheap too. A little harder to source, but definitely worth the effort are blood icicles. Depending what type of fresh meat you purchase for your pet, you may be able to collect some blood each time and put aside for use.If you have a large dog then best to make it as big as possible, but also, the hotter the day the quicker it will melt, so small icicles won’t last long. Save your ice cream containers as these usually make the best size for medium to large dogs and yogurt containers for small dogs. Just even freezing water and putting it in their water bowl will make things better by having cooling water to drink; we know how refreshing it is on a hot day to drink an icy cold drink rather than a hot one.The above ideas can also be used for your cat too. If you have a kid’s  paddling pool that the kids have outgrown, your dog can now make use of this. Many breeds enjoy sitting in water or at least cooling their paws down so any shallow container is great for this.Fruit eating birds, rabbits and guinea pigs will enjoy licking a pureed fruit icicle. Birds also may enjoy some native browse (this is Zoo keeper speak for plant vegetation). Take some cuttings from your garden and poke them directly into the cage or better still put the ends in a water tub to make them last longer.With all of these ideas, we suggest that you particularly monitor your pet (especially in the initial stages) to ensure they are using it the way you want them to. An icicle is to be slowly licked not bitten with teeth, so make sure you keep an eye on your fur-child.Send us some photos of your pets enjoying their next icicle and we’ll share them on our Facebook wall.Until next month, thanks for reading.-          Deb, Carnivore Keeper