Hi everyone,

I live in Las Vegas with my 6-month old husky puppy Spock. You know what summer is like in Vegas... over 100 degree everyday. It's only May now, but this weekend Vegas already hit 95 degree.

I started to give him plain ice cubes everyday after walk and dog park, and he only likes to eat his food when I put a bowl of ice cubes right next to his kibbles. But today at dog park a German shepherd owner told me that ice cubes are actually very dangerous for their stomach and digestive system. I did some research when I got home, but I'm still not completely convinced.

Summer in Vegas is just too tough for him, and he LOVES his ice cubes, either plain or with chicken broth in it. I just wanna ask how many of you give your huskies ice cubes in summer? and should I keep doing this?

Thank you

A lot of GSD owners believe that ice cubes have an increased risk of bloat...but the GSD also is a predominantly notorious bloat breed so take it for what it's worth.  There is, according to many veterinary documents no solid link between ice and bloat.  But I'd offer to give under direct supervision and watch for anything adverse. I suppose my dogs should have died of bloat a hundred times over, as they do tend to eat snow even while running down the trail.

The only concern I've ever had with ice cubes is giving them when one of the dogs is outside in the heat and they've been super active. I compare it to how after say a person has been running 3 miles and gets ice cold water to drink-it just doesn't feel the best. Otherwise, I've given ice cubes for as long as I can remember with both dogs .

I actually saw a program on television at some point several years ago that explained the dangers of ice causing bloat. Basically if the dog swallows the ice the extreme temp difference inside the stomach can cause it to turn which could end up being fatal. The program did not specify that it was more of a problem with any specific breed in particular. I had rarely given ice in the dogs' water bowl before I watched that but vowed never to do it afterward. I just didn't feel that ice to cool off just a tad faster was really worth the risk. To this day I still will not offer ice...to each his own though. It's been so long though that I have no idea what show I was watching so I have no references, sorry.

Yeah, I give ice too... I never really gave it a second thought. I stopped after a while though because Diz thought it was great fun to go bobbing for ice cubes in the water bowl and kept making huge messes. I used to think I was being all clever and just leave ice in his bowl (no water) when I left for work in the morning thinking it would melt slowly. That way he could have water throughout the day, but not down it all and then have to pee a couple hours later. Well, everything is a toy to Diz, so naturally he would spill all the cubes and then pounce on them and play until he got bored and fell asleep and everything would be wet when I got home and he'd have no water!

I acutally had a problem with ice and snow this winter. Inuk did eat a lot of ice and snow on our walks and he did get digestive problems. He often had runny stool and sometimes his stool was cold. I did talk to my veterinary and she said that ice and snow can cause digestive problems. But I suspect that him being only 4 months old was also a big factor. I suppose I'm going to find out next winter when he will eat snow and ice again.

We give Kai ice cubes often particularly in the summer to help cool her down. I haven't seen enough sufficient data to convince me that they are dangerous, but I monitor everytime we do. She hasn't had runny stool or any issues after any ice cubes yet, but I will keep a close on her whenever we do.

Inuk wrote:

I acutally had a problem with ice and snow this winter. Inuk did eat a lot of ice and snow on our walks and he did get digestive problems. He often had runny stool and sometimes his stool was cold. I did talk to my veterinary and she said that ice and snow can cause digestive problems. But I suspect that him being only 4 months old was also a big factor. I suppose I'm going to find out next winter when he will eat snow and ice again.

Ice and snow are just frozen water. Water, in and of itself, does not cause diarrhea or digestive problems. Now snow and ice outside may have contaminants in it which CAN cause digestive upset. However, for the purpose of this thread, I believe we are mainly considering ice given to a dog from a clean source.

Stool temperature, when it exits the body, is determined by body temperature. If you eat a popsicle, ice cream or swallow an ice cube it will NOT affect your stool temperature... the same holds true for your dog. So if you're thinking that your dog's stool is "cold" because he ate snow or ice, that is not the case. Your dogs stool may have been cold because of the outside temperature where it was deposited. Plenty of times I have picked up dog poop immediately after it was deposited on the ground and the environmental conditions had already cooled it considerably. In snow I have frequently picked up cold poop immediately after the dog had done it's business.  

So would it be bad if I put ice cubes in his water bowl? I usually put a couple in there from the fridge dispenser just so they can cool his water since it gets super hot here.

And he doesn't really eat them. They usually just melt in there.

Rocio, the potential for an issue is really if they eat the ice cubes. Ice in the bowl to cool the water is not really a concern.

so does giving frozen treats fall under this same warning? like our yogurt treats and such, i know some lick them but sierra eats it in chunks, same with frozen fruit, its all about the temp of the food vs what the food consists of?

That's a good question, Jenn. In theory, the risk should be the similar if chunks are swallowed since the risk has to do with temperature not substance.

I hate this thread! Its making me worry like crazy. I've been feeding Nikolai raw frozen dinners (the box of steve's said its okay for dogs) and we do frozen kongs all of the time, I guess we will stop if its really that big of a risk especially with how fast Nikolai eats.

Some thought on the matter:

http://moderndogmagazine.com/articles/diy-eat-pupsicles/19300

http://www.humanesociety.org/issues/eating/recipes/animal_treats/dog_popsicles.html

Erica, we do frozen kongs all the time. I also share ice cream with my dogs during summer right off the cone.

The only time I will not give ice cubes is, like I said, if it's REALLY hot and my dogs have been say, hiking or running, and my dog is panting really hard. I would *never* give an ice cube to get her to cool down faster.

I've also given ice cubes as "treats" for all my dogs when they were young puppies (like 8 weeks old). I will continue to give ice cubes, but you have to be smart about it.

Is it like colic in horses? Is that the issue?

From what I understand, giving ice to an over heated dog closes air ways and does something funky to the stomach; but I don't know for sure. It's one of those topics that has 700 articles for both sides, you know?

Yeah, I just always remember that chapter in Black Beauty where they bring him back all hot from a rain storm and give him ice cold water and he get colic, so it kind of sounds like a similar issue, but obviously I'm no expert.

Why would anyone take their dogs especially a HUSKY for a "run" or a "hike" in a really hot day? Don't get me wrong, excersise is great for them, but definitely not on a hot day. I live in Australia, and some days are EXTREMELY hot. All Maxi does on days like that, is sit inside with the aircon and a small pool of ice that he loves to lie in, if I try to take him out he refuses! He loves it and never had an issue before. But this post is making me very worried now!!

I've always given my dogs ice cubes and fruit ice lollies, never had a problem with them. Granted it was every now and then not every day. Do like the idea of putting ice cubes down but I know Ziggy would play with them and eat them before they melt

I'm new here, signed up so I could reply to this. My mother gave our dog, Bo, German shep mix, ice cubes she called them steaks and he would love to chew them up on a hot summer day, this was in the early 80's. Never had problems. I did some research on bloat, quite frankly it terrified me. The things I did learn was that bloat is most common in barrel chested dogs, i.e. mastiffs, gsd, etc. it is usually from combination of kibble and large amounts of water immediately after eating, with water consumed in a gulping or quick fashion. the combination of this causes the kibble to swell and swells the dogs stomach, leading to bloat which can be fatal. Recommendations are to feed and water in head low not head raised position and limit amount of water after feeding kibble.
I am no expert, just read as much as I could and this is what I got from several articles.

Bo lived to somewhere around 12-14 years old, I had moved away so my memory fails me to his exact age. He loved his "steaks".
My girl Miya is almost 20 months old and last summer she begged for those kid frozen icy fruit juice pushup fun pops, never had a problem.

I hope i posted ok, and did nothing wrong, I just didn't want to see a poor baby missing out on some frozen summertime treats.

Miya is a husky/gsd mix and I'll post my hellos in the appropriate place.

I talked to my vet about this the other day and she said it's not true. The story that's floating around right now is one dog, she gives her dogs ice, and she's never seen a case of bloat related to ice in all the years she's been practicing.

I've yet to see any dog have an adverse reaction to ice. That begin said, we don't give ice, but that's because my dogs are idiots and I'd end up with ice on my bed or in my couch. Would I hesitate to give them ice water in a bowl outdoors? Nope.