As the hot weather is set to return over the weekend, one thing we can all agree on is the joy of an ice lolly when the sun is shining. Whether in the park or the garden, they’re a refreshing and tasty treat and a great way to keep cool and who says our dogs can’t enjoy one, too?

It’s a common myth that dogs can’t have ice, but according to Head Vet Sean McCormack from tails.com, ice is actually a good way to keep dogs cool in the sun – especially if they’re not great at keeping themselves hydrated. 

So if your pooch is getting a bit hot under the collar, the team at tails.com has the perfect frozen recipes you can make at home during hot summer days.  

Frozen Watermelon Treats

The best thing about them? They can be enjoyed by everyone from teens to toddlers – although you might want to leave out the dog treats when you’re serving them to humans. 

Serves: 

• Around 8 cubes, depending on the size of the tray used

Ingredients: 

• 200g watermelon – with seeds and rind removed (as these aren’t easily digestible)
• A few tails.com Good Dog Treats 
• An ice cube tray, lolly mould to freeze them in

Method:

• Cut your deseeded watermelon into cubes
• Use a food processor, hand blender or the end of a rolling pin to blend the melon until smooth. You could add a little bit of water at this point if you want to make your batch stretch a little further!
• Pour the mixture into your mould
• Break up the treats into smaller pieces and add to the mix
• Pop into the freezer until done
• Serve as a refreshing treat on a hot day

As with all treats, Sean McCormack recommends making sure they’re served as part of a balanced diet: “Even though watermelon is quite low calorie, it does still contain some sugars so it’s best to keep it as an occasional treat”. 

Chicken and Apple Pupsicles

This recipe is perfect for a cooling summer treat for your pooch. Plus, this recipe is good for your dogs teeth too. How? Well, the recipe uses dental sticks as the lolly stick! 

Ingredients: 

• 100ml low salt chicken stock
• 1 dental stick 
• ¼ of an apple (no pips as they can be toxic for dogs)

Method:

• Mix up your stock and leave it to cool
• Chop up the apple into small pieces
• Pop the apple pieces into a small plastic cup, ramekin or ice-lolly mould
• Pour over the chicken stock
• Using sellotape, create four barriers over the top of your dish – this will hold the dental stick in place 
• Freeze overnight, or until frozen
• When it’s ready to eat, run the sides of the pot under warm water to loosen the lolly and remove the tape
• Use the dental stick to grab the lolly – time to enjoy!

Banana & Peanut Butter Frozen Smoothie Bites

These smoothie bites are a quick and easy sweet treat that your dog will love and they’ll help keep them cool. These frozen smoothie bites use just three ingredients – it couldn’t be simpler.

Ingredients: 

• 150ml unsweetened almond milk
• 1tbsp smooth peanut butter (make sure the peanut butter is xylitol and palm oil free – this is really important as xylitol is harmful to dogs)
• 1 banana

Method: 

• This one is really simple, mix together all the ingredients until the paste is a smoothie consistency, pop in an ice cube tray and freeze for +6hrs until set, then let your dog enjoy!

Dog-friendly Ice Balls

These cooling dog treats can be packed with all your dogs favourite foods and they also provide plenty of entertainment and are great for cooling hot dogs down.

Ingredients could include:

• Chopped banana
• Peas
• Carrot
• Dog food
• Treats
• Peanut butter (xylitol and palm oil free)

Method: 

• Simply pop a mixture of goodies into an ice ball casing, put the lid on then fill up with water or low salt chicken stock and freeze for 6-8 hours. Then remove from the casing and give to your pooch for plenty of entertainment.

Frozen Kong Toy Boredom Buster

This recipe is so simple and is really effective at keeping dogs entertained and cool.

Ingredients and method: 

• All you need to do is fill up a Kong toy with some of your dog’s wet food then freeze for 6-8 hours and then expect to have one very entertained pooch.