# Solution for Hot Weather Transport/Training w/ Truck Cap



## HuntinDawg (Jul 2, 2006)

I have a truck cap on my truck and my dog (only 1 dog) rides in his crate in the back of the truck. Today it was only about 72 degrees and it was pretty hot in there. I'm concerned about my dog sitting around all day in that thing at some hunt tests as the weather continues to get warmer.

My truck cap has a sliding window that matches the sliding rear window in my truck, so I had the idea of running the A/C in my truck and using a small 12 volt fan to pull the air from the truck cab into the cap. I know I read a thread on here about that last summer, but I can't find it. A search on "fan" doesn't get it and a search on "fan AND window" doesn't get it either.

While searching the internet for 12 volt fans I came upon an item called "KoolerAire" and it looks pretty slick if it works as advertised...and I already have an item just like the portable power supply that they sell for it, so I wouldn't even need to buy that, just the KoolerAire unit itself. I have included a link for the KoolerAire unit.http://www.kooleraire.com/index.htm

So I have 2 questions for the RTF community:

1) What can you tell me about the original solution I had in mind?
2) Do you have any experience with or thoughts about the KoolerAire unit to cool my truck bed/cap for my dog?

Thanks!

P.S. I know I could just stake him out, but even then it can be very hot and at a dog event like that I would worry greatly about someone running over him...with people hurrying to and from different stakes, etc.


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## badbullgator (Dec 20, 2004)

I have been thinking a lot about this because I just got a cap for my truck. I am in Florida so HOTT is a problem. I know a number of people that use caps and crates and simply have fans pushing the air around. I am going to use wire crates so there is good air flow all around the dogs and as many fans as I can. I am also thinking about insulating the top of the cap with either some of that reflective space blanket stuff of Styrofoam just to keep some of the heat from coming through the top of the cap. From what I have seen good air flow is the key because hopefully you will not have the dogs out in extreme heat anyway ( I quit training @ 85 degs so I can get them home before the temperature gets too high in the box). 
As to your first idea, it works in theory but because there is really little or no insulation you are trying to cool a large area with a small a/c. I have yet to see this work very well even with one cap that was build to seal to the front slide window so you could do just what you describe. This is kind of like trying to a/c and big un-insulated warehouse with a window a/c. Remember too that the cap is not sealed and is constantly letting air in/out so most of the cool air your blowing is going out the seal of the rear window.


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## Steve Shaver (Jan 9, 2003)

My shell windows flip open on both sides as well as the back. I leave everything open when when stopped and wedge a bumper in the side windows held closed with a bungee to get more circulation when moving. I also have 12 volt fans from walmart for 7 bucks wired into the lights for the shell. If for some reason I have to have the dogs in there when its really hot I'll put a block of ice in the kennel with them.


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## Lil Dikens Kennels (Mar 30, 2006)

I find that in the summer in a pick up with a cap Wire Crates give the most air flow.. I also put in 2 liter bottles of frozen water and i have a big 12 volt fan that is 3 x the size of the crate fans,found it at a conformation show.And i also put a reflective space blanket on top of the cap to help block the sun when i can not find shade to park in


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## IowaBayDog (May 17, 2006)

The big box home improvement stores sell rolls of reflective insulation that is thin and can be easily glued inside the shell to keep the heat down. It looks a lot like a space blanket and isn't too expensive.

Fans are a must but invest in a Deep Cycle battery. DO NOT wire fans into the shell lighting. If you don't want an extra battery, run the proper size wire from fuse panel in your truck. Using existing wiring for lights is asking for a vehicle fire. Blowing cool air from your cab will help some just from the increased air circulation but it won't keep it cool long once it is shut off.

You can go the whole nine yards with a battery isolator and set up so your alternator charges your deep cycle or do what I did and buy a trickle charger and mount it to the battery and plug it when you get home.


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## Carol Cassity (Aug 19, 2004)

I have a pick-up with a topper. The topper has the gull wing type doors. This summer I had a hand crank vent with a rain cap installed on the theory that hot air rises and this wil give it somewhere to go. I also do the stick a bumper in side of the windows and have a cab window from the truck, as well.

I also run a 12 volt fan from a small gel deep cycle battery - Endless Breeze is the name of the fan. I bring the battery in every few days and charge it back up. The fan will run for round 30 hours before the battery is out.

Ice in the buckets and blocks work well. I also use wire crates for maximum ventilation. 

The crates sit up off the floor on a platform, so the crates are sitting 4 inches or so below the window openings. The dogs get the most breeze avaliable. 

With this set-up, my dogs are cooler than they were in my panel van. 

The key is to keep the air moving and get the hot air out. Before I put in the roof vent, my endless breeze was used as an exhaust fan and pulled air out.

Carol


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## Gov (Nov 7, 2005)

I've had the ultimate tester. The boss - refusing to put the boys where it was too hot - rode in the back of the truck, where the crates were to go, on a hot 90+ South Carolina day until she was satisfied with our set-up. We run a fan on each crate (2) that has a cord to the power plug in the truck. I run them all day at a trial with no problem. On the road, I run them and have the side windows propped open by resting on the open latches and the front of the cap slider window open. Park in the shade and keep the air moving. I've tried the A/C with the rear sliders open, but I'm not sure how much air gets back there. Hope that helps.

p.s. I agree with the platform. I think it helps get the crates into the airflow better


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## Lisa S. (May 23, 2003)

HuntinDawg said:


> I have a truck cap on my truck and my dog (only 1 dog) rides in his crate in the back of the truck. Today it was only about 72 degrees and it was pretty hot in there. I'm concerned about my dog sitting around all day in that thing at some hunt tests as the weather continues to get warmer.
> 
> My truck cap has a sliding window that matches the sliding rear window in my truck, so I had the idea of running the A/C in my truck and using a small 12 volt fan to pull the air from the truck cab into the cap. I know I read a thread on here about that last summer, but I can't find it. A search on "fan" doesn't get it and a search on "fan AND window" doesn't get it either.
> 
> ...


Endless Breeze Fan: do a search on ebay they run about $60-$80, put it in your rear truck window and open up the cap window. Turn your a/c and the fan on and your a/c will get pumped into the rear while you're driving. For time sitting in the truck open all windows including the back, close the window to the cab and move the fan at an angle near the truck cab, keeping it in the shade. It will move cool air to your dog, for even cooler air place a bag of ice sitting in a shallow tub in front of the fan. Dump melted ice water into your dogs bowl.

Hope this helps.


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## Baron (Sep 15, 2006)

Climate controlled crate.

http://www.komfortpets.com/

This is the ultimate solution. Large models will be out this summer.


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## Paul Stuart (Aug 3, 2003)

I had the same problem and found that a space blanket worked well reflecting the sun away. I have a thermometer in the back and when I put the space balnket bungee`d to the cap, the temp went down about 10 degrees. I am in the process of settign up a fan in the roof to exhaust heat out after the snow is all melted up here in the North country. The combination of the fan exhausting the heat and the space blanket should drop the temps to a better living condition. I bought an electric radiator fan on ebay for $20 and a small hood scoop for another $20, and it doesn`t look too dorky. I will have the fan running from 2 places, I put a cigarette lighter plug at the end of the wire so I can plug it in to either the truck battery which is wired with a fuse on a female cigarette lighter plug, or I can bring my battery jumper box along and run it off that after charging it up.


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## larrynogaj (Aug 31, 2004)

*dog transport*



IowaBayDog said:


> The big box home improvement stores sell rolls of reflective insulation that is thin and can be easily glued inside the shell to keep the heat down. It looks a lot like a space blanket and isn't too expensive.
> 
> .


i could be off on this, and if so, I appologize. but I believe the purpose of reflective materials for insulation is to reflect the light source therefore preventing it from changing the light energy into heat. To put it underneath the cap would be just about the same as using a couple of sheets of plastic. Insulation is critical. I'm thinking that 1/2" or 3/4" of styrofoam glued to the interior surfaces of the cap would give you a bigger bang for the buck. Not good looking, but it can be covered. You can do the same thing on the floor and cover it with something solid. My last vehicle was a conversion van. I thought I'd have trouble with heat, but because it was so well insulated it was the coolest of any of the vehicles parked in the sun, and white would be cooler than a dark color. Conversely, on a cold night I could crash in the back and it would retain the heat long enough for me to fall asleep.


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## Big Brown Dog (Jan 30, 2007)

*Transporting in heat and Truck caps*

Putting a block of ice in a crate is an idea - but a word of warning here. If you are using either a solid or wire crate with a metal bottom the ice will radiate drastically and can chill the dog. I know this from experience. I was running a hunt test over Labor Day on Sauvies Island and took frozen gallon jugs of water (used the water for drinking when melted). I had a young yellow Lab bitch who had gotten quite hot from her land series. I put a jug in with her to cool her down. She was just past 6 months and was small. I came back about 30 minutes later to find her curled in the furthest corner of her wire crate turning blue - poor thing. So I learned to be very mindful of using ice on metal pans.


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## Lady Duck Hunter (Jan 9, 2003)

We have had a camper shell over the back of our truck for ten years now. Our truck and camper is white which in itself helps a lot to reflect the sun/heat. To help even more, we've tried various fan set ups, including opening an ice chest and positioning a smallish ocillating fan so it would blow across the contents and towards the crates. The easiest cool down is to buy bags of ice and place them on the top of the plasic crates...cool air drops and the dog is cool. 

Another suggestion is to find a thermometer that senses the temp inside the camper and sends a signal to a unit you can carry with you. I think the one we have is about $20.


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## HuntinDawg (Jul 2, 2006)

Lady Duck Hunter said:


> We have had a camper shell over the back of our truck for ten years now. Our truck and camper is white which in itself helps a lot to reflect the sun/heat. To help even more, we've tried various fan set ups, including opening an ice chest and positioning a smallish ocillating fan so it would blow across the contents and towards the crates. The easiest cool down is to buy bags of ice and place them on the top of the plasic crates...cool air drops and the dog is cool.
> 
> Another suggestion is to find a thermometer that senses the temp inside the camper and sends a signal to a unit you can carry with you. I think the one we have is about $20.


2 Questions:
1) Where do you buy a thermometer like that?
2) I've heard of people putting ice in the overhead storage compartment of metal dog boxes and that it can cool the dog. You've said that it works on plastic crates too. I've got a wire crate on order (better ventilation), and I was thinking that I could secure a metal pan on top of the wire crate and do the same thing. However, I'm not sure it would help becuase the wire crate is open air, while the metal dog box and plastic crates are more enclosed. It seems that with a metal crate there isn't really such a thing as an "interior temperature."

Thanks.


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## HuntinDawg (Jul 2, 2006)

*Re: Transporting in heat and Truck caps*



Big Brown Dog said:


> Putting a block of ice in a crate is an idea - but a word of warning here. If you are using either a solid or wire crate with a metal bottom the ice will radiate drastically and can chill the dog. I know this from experience. I was running a hunt test over Labor Day on Sauvies Island and took frozen gallon jugs of water (used the water for drinking when melted). I had a young yellow Lab bitch who had gotten quite hot from her land series. I put a jug in with her to cool her down. She was just past 6 months and was small. I came back about 30 minutes later to find her curled in the furthest corner of her wire crate turning blue - poor thing. So I learned to be very mindful of using ice on metal pans.


Thanks for the heads up on that one. In hot weather I would not have considered the possibility of cooling him off too much just by putting some ice in his crate. I've got a wire crate on order so he will be on a metal pan as with your example. I've always used plastic crates in the past, but I ordered the wire crate for better airflow.

Thanks again.


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## badbullgator (Dec 20, 2004)

*Re: dog transport*



larrynogaj said:


> IowaBayDog said:
> 
> 
> > The big box home improvement stores sell rolls of reflective insulation that is thin and can be easily glued inside the shell to keep the heat down. It looks a lot like a space blanket and isn't too expensive.
> ...


I believe what he is talking about is not exactly the "space blanket" stuff. It is used on the inside of a roof, stapled to the plywood above the fiberglass insulation. I have seen them use it in new homes and I guess it helps to keep the heat that would transfer through the wood out.


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## Lady Duck Hunter (Jan 9, 2003)

The thermometer we found is like this one. 
http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=122876-53921-00782GTSB&lpage=none
I don't remember where we found it but this one is at Lowes.


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## HuntinDawg (Jul 2, 2006)

Lady Duck Hunter said:


> The thermometer we found is like this one.
> http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=122876-53921-00782GTSB&lpage=none
> I don't remember where we found it but this one is at Lowes.


Thanks!


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## IowaBayDog (May 17, 2006)

*Re: dog transport*

Right on, it has a bubble wrap type layer for insulation as well. Reflective material reflects radiated heat that is contained in sunlight as well as the light itself. It takes the thermal energy that radiates through your shell and reflects it back through the shell material instead of allowing it to heat up the airspace in the shell. It would be best to have it on the outside of the shell but that would not look too good. It is much more effective than styrofoam easier to install and looks a lot better. 




badbullgator said:


> larrynogaj said:
> 
> 
> > IowaBayDog said:
> ...


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