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Dogs don't die from one hot day. They die from one hundred and fifty warm ones.

Sat. 16 May 2026 | 09:47 — 14,293 👁

By Anne de Vries · Editorial Staff

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Why the real danger for dogs isn't the 35-degree day—but the warm days in between.

Acute heatstroke is in the news. Veterinary clinics in Amsterdam, Utrecht, and The Hague report their emergency admissions every summer, the Dutch Society for the Protection of Animals warns against "dogs in an oven," and public awareness campaigns appear annually. All of this is true. And it is important.

It affects about five percent of dogs each summer.

What the other 95 percent experience does not yet have a name among the general group of dog owners. In veterinary medicine, it does. It is called chronic heat stress—the insidious, daily effort with which dog bodies work for weeks and months against heat that is not a clear emergency.

It is the reason why dogs age faster in a reality where Dutch summers are getting longer and warmer every year. Why kidney, heart, and circulatory problems increase in older dogs. Why the phrase "normal at this age" is heard more and more often in Dutch veterinary practices.

It is not normal.

It is the sum of one hundred and fifty warm days when no one was afraid.

The math no one does

This is the figure that almost no dog owner knows: 14 to 22 degrees Celsius. That is the official comfort zone for dogs according to the Hondenbescherming (Dog Protection Agency), the Dutch organisation dedicated to the welfare of dogs. It is the temperature range in which their body is in balance, without having to use energy to cool itself down.

Take a look at the weather forecast for the coming week. How many days will be above 22 degrees? In most Dutch cities, there are already several, and it's only mid-May.

The KNMI (Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute) documents the shift in black and white: summer days have more than doubled since 1900, and tropical days occur much more frequently nowadays. But those are just the peaks, the days above 30 degrees. The real strain comes from the warm days when nobody does anything. April to September comprises approximately 180 days. In an average Dutch city today, 90 to 110 of those days are above a dog's comfort zone.

That's not "a few hot days in the summer". That's half the year.

On each of those days, the dog's body works against the heat. Its cortisol rises. Its heart rate increases. Its kidneys filter more. This accumulates – week after week, summer after summer. Acute heatstroke is what dog owners fear. Chronic heat stress is what truly costs dogs years of their lives.

Why the usual measures are not enough

Most owners already do a lot. Early walks. A fan. An occasional wet towel. More often on the tiles in summer instead of in the dog bed. If the weather app sends a warning, they stay home.

That's all correct. It's even good.

It only helps at 32 degrees Celsius.

At 24 degrees Celsius, no one does anything. Not the owner, not the neighbour, not the vet. But at 24 degrees Celsius, the dog is already outside its comfort zone. Its body has already started to work against it.

Then there's the second part of the problem: dogs lie down 22 out of 24 hours. On parquet. Laminate. Carpet. In the dog bed. All four materials retain heat. None of them dissipate it.

The dog tries all day to transfer its body heat to a floor that simply gives it back.

Dogs do not cool down through their fur. They cool down through the floor.

Through their belly, inner thighs, and paw pads, dogs have direct heat conduction to the outside – precisely where the fur is thin or completely absent. That is their real air conditioning. Panting is only the emergency brake when this air conditioning is insufficient.

In the 30,000 years that dogs have lived by our side, there has always been a surface that took on this task. A stone cave. Clay soil. Tiles in the stable. A hole in the ground under a tree. The tiled floor in grandmother's kitchen.

When a dog moves from the living room to the bathroom in the summer and lies down on the tiles, it's not a whim. It's a 30,000-year-old program trying to find what we've removed from its life with our modern homes: a cool floor.

The simple question is: how do you give it back?

One brand has solved precisely that question.

The answer comes from Alto

After the founder's Bernese Mountain Dog nearly suffered heatstroke. Three cooling mats purchased previously failed one by one: one leaked, one was never accepted, and the third was scratched to pieces after ten weeks.

This resulted in a construction that has little to do with conventional gel mats. Three layers, no gel. An upper contact fibre draws heat away from the dog's skin. A pressure-activated core absorbs and distributes it. A bottom ventilation membrane releases it into the surroundings. Without electricity, without a fridge.

Since it contains no gel, there's nothing to leak. Even if your dog gnaws on it, nothing will happen. The material is soft, comfortable, and designed to keep your dog cool on warm days. Machine washable at 30 degrees.

The brand offers a three-summer functional warranty – unusually long for this category. The test customers, the founder says, received their mats in 2023 and are still using them in 2026.

96 percent of dogs are said to voluntarily accept the mat within the first week. Those among the 4 percent whose dog refuses it can return it and receive a full refund.

What makes the Alto cooling mat technically special:

Three-layer structure without gel: contact fiber, pressure-activated core, ventilation membrane.
Works without electricity, without a refrigerator, from the second the dog lies on it.
Comfortable cooling surface. Easy to clean. Machine washable at 30 degrees.
Three-summer functional warranty. Four sizes for dogs from 4 to 50 kilograms.
30-day return policy. If the dog doesn't accept the mat, you'll receive a full refund.

Voices from the field

To explain this further, we spoke with a vet and a pet owner who know the subject from different perspectives.

“Chronic heat stress is a topic that has clearly become more important in my practice over the past five years.”

“What owners rarely grasp: the strain begins long before what we commonly call ‘heat’.”

— Dr. Anne de Vries, veterinarian, small animal practice Amsterdam-Zuid

The owner’s perspective sounds different, but points to the same phenomenon — the struggle to find a solution that works in daily life and that the dog truly accepts.

“Before that, we had two different mats. She ignored the first one, and the second one broke after one summer.”

“With the Alto, she started lying on it by herself after three days. Since May, she's been on it every afternoon. The panting phase after her walk is noticeably shorter.”

— Sandra K., owner of a 9-year-old French Bulldog, Rotterdam

Both perspectives lead to the same conclusion: the measure that truly works here is not the spectacular one — but the daily one.

A cooling mat that actually works is not a summer gadget for the three hottest days. It's what makes the other half of the year easier for the dog — the hundred and fifty warm days when otherwise no one does anything.

What restores a dog's longevity is not spectacular emergency measures — but the few daily aids that keep it consistently balanced.

Voices from the Field

Owners report a recurring pattern: the first changes are subtle and occur in the first few days. The dog independently finds the mat, actively seeks it out, and stays on it longer.

In the first week, nocturnal panting phases become shorter. In the second week, the dog sleeps more deeply. By September, what usually builds up during the summer does not: chronic exhaustion, stress that doesn't settle.

It's not spectacular. It's the opposite of spectacular—a dog quietly lying on a mat all day on a hot day and not even reaching the stress zone where owners normally only start to do something.

That's precisely the point. The real effect happens where no one is looking: on the hundred and fifty hot days when otherwise no one does anything.

Those who start now have an advantage

The Alto cooling mat is available via the manufacturer's website.

Delivered to your home within 6–8 business days.

30-day return policy. Three summers of functional warranty.

Anyone expecting the first 27-degree days in the coming weeks should start using the mat now – and not realize on the first hot weekend that the delivery is still on its way.

With tracking, so you can easily follow your order.

That's the calculation every owner can make — and for most, it pays off by the end of the first summer.

Order today and give your dog a cooler spot for warm days.

Check availability now →

PS: Right now, you also get a free Premium dog leash and a poop bag dispenser.

Sabine Hoffmann

Mijn Berner sennenhond (9) hijgt in de zomer extreem zodra het warmer dan 20 graden wordt. Heeft iemand dit hier al geprobeerd met een grote hond?

Vind ik leuk · Antwoorden · 👍 4 · 39 min.

Petra Berger

Ja! Mijn Berner weegt 38 kg en ligt er elke middag op. De XL-versie is ruim voldoende. Eindelijk geen slapeloze nachten meer in de zomer!

Vind ik leuk · Antwoorden · 👍 7 · 16 min.

Monika Schreiber

Mijn dierenarts heeft me precies dat van die 150 warme dagen uitgelegd. Dat niet die ene dag van 32 graden het probleem is, maar de zomer als geheel. Ze heeft me dit hier aangeraden. Ik bestel vandaag.

Vind ik leuk · Antwoorden · 👍 4 · 51 min.

Thomas Krüger

Hoe lang duurt de levering? Mijn hond hijgt nu al, ik wil niet pas na de volgende hete dagen geleverd krijgen.

Vind ik leuk · Antwoorden · 👍 1 · 1 u.

Heike Baumann

Bij mij waren het 6 werkdagen. En als het niet past, stuur je het terug.

Vind ik leuk · Antwoorden · 👍 2 · 24 min.

Jürgen Meier

Onze Balu is 12 en heeft in de zomer altijd zwaar geleden. Hij hijgt ’s nachts zelfs bij 22 graden. We hebben de mat nu 3 weken – hij gaat er elke middag vrijwillig op liggen. Eerste zomerseizoen waarin ik niet het gevoel heb dat ik hem moet kwellen.

Vind ik leuk · Antwoorden · 👍 6 · 1 u.

Andrea Voss

DIT artikel had ik vorige zomer nodig gehad. We hebben wekenlang met ventilator en een natte handdoek zitten prutsen — precies zoals de redactie beschrijft. Het was pure hulpeloosheid. Hadden we dit twee jaar geleden geweten, dan waren ons drie zomers met hijgende nachten bespaard gebleven.

Vind ik leuk · Antwoorden · 👍 2 · 2 u.

Christian Lange

Ik heb er meteen twee besteld, één voor mijn moeder, haar mopshond heeft hetzelfde probleem. Eindelijk iets dat na één zomer niet gaat lekken zoals al die Amazon-rommel.

Vind ik leuk · Antwoorden · 👍 3 · 1 u.