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

Sat. May 16, 2026 | 09:47 AM — 14,293 👁

By Anne de Vries · Editorial Team

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

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

Acute heatstroke makes headlines. Veterinary clinics in Brussels, Antwerp, and Liège report their emergencies every summer, Animal Trust Belgium warns about "dogs in hot cars," and Animal Trust Belgium publishes information about animals and heat annually. All of this is true. And it's important.

It affects approximately five percent of dogs each summer.

What the other 95 percent experience does not yet have a name among the general dog-owning public. In veterinary medicine, it does. It's called chronic heat stress – the creeping, daily effort with which a dog's body works for weeks and months against heat that doesn't seem like an obvious emergency.

It's why dogs, in a reality where Belgian summers are getting longer and warmer every year, age more quickly. Why kidney, heart, and circulatory problems in older dogs are increasing. Why the phrase "normal with age" is heard more often in Belgian veterinary practices.

It is not normal.

It's the sum of one hundred and fifty warm days when nobody was afraid.

The calculation no one makes

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 Hondenbescherming, the Belgian organization dedicated to dog welfare. It's the temperature at which a dog's body is in balance, without having to use energy to cool itself down.

Look at the weather forecast for the coming week. How many days are above 22 degrees? In most Belgian cities, there are already several, and it's only mid-May.

The KMI (Royal Meteorological Institute) documents the shift in black and white: summer days have more than doubled since 1900, and tropical days are much more common nowadays. But those are just the peaks, the days above 30 degrees. The real burden comes from the warm days when no one does anything. April to September comprises approximately 180 days. In an average Belgian city today, 90 to 110 of those days are above a dog's comfort zone.

That's not "a few hot days in 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 rises. 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 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.

At 24 degrees, no one does anything. Not the owner, not the neighbor, not the vet. But at 24 degrees, 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 release its body heat to a floor that just gives it back.

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

Through their belly, the inside of their thighs, and their paw pads, dogs have direct heat conduction outwards – precisely where their fur is thin or completely absent. That is their real air conditioning. Panting is only the emergency brake when that air conditioning is not sufficient.

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

When a dog goes from the living room to the bathroom in the summer and lies down on the tiles, it's not a whim. That is a 30,000-year-old program trying to find what we have removed from their lives through 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 almost suffered from heatstroke. Three cooling mats purchased earlier 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 fiber draws heat away from the dog's skin. A pressure-activated core absorbs and distributes it. A bottom ventilation membrane releases it into the room. No electricity, no refrigerator.

Because it contains no gel, nothing can leak. Even if the dog gnaws on it, nothing happens. The material is soft, comfortable, and designed to keep your dog cool on warm days. Machine washable at 30 degrees.

The brand offers a functional guarantee for three summers – 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. Anyone whose dog is among the 4 percent who refuse it can return it and receive a full refund.

What makes the Alto cooling mat technically special:

Three-layer construction 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 summers functional guarantee. Four sizes for dogs from 4 to 50 kilograms.
30-day return policy. If the dog does not accept the mat, you will receive a full refund.

Voices from the field

To shed light on this, we spoke with a vet and a pet owner who know the subject from different perspectives.

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

"What owners rarely realise: the burden begins well below what we commonly refer to as 'heat'."

— Dr. Anne de Vries, veterinarian, small animal practice Antwerp-South

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 lies on it every afternoon. The panting phase after her walk is noticeably shorter.”

— Sandra K., owner of a 9-year-old French bulldog, Brussels

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 hot days. It's what makes the other half of the year easier for the dog — the one hundred and fifty warm days when otherwise no one does anything.

What gives the dog back its lifespan are not the 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 within 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 summer does not: chronic exhaustion, stress that never subsides.

It's not spectacular. It's the opposite of spectacular — a dog that calmly lies on a mat all day on a warm day and doesn't even enter 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 one hundred and fifty warm days when no one else does anything.

Those who start now have an advantage

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

Delivered to your home within 6–8 business days.

30-day return policy. Three summers functional guarantee.

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 a calculation every pet 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 hot days.

Check availability now →

PS: Right now, you'll also receive a free Premium dog leash and a poop bag holder.

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.