mental stimulation?

Since it's the summer, and the summer meaning really hot days, how do I keep my puppy cool? His coat is blackish/brown at areas, so he'll be really hot during the summer. I've decided on buying him a small baby pool, but what I'd love to know is, if I get him wet occasionally, will his skin get dry?
Is outside more cool than inside the house ?

Also how do I stimulate him mentally? I've been teaching him the names of some of his toys, and hiding them and getting him to find them. That stimulates his mind right? Ahaha, sorry. I know my questions are all over the place

I think you are doing fine for stimulating his mind. That sounds like a game that would keep him intersted.

As for keeping him cool I think the pool is a great idea. Does he like to swim though? Although, my newfie loves to swim but he hated the pool. He thought he was going to get a bath. If it's really damp and rainy and cold then I wouldn't get him too wet. I don't even like to bath my dogs in that weather so I wouldn't put them in a pool. But as long as it's nice and warm he will dry thoroughly.

Sometimes the house is cooler than the yard. Especially if you keep your drapes/blinds drawn so the sun doesn't heat it up. If he has a nice shady spot to sit in though he'll probably be fine.

well, in summer it is typically cooler inside the house than outside. just walk outside and feel the heat difference. your house is cooled by air conditioning (I assume) where nature is not. I live in northern louisiana and a typical day this time of year is 98 degrees and 100% humidity. I see from the pic on your signature that you have a gsd. gsd's are highly family oriented and confining one to a life outside should be a crime.
the pool is a great idea. my gsd Strider loves his kiddy pool...

That's like the pool I was gonna get for my puppy! My GSD doesn't live with me anymore =[, my brother is raising him now. My dad said that getting a dog wet occasionally will dry his skin out, true ?

no, if you were to bathe it with shampoo too often it would.

Ours love their pool! Shiva and Kharma stick their heads under the water, and they like to take turns blowing bubbles in the water and chasing the bubbles. I got a hard rubber fetch stick that will sink and they love fetching it off the bottom of the pool - you might try that! The water won't hurt them a bit.

What you're doing with the toys is great mental stimulation. Hide and seek is another, and those puzzle balls can be great fun for dogs. Just don't do what I did. I got Bimmer one when he was a pup, but I made the mistake one day of letting him see me fill it up . . . So, instead of rolling it around and working the treats out, he just worked the plug until he had it out and got ALL the treats at once . . .

Baby HAtes baths so I don't thinkthe pool will work so I might try a cooldanna. They have ones for people and ones for pets. You wet them and they stay cool until they dry. They also have these mats that you can put ice cubes into and it stays cool. Since Baby is a chi she doesn't like being too cols so we can't do that but for walks the babdanna thing would be great.

Mental Stimulation - Puzzle Balls. You know, the toys that have little holes for treats to pop out. Those things keep our guy busy for HOURS. That and we tried the suggestion somebody posted of putting peanut butter in a Kong and freezing it. Sparks19 (My wife) added some hotdog pieces to it too and he was WAY into it. You could see the gears going in his head trying to figure out why the hotdogs were not coming out. LOL

yeah I got the idea for freezing the peanut butter from someone on here in an earlier thread. Great idea. I just thought it would be an extra treat if I stuck pieces of turkey dogs in the peanut butter and then froze it. Kept him really busy while clipping his nails lol. Hide and seek (like someone already said lol) is a great game to play with your dog and will help with mental stimulation. We play hide and seek with Teddy just about everyday lol. we are running out of places to hide

As for keeping them cool in the summer. That ice mat sounds neat. Teddy loves to chew on ice. we only have the cubes so i know there is a danger of him choking but I know puppy CPR and he loves them way to much to take them away. Although you could try crushed ice and let him chomp on that. Also make sure that when you get him groomed they cut the hair between the pads of his feet. having the inbetween shaved is just like panting. It will really help him to cool off.

You know, even when I freeze the kongs with peanut butter, Boris still wolves it down in a few minutes...

LOL Renee, Bimmer is just too smart for his own good eh? My puppy once tried to turn the doorknob with his paws when he wanted out of my room. But he's still too small to turn it, I'd give him a few more months and he'd be able open our doors and run loose!