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By Sandra Estrada


The current world situation finds hundreds of our four-legged pals living and working in conditions that are unbearably hot. Imagine working outside all day in arid desert conditions where the temperatures rise to 145 degrees -- without the comforts of air-conditioning. Now imagine wearing a full body suit of one-inch thick fur. That's exactly what our military K-9's have to do every day in places like Iraq and Afghanistan.

A Melbourne, Florida, veteran-owned and run company has taken the lead in providing a space-age solution to the very serious problem being experienced by the warfighter's best friend -- the Military War Dog. Glacier Tek is on a mission to cool them down with the RPCM™ ChillyDog cooling vest.

Military dog handlers and others who work with animals know how important it is to protect them from the ravages of heat, something your average person might not remember. A dog's body temperature is normally between 101°F and 102°F. Dogs regulate their body temperature by panting to expel the heat, relying on evaporation to cool them down. If a dog cannot dissipate the heat fast enough, his body temperature rises. Unlike with humans, a rise of only 2-3 degrees is dangerous for dogs. At this temperature, the dog can no longer cope with his body heat -- the dog cannot keep up so his temperature continues to rise.

Various types of cooling vests have been used to regulate the body temperature of canines. Cooling vests for dogs are not new. Various companies have taken a stab at making something to cool a dog in extreme temperature environments. However, nothing has really caught the attention of military and law enforcement dog handlers. This is mostly because the types of product available had one drawback or another.

Our country has rallied together and found new ways to quickly provide the highest technology gear and supplies to our warfighters that are currently deployed

“The biggest downside of all,” commented Ray Booska, Vice President of Worldwide Sales at Glacier Tek, Inc., “is that many of the vests on the market aren't safe enough to use with an animal. Dogs chew on things and eat things -- and many of the materials used to make the cooling vests are made from petroleum-based technologies that contain hazardous chemicals. If there is anything hazardous in any product that will be used on a dog, the dog is at risk.”

The industry offers several cooling methods that range from ice and frozen gels, to evaporative-type products that soak up many times their weight in water, to phase change technology (PCM). Ice and frozen gels are too cold, and the dog can't tell you he's going numb or getting frostbite. Evaporative-type products don't work on dogs because the hair insulates the dog and prevents the evaporation from affecting the skin. According to Booska, phase change technology is about the only thing that works well on an animal that is working outside in the unrelenting heat.

In 2004, Glacier Tek introduced the patent-pending RPCM™ cooling technology to the industry. The patent-pending Revolutionary Phase Change (RPCM™) ChillyDog is unique technology, in that it is the only PCM available that contains no hazardous chemicals. Most PCM's are petroleum-based and by nature, contain dangerous chemicals that can severely irritate the skin, mucous membranes, and eyes. RPCM™ is a bio-based product, which means that it is made from all natural ingredients including fats and oils from animal and vegetable sources, processed and refined.

“About a hundred ingredients go into this formula,” noted Booska. “If an animal (or a person) eats this stuff, no harm is done. In fact, it's actually acceptable as a food source. Years before we invented the RPCM™ Cool Pack apparatus, we made cooling vests for dogs using the old-style hexadecane-based PCM's that nearly everyone else still uses. We stopped making products for animals immediately upon hearing stories of a dog who bit open a pack made by another company and died from ingesting too much of the petroleum-based material.”

Glacier Tek became involved in supporting military dogs after meeting Sheri Wells, President of an organization called the Space Coast War Dog Association (www.scwda.org). Wells is a woman on a mission to support the MWD's. Together, Glacier Tek and the SCWDA have donated about 20 of the RPCM™ ChillyDog Cool Vests to various dog teams in Iraq, Afghanistan, and military units here in the US -- in just the past two months.

“Sheri has a huge number of connections with the military dog teams around the world and is doing a great service helping provide them with much-needed health and comfort items,” said Booska. “We're trying to do our small part.”

Anyone can get involved in helping donate ChillyDog Cool Vests to our four-footed friends overseas. SCWDA is a non-profit organization and is licensed to accept and distribute donations. Anyone interested in contributing toward the effort to donate ChillyDogs to the dog teams can email them at admin@scwda.org.

About Glacier Tek

Glacier Tek, Inc. is a Melbourne, Florida company that was founded in 1995 by Steve Wuest and Ray Booska, both of whom are U.S. Military veterans. The company mascot, an Emperor Penguin, is featured on all of their literature and advertising and is the “King of Cool.” As the creator of the Original Cool Vest ten years ago, Glacier Tek continues to strive to be widely accepted as the King of Cool with the safest and most advanced PCM on the planet.

Their mission is to make a positive difference in the lives of people and animals that are exposed to temperature extremes at work or play. They do this by providing safe, effective products designed to safely maintain a normal core body temperature in a variety of environments. They make economical, effective, environmentally-responsible, safe body temperature management products that come with a guarantee of satisfaction. All their products use natural ingredients that are bio-based, recyclable, and contain no hazardous ingredients to eliminate the possibility of harm to a wearer or our planet. All products and all materials are made entirely in the USA.

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