Pets get wearable fans to beat Japan’s heatwave

Tokyo-based clothing company Sweet Mommy has a novel way to keep pets cool. Instead of romping in sprinklers or parking in front of the air conditioner, it’s created “air-conditioned pet clothes” called COOL DOG (though cats can wear them as well). The device is a wearable fan that can be fixed to a pet’s back and is designed to help prevent pooches from getting heat stroke during walks.

The fan, which launched at the beginning of July, uses two AAA batteries and weighs roughly three ounces. In an interview with the South China Morning Post, creator Rei Uzawa says the batteries should last for three months, provided you take a dog on a 10-minute walk twice daily. The fan attaches to a mesh doggy shirt, which then helps to circulate air around the pet’s body. Uzawa said wearable air-conditioned clothing for humans — such as the Sony Reon Pocket — were also a source of inspiration.

Uzawa told Reuters that she was inspired by her own chihuahua, which had a hard time walking in the summer due to the heat. Although, Uzawa says, there are many cooling packs that can be attached to a dog’s neck, they often don’t last long. This summer, Japan has been dealing with a record-breaking heatwave, with temperatures exceeding 95 degrees Fahrenheit for more than eight days in Tokyo.

According to the COOL DOG press release, Uzawa created the fan under the supervision of a veterinarian at Oasis Animal Hospital. The fan was designed to be quiet, snag-proof for fluffier dogs and “less burdensome” for small dogs. The mesh clothes come in five sizes that serve small- to medium-sized dogs and are made from cooling, breathable fabric. Aside from the mesh shirt, there’s also an adorable kimono-like outer layer that seems made for Instagram (as you can see in the embed below.)

So far, the device has received around 100 orders, according to Reuters. The fan costs 9,900 yen, or roughly $74 USD, but it appears to be a Japan exclusive. If you happen to live in Japan, you can find the product listing here. For the rest of us, well, there’s always staring at all the cute pics on the company’s Instagram.