The Hotdog

The Hotdog

Our take: Made with police and military dogs in mind, the Hotdog prevents your car from getting dangerously hot. You set the maximum temperature, and when the inside of the car reaches that temp, the Hotdog kicks on and lowers two electric windows and honks the horn or blinks the lights. An optional pager can alert you if you're within a mile's distance. A portable version, which was created for the Secret Service, plugs into the cigarette lighter.

The manufacturers also make the Maxi Thin Fan, a variable speed fan for cars that can create up to 480 cubic feet of air flow per minute. These products can work alone or together, but the cost is prohibitive for most dog owners.

The dogs weigh in: My pack wasn't able to test the Hotdog, as we couldn't get a press sample. But Florida's law enforcement agents use this for their K9 partners, and that tells me it's a decent product.

Cost: very high

--Phyllis DeGioia

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