Why Do Dogs Pant?
Dogs don’t sweat like we do. Humans very important mechanism to beat the heat is to sweat. Excess heat is dispersed from the body when the moisture produced when we sweat evaporates on the surface of the skin. This is not possible with our canine friends. There is a misconception that dogs do not have the capability to produce sweat. It is commonly believed that because of the fur, dogs cannot sweat. It is highly possible that even people that have had dogs for years have not seen one sweating. Dogs have very few sweat glands and these sweat glands are mostly located at the pads on their feet. This means that dogs can sweat. During hot days the floor will be marked by the dog’s paws dampened with sweat.
What methods does a dog have to combat the heat? Panting like barking is a dog thing. Panting is a dog’s effective technique of coping with the heat and ensuring that cooler blood will be circulated to all parts of the body and to prevent the brain, the most heat sensitive part from being affected by excessive heat. A dog does not need to exert too much effort to pant. When the dog lolls the tongue, the cooling system switch will be turned on and excess body heat will be gone. This makes the tongue a very important part in the dog’s one of a kind cooling system.
Because of the location of the very few sweat glands, a dog cannot cool the body if it is running on hot pavement. Regulating body temperature can only be done efficiently through the use of the tongue. The evaporation of moisture on the surface of the tongue is enhanced when the dog lolls the tongue. The tongue, the mouth and consequently the blood vessels on the head are cooled when the dogs pants. Once blood is cooled by the dog’s panting the normal level of body temperature will be attained.
Dogs pant for other reasons. Dogs commonly pant when the weather is hot. Excitement, stress or exhaustion from a strenuous activity will make a dog pant. The physical structures of short faced dogs requires them to pant excessively. Dogs with medical concerns would pant.
Dogs normally pant but pet owners have to be watchful. Heavy panting can be a manifestation of heatstroke. Dogs find it hard to manage heat. Left inside a car, a dog would pant heavily further heating up the confined space. A lot of dogs have died from heatstroke.
Want to know more about why dogs pant? Then visit Sarah’s Dogs. Sarah’s Dogs has answers to this and many other questions about dog behaviour.
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