WHY DO DOGS PANT?
I am often asked
if dogs sweat? Or is panting a dogs way of sweating? And
is it true that dogs sweat through the pads of their feet?
Here are the answers!
Dogs do
not actually have sweat glands (to regulate body
temperature and cool themselves) like a lot of other
mammals. Instead they cool their bodies by panting.
"Panting is the normal process by which dogs lower their
body temperature. This is accomplished by the evaporation
of water from the mouth, tongue and lungs, and by the
exchange of cooler air for the warm air in the lungs".
Although
dogs do have small sweat glands in their feet, they are of
little help in cooling a dogs temperature down. Sweating
through the pads of the feet is more noted when a dog is
in a very fearful or stressful situation. But a dog will
seek out a cool surface or ground cover to stand or lay on
also to cool themselves as the blood in their pads cools
standing on a cooler surface and circulates back through
the body. Same with laying down on a cooler surface. The
blood next to the skin is cooled and helps bring their
temperature under control.