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Why Do Dogs Pant?
Unlike us, dogs can’t take their clothes off when they get too hot. Regardless of the weather dogs are always wearing their jackets. When our body temperatures get too high we sweat, dress in lighter clothes and we do what we can to avoid situations likely to make us even hotter.
Our ability to sweat is really the main difference though. Sweating helps our skin breathe and cools us down when our brains calculate that we are too hot.
Now think about your dog. They can hardly sweat through their fur and although they can sweat a little from their pads, they tend to generate heat rather than sweat through their skin.
That’s part of the reason why dogs die in hot cars. As they get hotter and hotter they give off their heat and heat up the area around them which in turn makes them even hotter and can lead to their death.
So because dogs can’t sweat like us, they pant. Dogs pant because it helps them circulate air quickly over the moist tissue in their mouth and on their tongue.
A panting dog is trying to rid itself of as much heat as possible using its only effective cooling system. The panting is a dog’s own unique method of keeping themselves cool.
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Source:
Provided by www.petlibrary.co.uk
Written by Pet Library Editor
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