Dear Pets Adviser: How do dogs sweat? — Sincerely, Jasper from Texas
Dear Jasper: Not being a dog, I have no idea. So I asked my trusty sidekick Max how he stays cool.
PETS ADVISER: Max, thanks for helping us out.
MAX: My pleasure.
P/A: You are an active fellow. You walk around New York City, chase squirrels, run around the backyard, steal bread from the pigeons, eat shit off the sidewalk and then bolt when I try and stop you and so forth. How in the world do you stay “fresh”?
MAX: Are we on camera?
P/A: No. Why?
MAX: Just wondering if we’re having a special moment. Like those mother/daughter Massengill Douche commercials from a while back.
P/A: No! I want to know how you keep cool. How do you know about those commercials anyway? They’re from before you were born… Douche? Jeeesh, Max.
MAX: I saw it on an “America’s Funniest Commercials Special” last weekend.
P/A: Are you going to answer the question or not?
How do dogs sweat?
MAX:Well. It’s a personal question, but in the interest of furthering human-canine understanding I’ll go ahead and answer. You see, dogs don’t have a lot of sweat glands. Humans have ‘em all over their bodies, but ours are located primarily on our footpads. Those work, but we cool down mostly by panting.
P/A: Ah, so when we see dogs walking around with their tongues hanging out, they’re actually sweating?
MAX: Not exactly. We dogs don’t have sweat glands on our tongues, per se. Our mouths produce a lot of saliva. When we pant, air moves across the tongue and saliva, which helps cool us down.
P/A: Did you just say “per se”?
MAX: Yeah… What of it?
P/A: Nothing! So, is the air moving across your tongue and saliva enough to cool you down?
MAX: Not really, no. Dogs can also get rid of excess sweat by dilating blood vessels in our faces and ears. This process isn’t as efficient as with humans, but it does the job.
P/A: Interesting. Any final thoughts?
MAX: Yes. Do you think you can roust yourself from bed a little earlier and maybe manage to refill the water dish more frequently? Like, maybe even swipe it with a sponge from time to time so I’m not ingesting stale water and a buncha dog food floaties? Yeah… That’d be great…
P/A: Um… Yeah. Sure thing.
Photo: Wheany/Flickr.com
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1 Comment - Where Is Yours?
Creative way to answer the question, but really I didn’t know that dogs can dilate their blood vessels to help cool down.
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