29/12/2025
A good read.
🔥 Thermoregulation in Dogs - How Your Dog Stays Cool (and Warm!) 🔥
Dogs don’t regulate body temperature the way humans do, and understanding the science behind it can literally be lifesaving; especially in summer, during exercise, or for breeds with dense coats like collies, shepherds, and spitz types.
🌡 Normal canine body temperature:
A dog’s resting internal temperature is typically 37.5–39.2°C. Even small increases can push the body into stress. At 41°C (internal temperature), cellular proteins begin to denature, and heat stroke becomes imminent without rapid intervention.
❄️ How Dogs COOL Their Bodies
Since dogs have very few sweat glands (mostly limited to paw pads), they rely on other physiological systems:
1. Panting (Evaporative Cooling)
Panting rapidly moves air over the moist surfaces of the tongue, nasal passages, and lungs, evaporating water and releasing heat. This process is driven by the hypothalamus (the body’s temperature control centre).
However, panting becomes less effective in high humidity, because evaporation slows when the air is already saturated with moisture.
2. Vasodilation
Blood vessels near the skin widen to move hot blood away from the core, allowing heat to dissipate through the body surface. This is why dogs often look pink-skinned or feel warmer on the belly, ears, and inner thighs when hot.
3. Convection & Conduction
Dogs will instinctively:
* Lie on cool surfaces (tiles, soil, concrete)
* Spread their body out to increase surface area
* Seek shade or dig into cooler ground
Heat transfers from their body into the cooler surface (conduction) and into surrounding air (convection).
4. Respiratory & Nasal Turbinates
Dogs possess intricate nasal turbinates ..... spiral bony structures that help heat exchange and water retention during breathing. When panting, airflow bypasses some turbinates to prioritise cooling efficiency.
🧊 Why COATS can actually HELP cooling:
It’s a myth that shaving double-coated dogs keeps them cooler. Their coats:
✔ insulate against external heat
✔ shield from solar radiation
✔ maintain a cooler micro-environment at skin level
Removing the coat can increase radiant heat absorption, raise skin temperature, and heighten risk of sunburn and overheating.
🔥 How Dogs KEEP WARM
When cold, dogs flip into heat-conservation mode:
1. Vasoconstriction
Peripheral blood vessels narrow to reduce heat loss through the skin.
2. Piloerection (“coat puffing up”)
The arrector pili muscles make the coat stand up, trapping warm air — similar to birds fluffing their feathers.
3. Shivering (Thermogenesis)
Muscle contractions generate internal heat when the core temperature begins to drop.
4. Behavioural adaptations
* Curling into a ball to reduce surface area
* Seeking shelter
* Leaning into warm bodies or surfaces
* Becoming less active to preserve energy
⚠️ Dogs at higher risk of thermoregulation failure:
🐕 Brachycephalic breeds (short noses = reduced evaporative cooling efficiency)
🐾 High-drive working breeds likeBCs often don’t stop when overheated - their brain prioritises the job over comfort
🧥 Dense-coated dogs exposed to direct sun without shade
💧 Dehydrated dogs (evaporation requires water - no water, no cooling!)
⚖️ Overweight dogs (insulation works both ways - fat traps heat)
🩺 Very young, elderly, or medically compromised dogs
🚨 Heat stress warning signs to watch for:
* Heavy, frantic, or noisy panting
* Bright red or very pale gums
* Drooling thick, sticky saliva
* Disorientation, agitation, or glassy eyes
* Muscle tremors or collapse
* Seeking water obsessively
* Suddenly stopping and refusing to move
If suspected: cool first, transport second — active cooling must begin immediately.
🧠 The big takeaway:
Dogs cool from the inside out, not the outside in. Their systems depend on:
✔ Airflow
✔ Water availability
✔ Shade
✔ Coat integrity
✔ Knowing when to stop (which many BCs struggle with!)
Respecting how their bodies work, instead of assuming they work like ours, helps us keep them safe, healthy, and thriving.
- Donna Williams,
Emerald Park Border Collies.
Tamworth, NSW, Australia.
www.emeraldparkbc.com
"My mission is to improve the life of at least one dog today!"
