22/07/2023
A dog's coat keeps it WARM in the WINTER and and even WARMER in the SUMMER. That's why many wild animals shed signficantly to reduce thermal load in the Summer. Many dogs live in climates they weren't bred for e.g. Huskies in the desert. A thick coat does not keep a dog cool in a hot climate. Insulation keeps heat in or out. It depends on what the temperature direction is. If the outside is lower than the dogs skin heat moves from skin to outside and the coat slows that down. Great when its cold. If the outside is hotter than the dogs skin then the coat slows the movement of heat in BUT - the dog is still producing heat continously that it has to get rid of, so now it has to increase respiratory evaporative heat loss and sweating evaporative heat loss.
