You can’t imagine a dog that doesn’t pant. Dogs have a charming way of doing it that easily wins us over. It’s what they do if they don’t bark or sniff. We take dog panting for granted since it’s the most natural thing in the world. But whether you like it or not, there certain episodes of panting that may not make you feel good. And that’s what you have to find out–dogs pant for various reasons.
Why dogs pant
Some of the major reasons dogs pant are:
1. To regulate temperature. You have to understand that dogs pant because they do not sweat. Unlike you, dogs cannot regulate their body temperature in any other way. So when your dog pants it’s his way of cooling himself. In terms of regulating body temperature, dogs lose out to other animals because they have to depend on their lungs the whole time. When they breathe they are actually breathing out hot air to take in cool air: that’s fairly easy to tell when you sit right next to your dog. Dogs badly need to breathe in cold air so they have to open their mouth really wide and stick their tongue out to the point of drooling.
2. As a response to anxiety. Being a sensitive animal, your dog gets disturbed easily by sounds, noise and, most unnatural movements in its surrounding. When your dog senses something unusual, it pants as an expression of mild panic. Normal dog panting follows a stop-and-go pattern, although this can get ridiculously unusual during long dry spells.
3. As sign of lung infection. Other than that, when your dog pants excessively, it could mean he may have contracted respiratory tract infection, or that he has lung problems. Dogs get respiratory diseases too. In its full blown stage, your dog’s respiratory infection might lead to a heart problem. If your dog has a weak heart, for instance, he makes an effort to breathe, so he ends up panting. For all you know your dog’s heart may not be pumping enough blood to his lungs. And to make up for this, he has to breathe heavily.
4. Your dog may be anemic. If your dog has anemia, he may pant too. It’s about time you trained your dog to take it easy and sleep it off instead of doing the graveyard. When your dog lacks enough red blood cells, its heart does multi-tasking so he can’t breathe smoothly.
How to lessen you dog’s panting
There is no way you can stop your dog from panting, so the most you can do is to lessen it.
1. Don’t let your dog roam freely out in the sun often. Every chance your dog gets, it will run out and join the other pack in the neighborhood. So it gets directly exposed to the sun and all. Then your dog will start to pant. Do your dog a favor by making it stay comfortably cool in its crate or inside your home.
2. Make water handy to your dog. It helps that you have an abundant supply of water at home, so anytime your dog gets thirsty, it can drink anywhere. You have to admit that not all dogs love water right beside them all the time, but take out a water container close enough so you dog can come to it anytime it sees fit.
3. Wash your dog daily. This makes your dog feel a lot better. By washing it, you drive away its body heat that can otherwise bring it great discomfort. This way, your dog can breathe without so much effort– at least for the time being.
When your dog is sufficiently cooled down, all the more it gets playful.
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