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 Unlike humans, a dog has no sweat glands to regulate their body temperature.
Panting is one of the ways for dogs to reduce their temperature by allowing their bodies to dissipate heat efficiently and quickly.
A dog’s tongue is a rich mass of muscles and has many uses. It laps up water, licks wounds, cleans the coat, registers taste and carries food into the mouth.
The tongue also acts as a thermoregulatory device, aiding heat dissipation.
When your dog runs around on a hot day, its tongue will be completely extended. The tongue becomes larger due to an increase in the blood supply to it. The dog’s quick, shallow panting breaths cause moisture on the tongue to evaporate, thus quickly cooling the area. Blood flowing through the tongue is cooled and so is the whole respiratory system. So when a dog pants, its whole body is cooled by this evaporation process.
Any injuries to the tongue will cause profuse bleeding because of the increased blood supply. If the tongue receives an injury the dog should be cooled down as quickly as possible.
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