What Can You Give a Dog for a Common Cold

Have you ever wondered why your dog's nose is always cold? Well, researchers believe they have found out why.

Scientists in Sweden and Hungary have found that dog's noses are always cold because they serve as "ultra-sensitive heat detectors" — which is no surprise considering our pups love to sniff out things hiding on the ground. This means that their noses act as super sensors and can sense the temperature of a surface before they've touched it. The study found that dogs react to hot objects on their approach towards them, whereas humans would only realise the object was hot once they've touched it.

The study disproves the common belief that the only reason dogs' noses are cold is to regulate their body temperature.

The key findings from the study are:

• Dogs can detect body heat at a distance using the tip of their nose
• Dogs use the tip of their nose to detect heat from five feet away
• When the ambient temperature is 30C, a dog's end point of the nose is five degrees cooler
• If the outside temperature is zero degrees, a dog's nose will be around eight degrees

How did they conduct their research?

Researchers from Lund University and Eotvos Lorand University analysed three dogs who were trained to identify the temperature of two objects in the room. The two objects placed in front of the pups were four-inches wide, but one had been heated 12c warmer than the room temperature.

Teresa Lett Getty Images

Speaking to the BBC, the researchers said: "All three dogs could detect stimuli of weak thermal radiation in double-blind experiments.

"In addition, we employed functional magnetic resonance imaging on 13 awake dogs, comparing the responses to heat stimuli of about the same temperatures as in the behavioural experiment. The warm stimulus elicited increased neural response.

"All stimuli of radiating heat used in our experiments were too weak to be felt by human hands, even at very short distances. We had to touch the surfaces to feel the warmth."

So, now you know why your pup's nose is always cold...

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Hurtta Extreme Warmer Dog Coat

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Pawz Max Wax

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What Can You Give a Dog for a Common Cold

Source: https://www.countryliving.com/uk/wildlife/pets/a31186288/dogs-cold-noses/

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