Wet Nose Alert

Today we are discussing a rather cute subject : Our pup's noses. Yes, those cute little poky #boops that are an ever-trending hashtag on Instagram. How often have we pawrents heard that a cool and wet nose means a healthy doggie? But is it really always true? And does it mean we must head for the vet, as soon that boop is a little dry?

As we all know - sadly our fur-kids cannot tell us when they feel a little off or have pain. Since dogs and hoomans don't speak the same language we must rely on our senses to 'feel' them and to 'read the signs'. A doggie who is not eating or sleeping much more than usual is often an easy signal for us, letting us know something is not right. But how about those noses - what do they tell us? If you are anything like us at Cooka's, you probably believe that if the nose is cold and wet your dog is in good health, but as we just learned, that’s not necessarily always true.

Let's start from this simple question: Why are dog-noses wet?

Dogs actually lick their noses to keep them moisturised because it enhances their sense of smell. YES - it's a very important reason to keep it humid, as a cool, wet nose captures scent particles and allows the dog to understand more easily where a scent is coming from and even the strength of that 'whiff'. If a dog is on a hunt for example, he/she will wet their nose even more frequently and the nose may dry when he/she sleeps.

Us hoomans we generally rely on our vision to connect to the world. For dogs (and cats), their noses become their eyes. Because for pets, the sense of smell is the most important way to experience the world. Can you imagine that cat noses have over 200 million of scent receptors? And dogs are very similar, as they are able to 'map the world' unlike the one that we hoomans see.

Have you ever heard stories about a dog running away during a move and finding its old home, even hundreds of kilometres away? Our fur-friends are able to do this just by their ability to track scents. (Wouldn't it be pawsome to have such powers? I mean I can get lost even in my hometown, unless I have a map - or lately a gps and Alex, well - he is the one that gets lost in supermarkets. NO KIDDING!) Dogs also identify us hoomans and other fur-kids by their scent. But that's not the only purpose of a cold nose. A cold, wet boop also helps to keep our pets chilled, you know, like a build-in AC. Dogs can’t sweat the way that we do, no water dripping from their skin or armpits. Instead, they need to reduce heat through evaporation. This is also why you see your dog panting when it is really hot and you may even notice more nose-licking.

So a dry nose isn't abnormal then?

There is no easy answer, but a wet nose isn’t always a good thing, nor is a dry nose always a bad thing. It really depends on your dog and his/her normal behaviour patterns. If a dog’s nose is 'running' rather than just being wet, it could indicate an illness or health concern. Just like for us hoomans, a dog’s nose could run due to an upper respiratory infection, like a flue. Just keep in mind - your dog wets his/her nose with the tongue, for a reason. But there shouldn’t be any leaking or nose-dripping involved. If your dog’s nose is dripping, you may see him/her licking it more frequently in order to clean the extra liquids. But a dry nose might not be something to worry either, as some dogs naturally have dry noses. If your fur-child isn’t interested to discover the surroundings or looking for something - like food or play, he/she may not be that interested in the scents around it, hence no need to wet the nose as often. And if the weather has turned warmer than usual, your dog may also have a dry nose more frequently. So in fact, what pawrents should be looking out for is whether their doggie has changed in any way. If your dog usually has a wet nose but now it’s gone very dry, it could indicate that your dog isn’t feeling well. And vice versa. If your dog usually has a dry nose and now it's overly wet, it could mean that there’s an illness or maybe an allergy. We always recommend that once you notice unusual symptoms with your pup, always contact your vet.

Because our pets communicate differently with us, sometimes we may not notice that their is a health-issue until outward symptoms appear. This is especially true in cats, as they tend to hide while they are sick, while many dogs luckily will try to let us know that they aren’t feeling well.

Always watch your dog and notice any differences, that is the best way to assure his/her health

So if a cold, wet nose doesn’t always mean that your dog is healthy and a warm, dry nose doesn’t necessarily mean that your pet is unwell - then it is up to us to be more alert in noticing when something might be wrong with our pets.

A dog’s nose is unique and special - just like a hooman fingerprint - no nose is ever the same. These little cute, and sometimes warm or dry or cold or wet #boops have a distinctive design of dimples, dots and ridges. And in case you ever wondered, paw-prints are really not that unique at all, but a nose can always be used to identify one dog from another. Hope you enjoyed this #boop-blog. Woooofies, Aline and Cooka