Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeartRadio. Hey brain
Speaker 1: Stuff Lauren vogel bomb here with a classic episode of
Speaker 1: the podcast. In this one, we get back into the
Speaker 1: delightful science of dogs, and specifically today, why their noses
Speaker 1: are sometimes wet and sometimes dry. Hey brain Stuff, Lauren
Speaker 1: vocal bomb here. If you've ever shared a home with
Speaker 1: a dog, you've probably had the startling experience of, while
Speaker 1: minding your own business, having a cold, wet nose thrust
Speaker 1: into your skin like a friendly ice cube. It's your
Speaker 1: pup's way of getting your attention, and it's an old
Speaker 1: wives tale that's such a wet nose is a good
Speaker 1: thing because it supposedly means your dog is in good health.
Speaker 1: But this idea has no basis. In fact, whether a
Speaker 1: dog has a wet nose is not a signal one
Speaker 1: way or another of health. But why are dogs noses
Speaker 1: sometimes dry and sometimes wet. The short answer is that
Speaker 1: dogs sometimes lick their noses, But the catch is that
Speaker 1: no one knows for sure why they do that. One
Speaker 1: theory suggests that because dogs are always licking their noses,
Speaker 1: their saliva helps paint their schnas with the mucus produced
Speaker 1: in the nostrils. As a result, all that mucus licking
Speaker 1: improves a dog's ability to smell things. Oh, let's break
Speaker 1: down how that works. When dogs sniff the air, and
Speaker 1: they are always sniffing the air, they inhale tiny suspended particles.
Speaker 1: These particles get trapped in their nasal mucus, which helps
Speaker 1: the dog figure out what they're smelling. As a dog
Speaker 1: licks its nose, it picks up some of these scent
Speaker 1: latin goop. The tongue then brushes against an olfactory gland
Speaker 1: on the roof of the mouth, which helps our four
Speaker 1: legged companions figure out exactly what they're smelling. Another reason
Speaker 1: some have suggested could be that a wet nose helps
Speaker 1: keep a dog cool in warm weather. When we human sweat,
Speaker 1: the perspiration our sweat glands produce evaporates off of our skin,
Speaker 1: cooling us down. Dogs, however, do not sweat. That's because
Speaker 1: they have no sweat glands except for on the bottom
Speaker 1: of their pop heads. Instead, they pant to cool off. However,
Speaker 1: a dog's nose, unlike the rest of its body, is
Speaker 1: not covered in fur. It also brims with blood vessels.
Speaker 1: When a dog licks its nose. The theory suggests it's
Speaker 1: cooling itself down as its saliva, like human sweat, evaporates.
Speaker 1: That leaves the surface area of the nose cool along
Speaker 1: with the blood circulating in and around Fido's snout. Consequently,
Speaker 1: cooler blood flows the dog's head and body, keeping our
Speaker 1: best friends a little bit cooler. But then, why are
Speaker 1: dog's noses often dry? A few factors can lead to
Speaker 1: less licking. Touch your dog's nose in the morning, chances
Speaker 1: are it'll be dry as the sahara. That's because as
Speaker 1: a dog sleeps, it rarely licks its nose, and certain
Speaker 1: breeds like bulldogs and pugs, have noses that are mostly dry.
Speaker 1: Age also tends to make a dog nose drier. The
Speaker 1: bottom line is that if your dog has a dry nose,
Speaker 1: chill out. The dog isn't sick. Wait a few hours
Speaker 1: and it will be wet again. Oh and a bonus
Speaker 1: pup nose fact. Have you noticed that your dog has
Speaker 1: slits on the sides of its nose. There's a reason
Speaker 1: when dogs exhale, they do so out of those slits.
Speaker 1: That so that the exhaled air does not mix with
Speaker 1: the scented inhaled air which flows into the nostrils. Today's
Speaker 1: episode is based on the article why do Dogs have
Speaker 1: Wet Noses? On how stuffworks dot Com written by John Parretano.
Speaker 1: Brain Stuff is a production of iHeartRadio in partnership with
Speaker 1: how stuffworks dot Com and is produced by Tyler Klang.
Speaker 1: Four more podcasts my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app,
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