Heat Loss in SP Dogs

During the research this summer we worked with several different scientists and looked at a variety of canine "issues".  One of the more interesting days came in late August when Dr. Dennis Grahn came up from Stanford University to look at our dogs under a "heat loss microscope".  Dennis studies temperature regulation methods by dogs as well as humans.  He brought a camera that measured the heat loss areas on our dogs (and humans when they got in the way!)  Recently, some of the raw data footage from the camera was made into this video.

In this video are:  Beemer, Rambler, Waylon, Hank, Scout, Chica and Aliy.  Waylon is the last dog to leave the screen.  You can see his warm tongue hanging out of his mouth.




Dogs have a fantastic heat regulation system which include skin heat loss, breathing techniques, panting and foot pads heat loss.  This study at SP Kennel is part of a larger project trying to "Make a Better Canine Solider".  Dogs working in current war hot-spots such as Afghanistan or Iraq must use all of their natural biological abilities to stay cool.  We are hoping to do a small part to help create cooling "man made" aids for these canine soldiers in the future.