posted 05-17-2003 10:51 AM
The simple way to find out if your dog has a healthy nose is to see if your dog’s nose is the color it usually is. There are other ways that have been said to determine if your dog is healthy by looking at your dog’s nose, but these myths have been misproven.
You know what color your dog’s nose is supposed to be. If you notice it’s not the right color, that may not just mean there’s something wrong with its nose, but it could mean your dog has a more serious health problem of some sort. If your dog’s nose is normally black, it’s not going to change to a greenish color the next day and that will be fine. No. If your dog’s nose changes colors even slightly, you should take it to your vet to make sure it’s okay.
Many people throughout history have believed that if a dog’s nose is dry, then the pet is sick. They thought that the main sign of a healthy dog is a good wet, sloppy nose. This simply is not true. A wet nose simply means that the air is plenty humid. Just like anything else, when it’s humid outside, your dog’s nose gets wet. If the weather is overly dry, so will be your dog’s nose.
Another misconception is that you can tell how your dog is feeling by touching its nose. If your dog’s nose is hot, then it might have a fever. But if it’s cool, it’s feeling just fine. But this is not accurate. Again, a dog’s nose temperature changes based on the environment. If it’s warm where your dog is, your dog’s nose will be warm. If it’s cold, your dog’s nose will be colder.
If you want to take your pet’s temperature, the only way to do it is rectally. Take a normal thermometer with a cover and insert it anally into your pet. A normal dog’s temperature is 100.5 to 101.5 degrees F.