touch the skin to roughly judge whether the body temperature is normal.
Whether a dog's body is normal or not can usually be shown in many ways, and we can learn a lot of information from the dog's skin alone. A healthy dog's skin is elastic, and its nose mirror is usually moist. If something suddenly happens, it may indicate that there is something wrong with the dog's body. In recent days, we must pay attention to observe whether the dog's state and appetite have changed.
< strong > first, the skin temperature < /strong >
The skin temperature can be checked by palpating the dog's trunk, thigh and other corresponding parts with the palm or the back of the hand. If you want to determine whether the temperature distribution at the distal part of the body is uniform, you can touch the nose, ears and extremities of the dog. The increase of skin temperature indicates that the dog's body temperature has increased, the blood vessels of the skin are dilated, and the blood flow is accelerated. The whole body temperature has increased, which is common in febrile diseases, and the local temperature increase may be local inflammation symptoms.
On the contrary, hypothermia is caused by exhaustion, malnutrition, massive blood loss or anemia. Uneven temperature and slightly cold end are the result of severe circulatory disturbance. It is usually characterized by cold ears and nose and cold extremities.
The skin elasticity of dogs with loose skin, such as Sharpie, is generally not very good.
< strong > II. Humidity < /strong >
Dogs' nasal mirrors and sweat glands are underdeveloped, so they seldom sweat under normal circumstances, but their nasal mirrors are relatively moist under normal circumstances. Some dogs may have dry nasal mirrors, but dry nasal mirrors are common in fever, severe digestive disorders and systemic diseases, and skin cracking may occur in severe cases.
< strong > iii. flexibility < /strong >
Whether the skin elasticity is good or not indirectly reflects the level and nutritional status of the body. To check the elasticity of the dog's skin, it is usually possible to pinch the skin into wrinkles on the dog's back with your hands, gently pull it up, and then let it go, and judge it according to the speed of its wrinkles recovery. Generally speaking, the recovery speed of wrinkles in healthy dogs is not too slow (except for those dogs with flabby skin, such as Sharpie Dog and Pug Dog). If the recovery speed of wrinkles is slow, it may be caused by dehydration of the dog's body or chronic skin disease. Of course, it is a relatively normal phenomenon for old dogs.