I got curious and checked on Animal Planet and this is what they say about how dogs keep cool. Although dogs do pant to keep cool, the tongue is not where the coolig takes place — it is in the nasal passages instead. Nasal glands secrete fluid, and it is the evaporation within a dog’s nasal chambers that creates a cooling effect. In temperate weather dogs simply breathe in through their noses to stay cool. When the animals become significantly warmer, either through a change in air temperature or through physical exertion, they secrete even more fluid than usual. To cool down, they begin to pant with open mouths to breathe in more oxygen and help speed up the evaporation and cooling process.
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