Study finds head dunking rapidly cools dogs after exercise

A new JAVMA study from researchers at the Penn Vet Working Dog Center found that trained, voluntary head dunking in cool water rapidly lowered dogs’ core temperatures after exercise-induced hyperthermia, outperforming neck ice packs, a wet neck towel, and wet axillary towels in a randomized crossover trial involving 12 working dogs. The head-dunk protocol, using 22°C (about 72°F) water and limited water ingestion, was the only method that prevented the typical post-exercise temperature rise seen in the first few minutes after activity. (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)

Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, the findings offer a practical, low-resource field-cooling option for appropriate dogs with normal mentation that can pause panting and voluntarily participate. The study reinforces the established “cool first, transport second” principle in heat injury, while also drawing an important line between preventive field cooling and emergency care: dogs showing more advanced heat injury, altered mentation, or inability to tolerate the maneuver may need more aggressive cooling, including hosing or whole-body immersion, plus prompt veterinary evaluation. (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)

What to watch: Follow-up work is underway on colder water, soaked head towels, and other alternatives for dogs that won’t or can’t head dunk, but those data haven’t yet been published. (dvm360.com)