REVIEW article
Front. Anim. Sci.
Sec. Animal Welfare and Policy
Heat Stress in Domestic Dogs: Morphological and Environmental Risk Factors for Dog Welfare in a Warming World
Provisionally accepted
Pavlos Vinicius Nascimento1Tarsys Noan Da Silva Veríssimo2Wylke Alves de Azevedo Soares1
Maria Isabelly Leite Maia1
Lucas Rannier Ribeiro Antonino Carvalho3*
Edilson Paes Saraiva1- 1Research Group on Bioclimatology, Ethology and Animal Welfare (BioEt), Department of Animal Science, Federal University of Paraíba, Areia, Brazil
- 2Centro Universitario de Patos, Patos, Brazil
- 3Karolinska Institutet (KI), Solna, Sweden
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Global temperature rise increasingly exposes domestic dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) to thermal challenges, especially in tropical and urban regions where climate change, artificial structures, and inadequate care converge. Despite the species' adaptive capacity, morphological traits such as dense coats, brachycephalic conformation, and obesity reduce thermoregulatory efficiency, heightening the risk of heat stress. This review synthesizes evidence on physiological heat exchange mechanisms, discusses subclinical indicators of thermal overload, and presents preventive management strategies tailored to breed profiles and environmental contexts. Emerging technologies, such as wearable thermal sensors, and educational actions targeting caregivers and professionals are explored as tools to promote adaptive care. By adopting a One Welfare perspective, the article connects animal welfare, public health, and sustainability, contributing to professional, policy, and educational practices aimed at protecting dogs from thermal stress in a warming world.
Keywords: Anatomy, Brachycephalic dogs, Canine thermoregulation, heatstroke, Heat -related injury, Urban microclimate, Welfare-oriented interventions
Received: 04 Aug 2025; Accepted: 19 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Nascimento, Veríssimo, Soares, Maia, Carvalho and Saraiva. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Lucas Rannier Ribeiro Antonino Carvalho, lucas.carvalho@ki.se
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