Some breeds of dog, such as the Weimaraner and the Boxer are also prone to developing tumours and cancer of the skin, and so should especially be protected.
If your dog has dark skin and dark, dense fur with no lighter areas or exposed skin, they will probably be fine without sunscreen, but many dogs can benefit from its protection.ĭogs that have light coloured fur, very short, fine fur, or lighter areas may need sunscreen, and any exposed areas of skin (such as on the belly or around the muzzle where the fur tends to be finer) should be covered on dogs of all types when out in the sun. You may assume that your dog’s fur will protect their skin against exposure to the sun and its associated risks, but this is not always the case. What type of dogs need sunscreen in the sun? The higher the factor, the longer it will allow the wearer to be safely exposed to the sun for, and the fairer or more prone to burning the person or dog is, the higher the factor they will need. Sunscreen lotions are divided up into SPF “factors,” and the higher the SPF factor, the more protection that they offer to the wearer. Sunscreen creates a barrier on the skin that filters out the harmful rays of the sun’s spectrum, and allows a person (or dog) that would burn without protection to spend longer outsider in the sun without risking burning. Read on to learn more! What does sunscreen do?įirst of all, it is important to make the distinction between sunscreen lotion that is designed to provide a barrier to protect the skin against the sun, and suntan lotions that are designed to enable people to tan faster! In this article, we are of course talking about the former, and this is the type of suntan lotion that you should be considering using on your dog. If you are not sure if you should be using sunscreen on your own dog, or what type of sunscreens are suitable for dogs, in this article we will look at this in more detail, and make some recommendations. But one thing that even the most conscientious of dog owners often overlook is the need for suntan lotion to be used on certain types of dogs, in order to protect their delicate skin from the sun too!ĭogs tend to spend a great deal of their time outside, particularly during the summer months, and after heat stroke, sunburn is the greatest potential hazard of the summer for dogs with light skin and fine fur. We are all very aware about the need to use sunscreen lotion on ourselves and our children, in order to protect us from burning and harmful UVA and UVB rays that can lead to skin problems and even the development of skin cancer.
