A Dog's Sunbathing is the Ultimate Spa Treatment! A Personal Story of Overcoming Interdigital Dermatitis Through the Wisdom of Dogs Inherited from Wolf Survival Strategies

My white Shiba Inu, Nono, is three and a half years old.
Starting this year, he has been free to move between the garden, the balcony, and inside the house. He enjoys sunbathing to his heart's content, regulating his own body temperature by warming up or cooling down and hydrating as needed.

This is because I finally understood the importance of sunbathing for dogs and started leaving the sliding doors to our shaded house open. Before that, he only got sunlight during our morning walks.

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Since my dog started sunbathing freely, his long-standing 'interdigital dermatitis' (a skin condition where the skin between the toes becomes red and inflamed) has improved dramatically. It brought about a magical change and saved him.

This time, I learned that there is a surprising mechanism for dog sunbathing that is completely different from that of humans. I want to record the rational 'survival strategy' inherited from wolves and the secrets of the 'sunbathing spa' that my white Shiba Inu, Nono, taught me through his own experience.

🌞1. The 'Survival Strategy' Inherited from Wolves
Dogs don't make vitamin D from sunlight!?

The idea that sunbathing equals vitamin D supplementation was just a human assumption. Dogs have their own needs, don't they? I want to be careful not to restrict or question a dog's behavior based on human-centric biases. (By the way, many vertebrates, including many reptiles, birds, short-haired mammals, and some insects and fish, synthesize vitamin D through ultraviolet rays.)

Dogs, cats, wolves, etc. many carnivores ingest vitamin D from their diet.
Because their thick fur makes it difficult for ultraviolet rays to reach the skin, vitamin D synthesis is not efficient. In that case, let's use sunlight for something else!

→ By warming the body with sunlight, there is no need to use one's own metabolic energy to maintain body temperature. The saved calories are then used for hunting, which requires physical stamina.
Body temperature regulation, energy conservation, health maintenance

These were the survival strategies chosen by carnivores that hunt even in winter. Amazing!
(I will omit the necessity of vitamin D and toxicity from excessive intake this time.)

So, why did my white Shiba Inu, Nono, crave sunbathing so much? Until I looked into it, I thought it was just to get warm...

🌞2. Witnessed! The 'Three Natural Cures' Brought by Sunlight

My dog, Nono, has suffered from interdigital dermatitis for two years. Although the prescribed topical steroid ointment worked, I was anxious about using it regularly and wished to graduate from it. In the midst of this, I witnessed a surprising event.

My dog had been sunbathing on the cold, windy balcony for about 15 minutes.
The inflammation on his bright red paws disappeared right before my eyes! I thought it might be a coincidence, but I witnessed the redness disappear several times after that, and now he no longer gets inflamed.

It seems that the 'three effects' of sunlight were involved.

① Strengthening the skin barrier with 'natural sterilization and disinfection'

Sunlight (ultraviolet rays) has a natural sterilizing and antibacterial effect that destroys the DNA of bacteria and viruses, depriving them of their ability to multiply.
Topical steroid ointment is merely a symptomatic treatment to suppress inflammation, but ultraviolet rays are said to have the power to kill bacteria. In my dog's case, it might have been that he achieved good results in combination with his overall physical health.
(Excessive sunbathing carries risks such as sunburn and skin cancer. Be especially careful with brachycephalic breeds.)

② 'Forced drying' of the spaces between the toes

The natural enemy of interdigital dermatitis is moisture. By walking in the garden or on the balcony and bathing in the sun's heat, the spaces between the toes, which are prone to humidity, were dried by the sunlight and wind, creating an environment where bacteria could not thrive.
Looking back now, I feel like he was pointing his toes toward the sun when the inflammation was at its worst.

③ The magic of 'serotonin,' the happiness hormone that regulates the mind

Just like humans, when sunlight (especially morning light) enters a dog's eyes, the neurotransmitter serotonin is produced in the brain. Dogs may not know the theory, but they have empirically learned that basking in the light makes them feel better. Perhaps because their minds became stable, the self-harming behavior of 'paw licking' due to stress stopped, and the inflammation began to heal.

🌞3. Supplements for humans, 'Ultimate Spa' for dogs

If sunbathing for humans is 'nutritional replenishment (vitamin D supplements),' then for dogs, it becomes full-body maintenance (the ultimate spa treatment).

• Route to the pineal gland: Just like in humans, information about sunlight is transmitted to the dog's pineal gland, adjusting their internal clock.

• The magic of heat storage: Like the wolf, the double coat of a Shiba Inu acts as a 'thermos' that stores the heat of the sun. Once it warms up, it lasts for a very long time, keeping even the internal organs cozy. (This is also a wolf survival strategy.)

• The scent of the sun: That unique fragrance after basking in the sun is 'proof of health,' where blood flow in the skin improves and healthy sebum warmed by the sun coats the fur. It's a nice, slightly toasted smell, isn't it?
  

With the professional known as the sun,
Nono the white Shiba Inu chooses the 'best health method' for himself.

For a dog, sunbathing seems to be more than just a nap. It is a time for 'ultimate self-care' that awakens wild memories and polishes their own skin barrier. When my dog Nono is squinting in satisfaction, an ultimate spa treatment is being performed inside his body by a professional named the Sun.

During walks, I often see dogs relaxing in sunny windows. I feel envious.
An environment where they can soak up sunlight whenever they feel like it might be the best gift you can give your dog.

Reference section—Here are the links I cited in the article ↓

🔗1 A veterinarian explains sunlight and dog sunbathing in an easy-to-understand way

🔗2 Although I didn't touch on it in the article,
there was also an interesting point that 'dogs might be able to see ultraviolet light.'

🔗3 For reference, it's interesting to read about sunbathing in various animals. 'When the sun comes out, ectotherms become active' / San Diego Zoo website