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Why cold and wet?

From:  "The Lone Piper"

Why do dogs usually have a cold and moist nose most of the time?

TB faithfully reported in with this: 

The nose as well as the paws allows the dog to sweat from. The moistness is made of clear, watery secretions. Having a wet nose allows for heat exchange and some say it facilitates a dogs capability of smelling by capturing the scent particulates permitting longer analysis of the scent.

rOxY added this: 

cuz the poor doggies r usually outside and depending where u live but if u were outside all the time u would catch a cold too.

Todd wrote us this: 

Dogs noses are not always wet. They normally are when they are happy. Dogs tend to lick everything like you, their nose, and everything else. Sick dogs don't lick their noses as much nor are they happy when they don't feel good. There is lots of information on this here
I would guess a dogs nose would be cold because it doesn't receive as much blood. Just as fingers and toes tend to become cold quickly on humans. Then again I have never touched a dogs nose to know if it truly is cold...

Dave shared this: 

Dogs have a cold and moist nose most of the time in order to shock their master awake from a afternoon nap so they can play chase the stick.
Also its cold because its right up front in the breeze as pooch is running and it always wet because pooch just had his nose in a mud puddle or water dish or some dead animal.

Duh came up with this: 

A dogs nose is wet because it helps channel the air into the nose which thus gives the dog a much better sense of smell than humans. u can look it up but im only 12 and this is off memory so... thats wat i think

Mr D. concluded with this: 

Dr. Mark A. Cole, DVM says
"The nose epithelium as well as the foot pads are the only areas of a dog’s skin that sweat like we do. The bulk of their temperature control is maintained by the lungs. Panting allows large quantities of air to rapidly cross the membranes of the respiratory tree, picking up excess body heat to be exhaled out into the surrounding air. When a dog has some extra body heat to lose, the nose skin starts to sweat, resulting in a wet nose. This moisture evaporates, leaving the nose significantly cooler than the rest of the body...."
c/o http://www.dogsx3.com/ask_the_vet.htm

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