skin tanning in dogs/poodles

Question
we had a poodle with a cream coat that had pink skin in the winter months but it tanned during the summer months, it just gradually got darker. Is this the correct way to refer to this? Should one assume that if a dog has dark hair that their skin will tan and not burn it if shows threw their coat? I have tried googling this in dogs to no avail. I am trying to get the facts on this since a friend told me that 'dogs do not tan and it's because they don't have sweat glands' ...I know that dogs do have sweat glands and fail to see what they have to do with melanin in the skin and pigmentation. thanks.

Answer
Hello Christie,
The skin will sometimes lighten in the summer to help keep the skin from burning.  In the winter months it will go back to pink.  If it doesn't do this, the lighter skinned dogs can get a sunburn just like we can.  
Actually dogs don't have sweat glands like us, but rather can sweat through their feet.  If they get too hot, they can overheat and have either Heat Exaustion or Heat Stress.  The fact that they don't sweat doesn't have anything to do with their skin pigmentation.  Lighter colored dogs tend to have light colored skin and darker colored dogs tend to have dark or black colored skin.  

With your Poodle, be sure that you don't shave her too close in the summer or she can sunburn.  If you get her close on her face, you can apply suntan lotion to those areas that are exposed to the sun so that she won't burn there.

I hope this helps you some. If you have other questions for me about this, or other Poodle questions in general, please feel free to ask.

Thanks for using AllExperts.com,
Kim