Imagine how your dog will look like when his whiskers are pulled out? Not only it’s not in the dog’s best interest, but we also disapprove of the look! Dog whiskers are important and must not be pulled out.
Why dog whiskers should not be pulled out?
Before knowing why dog whiskers should not be pulled out, you must know what these whiskers do? And what happens if you pull out a dog’s whiskers?
Whiskers on dogs
Dogs have these thick facial hair around their jaw, above their eyes, and on the chin. Now to understand how these whiskers work, think about what cockroaches do with their antennas? They use it to sense vibrations and movements. The same phenomenon happens in bats also who can’t see things but learn about their surroundings with the help of vibrations.
The whiskers in dogs are called vibrissae and serve many purposes in dogs.
- They help the dog to locate vibrations from its surroundings. These vibrations are transformed into sensory messages and allow dogs to paint a picture of the surrounding in their brain. This is how dogs are super alert all the time.
- Vibrissae also add up to the dog’s ability to see things in the dark. As dogs don’t have very excellent eyesight, whiskers allow them to determine sizes, location, or shapes of objects.
- You must have seen a dog sniffing and investigating things. Whiskers play a major part in that. They are natural mapping tools for dogs.
- Dog have whiskers on eyes too. These are kind of protective shield that keeps the eye-safe from dust or dirt.
- When a dog is young, whiskers help them to locate things.
So they are of extreme importance to dog’s abilities. That is why whiskers must not be pulled out.
Dog whiskers pulled out
When you pull out dogs’ whiskers, they are not only painful for dogs but also affect their ability to sense their environment. You are interfering with your dog’s anatomy here.
So Is it bad to pull out a dog’s whiskers? Yes!. You should not pull or pluck dog whiskers for any reason.
What happens when you pull dogs’ whiskers out?
This is extremely painful for them. These whiskers are a lot thicker than normal body hair on dogs. Imagine a hair plucked out from your body. It’s the same feeling, Just a hundred times greater.
Sometimes people say that they have accidentally pulled out a dog’s whiskers. Well, you should be careful about that. When you pull out whiskers, it’s not in the dog’s favor. These whiskers have a blood supply under the skin that allows them to send messages to the brain.
Dog whiskers “pulled out” or “fell out”?
There is a huge difference between dog whiskers pulled out and whiskers fell out. Both have different backgrounds and reasons to debate for.
If your dogs’ whiskers have fallen out, there is mostly nothing to be worried about. They will grow back. In rare cases, whiskers can fall out because of serious underlying health conditions.
But…
If you have pulled out whiskers, don’t do this again. This is cruel and can cause pain and inflammation in the skin.
Do dogs’ whiskers have nerves?
Dog whiskers are like other hair on their body. They don’t have pain receptors in them. So when whiskers are “cut” down, a dog doesn’t feel any pain. But when they are plucked out, remember that whiskers are deeply embedded in the skin.
The skin is loaded with nerves. What whiskers perceive from the surrounding, blood in these nerves sends that as a message to the brain. When dog whiskers are plucked out it can cause bleeding, in-grown hair, and sometimes inflammation too.
Do dog whiskers grow back?
Yes. They grow back.
Mostly, people pluck dog whiskers while grooming their puppies. People do insane things in the name of grooming like dying their dogs which may be illegal in their state or pulling out their whiskers. So many times this little act of cruelty is purely for beautifying purposes. We strictly oppose this practice because you are altering your dog’s natural sense of coordination with its surroundings.
However, if you or your groomer has accidentally cut dog’s whiskers, they will grow back like normal hair. So one must not worry about “lost” whiskers.
How often do dog whiskers fall out?
As whiskers are hair so it is common to think that they are part of the whole shedding process. Whiskers fall out often but mostly they grow back like other hair. So unless, their falling and growing back is not due to serious illness, it’s normal.
What happens if you cut your dog’s whiskers off?
As whiskers help dogs in many things, when you cut off the whiskers, you alter their natural phenomena to connect with their surroundings. Your dog is alert because of these whiskers. Also, whiskers help in mapping and investigation. So it changes the way how dog goes along in its environment. We can say that it weakens the connection.
In terms of pain, when whiskers are cut off they are not painful to dogs. It is like a simple grooming session like cutting hair. But when they are plucked out, they come out from the skin. The skin has nerves, blood, and all the pain receptors. Dogs may resist while plucking out whiskers.
Why does a dog scratch its whiskers?
Mostly, dogs don’t scratch their whiskers. They scratch their face or skin where whiskers grow. As result whiskers can fall or break too.
Dogs can scratch face due to skin allergies or mites and fleas.
Skin allergy can happen from anything like dust, pollution, inflammation or scars, etc. Dogs scratch their face due to itch and one might think that dog is scratching its whiskers.
If a dog is aggressively scratching its face, pay attention. Not only it can make whiskers fall out, but it can also cause other skin problems like rashes, wounds, or inflammation.
What if the dog whisker is bleeding?
When you pluck your dog’s whiskers, sometimes it can cause bleeding. The reason is that the skin under whiskers is rich in blood and nerves. Whiskers are thick so while pulling them, a drop of blood may come out.
There is nothing serious about blood coming out like this. Unless while pulling the whisker, you have pulled out a whole patch of the skin. This is another reason why dog’s whiskers should not be plucked out.
To stop bleeding from the plucked whisker, apply some pressure and bleeding will stop. However if things are serious, (which point towards your extreme negligence) you may need a trip to the vet.
In short, a dog’s whiskers should never be pulled out or you will weaken your dog’s ability to coordinate with the environment. Dogs are not supposed to be like that!