Explore all Dogs Teeth and Nails

DOG TEETH
Because dogs are carnivores their mouths and teeth are constructed to allow them to eat meat. In the wild, dogs scavenge and sometimes kill so they need long canine teeth with which they can stab, enabling them also to catch and hold their prey when necessary these are the four very large teeth, one placed on either side of the incisors in both the upper and lower jaws. Located behind them are premolars, designed for cutting and shearing. The teeth at the very back of the jaw are molars; these have more flattened surfaces, used for grinding and chewing. Between the canines are the small incisors, usually six in number in the upper and lower jaws. These are used to nibble meat from bones and also to groom the coat and skin. There are 42 teeth in total, two more in the lower jaw than the upper because of an additional pair of pre-molars. Roots on a dog's teeth are extremely long.

DOG NAILS
Nails are actually a modified skin structure that grow at a constant rate and cannot ever be retracted and extended at will. How frequently or infrequently nails need to be clipped depends largely on the texture of ground on which a dog spends most time. A dog living in the home on carpet is likely to need much more attention to its nails than one spending many hours each day on a concrete run. The forefeet usually have five nails: one on each individual pad which touches the ground; the other is a dew claw which makes no contact with the ground at all. In many breeds dew claws are removed at three days of age to avoid their being torn by accident in later life. On the hind feet there are often only four nails, but sometimes five if hind dew claws exist. There are exceptions to the general rule as some breeds have double dew claws and one breed, the Norwegian Lundehund, even has an extra toe. Because of selective breeding, some dogs have particularly long coats, and hair may grow inside the ear and between the pads of the feet. This would not have happened to dogs in the wild, so attention needs to be paid to these areas and excess hair removed if necessary so as to avoid ear infections building up and painful tight knots of coat forming between the pads.

DOG SKIN AND COAT
Different areas of a dog's skin vary to suit specific purposes. The pads of the feet are thick and durable, a necessity in order to bear weight and because they come into contact with rough ground. Ears are made up of much thinner skin for they are used for social signaling and so have to be sufficiently flexible to be moved about at will. Dogs' anal glands are also made of skin, and this needs to be flexible enough when passing stools to allow secretion of a substance which plays an important role in territorial marking. In general the surface of skin the epidermis is not very strong; however, it continually lays down new cells allowing it to serve as a protective layer. Beneath is the dermis which is much stronger, elastic and flexible.

HAIR GROWTH
The way in which a dog's hair grows depends upon its breed, but whatever it actually looks like, it grows in cycles. Following a growth stage it goes through a transitional period and then rests. When a dog's coat sheds, more hair is then ready to replace it. The cycles of growth are influenced by outside factors. Temperature plays a part and this is not just seasonal temperature but also temperature within the home, something which is now more likely to remain fairly constant in centrally heated homes. In a natural environment, dogs typically shed hair in spring and autumn. Other factors which affect the cycle of coat growth are the increase and decrease in daylight hours and also hormones, female ones tending to decrease hair density and males ones usually increasing it. This is the reason why many bitches which have been spayed (neutered) develop a more abundant coat and conversely bitches are frequently said to 'drop coat' during or following a season.