Dogs, like all mammals, have hair growing out of their skin. The function of hair is to insulate the dog from the cold by conserving natural body heat. Hair is a cylinder of compacted and keratinized cells growing from a hair follicle. Throughout the course of the animals life, its hair is continually shed and renewed in synchronous cycles which causes periodic shedding.

     A dog's whiskers, or vibrissae, function as sensory hairs. Vibrissae contain a mass of erectile tissue with a rich sensory nerve supply. They are similar to human eyelashes that can cause the eye to shut on reflex.

T.J.