狗的胡須是干什么用的?

狗的胡須是干什么用的?

Most dogs are hairy things. Whether their fur is long or short, their bodies are mostly covered all over in hair of some sort. But separate from the fluff and the fur, your pup has long, coarse hairs sticking out of his muzzle and above his eyes.

大多數(shù)狗都有毛。無論它們的皮毛是長是短，它們的身體大部分都覆蓋著某種毛發(fā)。但是，除了絨毛和皮毛，你的小狗的鼻子和眼睛上方都有長而粗糙的毛發(fā)。

Whiskers do so much more than make your dog look cute. (Photo: marielinden4 [CC BY 2.0]/Flickr)

Dogs might not be as well-known for their whiskers as cats, but these distinctive features play an important role in your dog's daily life.

狗的胡須可能不像貓那么出名，但這些獨特的特征在狗的日常生活中扮演著重要的角色。

The purpose of dog whiskers

狗胡須的用途

Dog whiskers are usually as wide as a dog's body. (Photo: flopac87/Shutterstock)

Although whiskers might just look like stiffer, coarser hair, they have a much different job to do. The follicles at the base of each whisker are filled with nerve fibers so that even the slightest touch will transmit messages to the dog's brain.

雖然絡腮胡可能看起來更硬、更粗糙，但它們的作用卻大不相同。每根胡須底部的毛囊都充滿了神經(jīng)纖維，因此即使是最輕微的接觸也會向狗的大腦傳遞信息。

These special facial hairs play many roles, according to research published in Veterinary Research Communications. They can play a key role in helping a dog monitor his environment by picking up changes in wind direction or water currents.

根據(jù)發(fā)表在《獸醫(yī)研究通訊》上的研究，這些特殊的面部毛發(fā)扮演著多種角色。它們可以通過感知風向或水流的變化來幫助狗狗監(jiān)控周圍環(huán)境。

Coren points out that the whiskers above the eye are situated so that when something disrupts the airflow or some object gets in the way, causing the hair to bend, there's a reflexive blink in response to protect the eye from a possible impact.

科倫指出，眼睛上方的觸須是這樣設置的:當有什么東西破壞了空氣流動，或者有什么東西擋住了視線，導致頭發(fā)彎曲時，眼睛會反射性地眨一下眼睛，以保護眼睛不受可能的沖擊。

You can see this in action by lightly brushing the whiskers above your dog's eyes. Instinctively, his eye should close.

你可以通過輕刷狗狗眼睛上方的胡須來觀察它的動作。出于本能，他應該閉上眼睛。

Whiskers also might assist in locating food, dispersing pheromones, and maintaining an upright head position while swimming.

胡須還可以幫助尋找食物，散發(fā)信息素，并在游泳時保持頭部直立。

Whiskers and communication

胡須和溝通

Dogs move their whiskers when they feel threatened and when they're happy. (Photo: Konstantin Zaykov/Shutterstock)

Besides keeping a dog from bumping into things, whiskers also can help avoid skirmishes and bad relationships.

除了防止狗撞到東西，胡須還可以幫助避免小沖突和糟糕的關系。

We're used to looking to a dog's tail or maybe his ears to see how he is feeling. But whiskers can also convey information about canine emotions, according to LiveScience.

我們習慣于通過觀察狗的尾巴或者耳朵來了解它的感受。但是根據(jù)《生活科學》的報道，胡須也可以傳達狗狗的情感信息。

If a dog feels threatened, he will automatically flare his whiskers and then point them reflexively in a forward direction. This could indicate that whiskers are a key element of defense in tense situations with predators and other dogs, some researchers believe.

如果狗感到受到威脅，它會自動展開胡須，然后反射性地將胡須指向前方。一些研究人員認為，這可能表明，在面對捕食者和其他狗的緊張情況下，胡須是防御的關鍵因素。

But whiskers don't just move during tense situations, says VCA Hospitals.

但是VCA醫(yī)院表示，胡須并不只是在緊張的情況下才會移動。

"When a dog is resting, the whiskers take a break. But when a dog is active, so are they! A happy or curious dog will elevate the whiskers above his eyes giving him that cute, wide-eyed appearance we love."

“當狗休息時，胡須會休息一下。但當狗活躍時，它們也是!一只快樂或好奇的狗狗會把胡須舉過眼睛，讓它看起來可愛、大眼睛，我們很喜歡它。”

Some people — especially those who show their dogs in competitions — choose to trim whiskers because they think it makes their dogs look neater.

有些人——尤其是那些在比賽中展示他們的狗的人——選擇修剪胡須，因為他們認為這樣可以讓他們的狗看起來更整潔。

Pulling or plucking on the whiskers would be painful for a dog. It wouldn't hurt to cut them because whiskers don't have pain receptors, but many veterinarians and researchers say it's not a good idea.

拉拉胡子對狗來說是很痛苦的。因為胡須沒有痛覺感受器，所以割掉它們不會有什么傷害，但許多獸醫(yī)和研究人員說這不是個好主意。

Anecdotal evidence suggests that trimming whiskers can lead to confusion and issues with spatial awareness. When petting your dog, in fact, be sure to only touch pet whiskers gently along the grain, says VCA Hospitals. As you can see in the video above, even very tolerant dogs don't like anyone messing with their whiskers, even if it's gentle.

坊間證據(jù)表明，修剪胡須會導致混亂和空間意識問題。VCA Hospitals說，實際上，當你撫摸你的狗狗時，一定要只沿著狗狗的胡須輕輕地摸。正如你在上面的視頻中所看到的，即使是非常寬容的狗也不喜歡任何人擺弄它們的胡須，即使是很溫和的。

Say canine expert Coren, "Although your dog's whiskers might make his face look untidy, you should not let your groomer trim or cut them since by so doing you are actually effectively removing these valuable aids to the dog's visual system."

犬類專家Coren說:“雖然你的狗的胡須可能會讓他的臉看起來不整潔，但你不應該讓你的美容師修剪或修剪它們，因為這樣做實際上是在去除這些對狗的視覺系統(tǒng)有價值的東西。”