A Complete Guide to Understand a Dog's Skin

Have you ever wondered what is under those layers of hair and fur? Imagine our favourite furry animals without any fur. Doesn’t seem too right does it? It’s one thing that the fur plays a important role for a dog but running a hand over a soft coat of thick, shiny fur feels good to you and your dog. Unfortunately, if your dog has poor skin health, that simple pleasure might not be so pleasant. It’s also true that you can tell a lot about a dog by looking at its fur and checking its skin. Here is our guide to help you understand your dogs over layering better.

Source: Wikipedia

Dog Skin

The skin is the outer most covering on our pets body, it’s what separates and protects the inner body from direct contact with the outer world. The skin is the thickest on the back and neck, thinning toward the abdomen and thinnest in the groin area. Exactly, like that for humans beings, the skin is the largest organ on any body’s system.

The skin has many layers with various different functions:

• Epidermis: This forms the outer most layer of the cell.
• Ceramides: This layer is essential in structuring and maintaining the water permeability barrier properties of the skin.
• Dermis: It is a network of connective tissue containing nerves, blood vessels, hair follicles, sweat and oil glands. This layer is located directly under the epidermis.
• Basal Cell: This is responsible for skin and hair pigmentation.
• Hypodermis: This layer is majorly responsible and used mainly for fat storage.

The main function of the skin apart from keeping the dog warm and protecting it’s interior body from the out side world is to insulate, regulate body temperature and sensation. Severely damaged skin will try to heal by forming scar tissue. The skin sheds through a continuous hardening process called keratinization.