If you are an obsessed or overprotective dog owner then you have likely browsed the dog apparel aisle in your local pet store and paused briefly to contemplate “winter booties” for your dog’s paws. A recent discovery by researchers in Japan however, finds that dog paws may not need “winter booties” after all thanks to a specialized circulation system in their paws.
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Dog Paws Include Specialized Circulation Systems
As humans we often tend to give our dogs human characteristics and that means that if our feet get cold in the winter time then so do our dogs. Some of us even invest in footwear to ensure that our dog’s feet don’t “freeze to the ground” in winter, but a recent research study finds that footwear isn’t necessary at all. According to this study that was published in the journal Veterinary Dermatology, the internal structure of dog paws is constructed to ensure that dogs feet do not freeze during the winter. Japanese researchers utilized electron microscopes to take a look inside the internal workings of the paws of domestic dogs and found a circulatory adaptation that was not uncommon in other animals. The findings show that even domesticated dogs have a way to transfer heat from the artery to a network of veins in the area so that colder blood was unable to return to the body.
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The Discovery Itself
Dr. Hiroyoshi Ninomiya of the Yamazaki Gakuen University of Tokyo, Japan and his team decided to test the theory of whether or not dog’s feet could resist freezing after reading of previous studies on the topic. In the past researchers have claimed that dogs feet are able to resist freezing in temperatures as cold as -35 degrees Centigrade and Ninomiya and his team of researchers wanted to see whether this finding was something that applied to the common domesticated dog.
Dr. Ninomiya and his team utilized electron microscopes to observe the feet of domesticated dogs and what they found was that within the dog paw or footpad each dog had veins that were extremely close to arteries. The closeness of the veins and arteries ensures that heat is able to be conducted from the circulatory system to the area that is experiencing cooling. In more simple terms, as a dog steps outside and its feet begin to cool down rapidly the heart is able to pump warm blood to the feet quickly by utilizing the artery that is in close proximity to the neighboring veins in the footpads. This unique circulatory adaptation ensures that dogs do not freeze as the blood is warmed up before returning to the body and cooling the entire body down.
As humans we often tend to give our dogs human characteristics and that means that if our feet get cold in the winter time then so do our dogs. Some of us even invest in footwear to ensure that our dog’s feet don’t “freeze to the ground” in winter, but a recent research study finds that footwear isn’t necessary at all. According to this study that was published in the journal Veterinary Dermatology, the internal structure of dog paws is constructed to ensure that dogs feet do not freeze during the winter. Japanese researchers utilized electron microscopes to take a look inside the internal workings of the paws of domestic dogs and found a circulatory adaptation that was not uncommon in other animals. The findings show that even domesticated dogs have a way to transfer heat from the artery to a network of veins in the area so that colder blood was unable to return to the body.
Dr. Hiroyoshi Ninomiya of the Yamazaki Gakuen University of Tokyo, Japan and his team decided to test the theory of whether or not dog’s feet could resist freezing after reading of previous studies on the topic. In the past researchers have claimed that dogs feet are able to resist freezing in temperatures as cold as -35 degrees Centigrade and Ninomiya and his team of researchers wanted to see whether this finding was something that applied to the common domesticated dog.
Dr. Ninomiya and his team utilized electron microscopes to observe the feet of domesticated dogs and what they found was that within the dog paw or footpad each dog had veins that were extremely close to arteries. The closeness of the veins and arteries ensures that heat is able to be conducted from the circulatory system to the area that is experiencing cooling. In more simple terms, as a dog steps outside and its feet begin to cool down rapidly the heart is able to pump warm blood to the feet quickly by utilizing the artery that is in close proximity to the neighboring veins in the footpads. This unique circulatory adaptation ensures that dogs do not freeze as the blood is warmed up before returning to the body and cooling the entire body down.
