The prepossessing thing about dogs is that they are furry pet animals. They have many hairs on their body making them fluffy. But not all breeds have furry and fluffy bodies.
Dogs have many hairs on their body, but how many? According to research, dogs have 50 thousand hairs on each little square inch of their body.
As compared to dogs, humans have up to 1 lac hairs on 120-140 square inches of head. This is fewer than a square inch. So, dogs are furrier than humans.
A square foot has 12*12=144 square inches. It means a dog has around 2, 16,000 hairs per square foot but it all depends on your dog’s breed, size, and age.
How many Hairs do Dogs have per Follicle?
You will be wondering to know dogs have multiple follicles. Each can grow more than 15 hairs from a single pore. Dogs have two kinds of hairs, characterized by length and diameter.
Guards are the primary hairs. They are longer in size, coarsest hairs of the outer layer coat. However, secondary hairs have various sizes and make up the inner coat. The inner coat is soft with small furry, crimped, and curly hairs.
As compared to humans, we have simple type of follicles which may produce only one hair for each pore.
The ratio and length of dog’s hair varies from breed to breed. As well as, variety of colors and patterns, produce each dog’s distinctive coat.
Do Dog’s Hairs Grow when they Lose Them?
If your dog sheds 1000 hairs in a day. Then how many hairs grow in a week? You can count up to 1000.
Generally, new hairs can grow, within a week or two. Depending upon the dog’s breed. The anagen growth stage may last from one month to one year. However, anagen, catagen, and telogen are the three stages of the growth of a dog’s hair.
- Anagen is the most active phase of hair growth. In this phase, the root cells of the hair are dividing rapidly. The hair grows about 1 cm every 28 days. Scalp hair stays in this active phase of growth for two to six years.
Dog’s breed such as poodle and havanese tend to have a very long anagen cycle. That’s why pet owners cut their hairs.
- Catagen scalp hair stays in this active phase of growth for two to six years. This is the transitional stage. About 3% of all hairs transit at any time. This phase lasts for about two to three weeks.
- Telogen the resting phase of hairs. Usually, hairs about 6% to 8% are in rest. Telogen lasts for about 100 days for hairs on the scalp and longer for hairs.
How does Hair Loss Recover?
Hair loss problem may need treatment more than once, depending on the dog’s diagnostic condition. Always treat, and monitor your dog according to the veterinarian’s advice. They suggest and do treatment according to the condition.
Hair loss treatment can be expensive if your dog is at risk of hair loss.
There are some Home Remedies for the Treatment of Hair Loss
Use a Humidifier
Dry and rough skin can also cause hair loss in dogs. The best solution for dry skin is to buy a humidifier. A humidifier will keep more moisture in the air and soothe your dog’s skin.
Apple cider vinegar
Apple cider vinegar is the oldest home remedy. People have been used it for many years.
Apple cider has acidic nature, which makes it a natural antifungal, and antibacterial. You can apply it to any irritated skin area to clean out germs. You can use it directly for your dog’s skin or add some into their bath.
Brush your dog
Naturally, dogs have oily skin. It keeps their skin moisturized. But you need to take care of the skin. Brush your dog with its personal brush. It helps to distribute natural skin oil all over the furry body.
Give lemon juice
Lemon juice also has acidic nature like apple cider vinegar. This liquid can help tp fight against bacteria. It restores the pH of any problem skin areas.
Use olive oil
Use topical olive oil for your dog’s skin. As we all know that olive oil is good for the diet. It is also helpful for softening dry and rough skin.
If your dog has patches of dry skin, apply a little amount of olive oil to that part. Massage it and be careful. It is best moisturizing oil. It can also smother mites that could be causing your dog’s hair loss.
Eliminate allergens from the diet
Allergies are also a major cause of dog hair loss. They can cause all sorts of problems like inflammation and irritation etc.
In this case, the solution is you will have to remove allergens. Give a healthy diet such as wheat, soy, and corn.
Omega biotic
Omega biotic is a very powerful pro-biotic chews. It is delicious in taste and a chewy treat for dogs, which they love. It is a good source of a healthy diet for your dog. It also helps to avoid your dog from dry, flaky skin that can lead to shedding.
Why does your Dog Lose Hair?
Animals without fur may be referred to hairless or naked. Alopecia is the most common and extremely noticeable disease of hair loss in dogs. Alopecia is different from shedding, which is a normal part of your dog’s hair growth cycle.
Symptoms of Alopecia:
- Mild to severe scratching
- Your dog’s skin is red, thickened, oozing, inflamed, bleeding or black pigmented.
- Skin gets pimples, red spots, plaques or hives.
- Overall thinning of the hair
- Hair loss around mouth and nose
- Black or dark grey color skin under hair loss
- Dry and scaly skin around the area of hair loss
- Foul odor from skin
- Patches of complete hair loss
There are many reasons which cause may lose your dog’s hair.
- Deficiency of vitamins
- Sex hormonal imbalances
- Allergy (fleas, food, environmental)
- Cushing’s syndrome
- pattern hair loss
- mange
- fungal infection
- Skin irritation
- Trauma
- Pressure sores
- Post-surgical clipping
- Skin cancer
- Thyroid disorder
- Chemotherapy
- Ringworm
- Nervous chewing or licking
These are the most common and possible reasons for hair loss.
Is Dog’s Hair Similar to Humans?
Hairs and furs are composed of the same protein keratin. Nails and skin are also made of the same. The difference is only in names. The hair of mammals (non-human) refers to fur. While humans are said to have hair.
Dogs are basically covered with furs. Whereas, human tends to grow hair in a few parts of their body. Fur has a thick coat of soft hair covering the skin of non-human mammals like dogs and cats.
They are coarse and short. They tend to grow in a more synchronized manner and stop at a certain length.
While hairs are like fine thread strands, growing from the skin of humans. They are soft and long. They tend to grow independently and do not stop growing.
How can you Treat Dog’s Hair Loss?
Alopecia may affect your dog partially, or completely. Dogs of any breed or age can get hair loss problems. So, it is necessary to inform your veterinarian as soon as possible.
A variety of treatments are available for dog hair loss. It depends on the diagnostic condition.
- Antibiotics
- Hypoallergenic diets
- Steroids
- Anti fungal
- Medicated shampoos
- Thyroid medication and hormone therapy
- Behavioral medications
- Vitamins supplements
- Surgery
- An Elizabethan collar
- Monthly flea preventative
- Hypoallergenic diets
- Immunotherapy
- Immunosuppressive drugs or anti-cytokine drugs
Conclusion
A study on hair analysis of dogs tell that,
Hairs show variation among dogs of different breeds. Mostly, dogs have 15000 hairs on each little square inch of skin.
But it depends how big your dog is! So, our pet pooches are a lot furrier.
