Pet Friends Charm Page

Paws

A dog’s paw is made up of five parts. On the outer part are his claws, the pad in the middle is called the metacarpal pad, the digital pad are his toes and the carpal pad and dewclaw are found farthest back. When the temperature gets very cold the pads are protected by a thick layer of fatty tissue. When the pad gets cold, the arteries within the foot transfer the cold blood back to the body where it is then warmed up. On the other hand walking on very hot surfaces cause a dog’s foot to blister. The inner layer of skin on a dog’s paw contains sweat glands,these transport perspiration to the outer layer, cooling the hot dog down as well as preventing the pads from drying out. And like humans, if a dog is nervous or stressed their paws will also exude moisture. Dogs are digitigrade animals, meaning that their digital pads take most of their weight when they walk. Because of this, dogs’ toe bones are very important. Despite all dog paws being made up of five parts there are still different styles of doggy feet.

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