When a dog shakes water off its fur, the action is not just a random flurry of movements — nor a deliberate effort to drench anyone standing nearby.
This instinctive reflex is shared by many furry mammals including mice, cats, squirrels, lions, tigers and bears. The move helps animals to remove water, insects or other irritants from hard-to-reach places. But underlying the shakes is a complex — and previously mysterious — neurological mechanism.
Now, researchers have identified the neural circuit that triggers characteristic ‘wet dog’ shaking behaviour in mice — which involves a specific class of touch receptors, and neurons that connect the spinal cord to the brain. Their findings were published in Science on 7 November.
“The touch system is so complex and rich that [it] can distinguish a water droplet from a crawling insect from the gentle touch of a loved one,” says Kara Marshall, a neuroscientist at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. “It’s really remarkable to be able to link a very specific subset of touch receptors to this familiar and understandable behaviour.”
Research article was featured on the cover of this issue of Science, with a glorious picture of a brown bear doing the “wet dog shake” (https://www.science.org/toc/science/current)
Research article: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adq8834
Please let me know if there is paywall
I’m assuming it’s because they have trouble holding a blow dryer.
They can hold it just fine, but their aim and dexterity is shit. Fuckin’ no-opposable-thumb-having muppets.
I had no idea it was such a mystery why wet dogs shake themselves dry.
Well neuroscience isn’t a very old field… More seriously though, I think biomedical scientists know surprisingly little about something if NIH doesn’t fund it… aaand that’s how we understood so little about our own household companions (and a bit too much about cancer. Seriously why do we know so many weird things about cancer much of those don’t even translate into therapeutics)
Why dog no shakey when in water?
Did you read it? Because of the high sensitivity. Their skin can tell between a bug and a drop of water. Submersion would feel even more different, not triggering the response
He clearly didn’t read it.
After Trump won again, I’m sort of fed up with morons like that guy. If he wants to be an illiterate idiot while tve answer is right in front of him; let him.
No more covering for stupidity that stems from laziness and willfull ignorance
The technical mumbo jumbo is greek to me, so all I can read is “Why do dogs shake when they are wet? Because they can feel the water!”
I trained mine to do this when I say shake. I hope nobody tries to go for a handshake on a rainy day
