You may have looked at your furry little friend and wondered – do dogs have lips? Just like humans, dogs have ears, eyes, a nose and a mouth – but what about lips? Keep reading below to find out!
What are lips?
For humans, lips are an organ that is located around the edge of our mouths. Lips allow us to close our mouths while eating, breastfeed while young and keep water out when swimming. They also allow us to pronounce words and make noises such as whistling. Not only that, they help us to make facial expressions to show when we are sad (by frowning) or happy (by smiling). However, lips are not special to just humans – they belong to many other types of animals too!
A dog’s facial anatomy
When looking at a dog’s face, you will see its ears, forehead, eyes and even eyebrows. Protruding out is a dog’s muzzle (the upper and lower jaws), and at the end of its muzzle, a nose. Below the nose is a mouth, and surrounding the top of the mouth are its flews. What are ‘flews’ you might wonder? Well, ‘flews’ are what we call a dog’s upper lips! A dog’s lower lips is called just that – ‘lower lips’. So yes, dogs do have lips like us humans too!
Different sized flews
Dogs can be big or small, light or heavy and tall or short. They come in a variety of colours and also have a variety of physical traits. The same applies to a dog’s flews. Larger flews usually means a dog will produce more saliva and drool more. And certain breeds will have larger flews than others. Bulldogs or bloodhounds, for example, have long, draping flews – and they are notorious for drooling all over the place. Other breeds, such as Chihuahuas have smaller flews and tend to drool less.
See some photos below of different sized flews – or dog lips!
Why do dogs have black lips?
You may have noticed that your dog’s lips are black. However, not all dogs have black lips – they can be other colours as well, such as brown. A dog gets its lip colour from the pigmentation present, which helps to protect it from the harsh rays of the sun. Black is a very common colour because it is a dominant gene over other colours. Thus, black pigmentation will tend to be passed down to the next offspring compared to lighter colours.
Why are dog lips bumpy?
Dogs can have bumps along the lining of their lips. These bumps, which can sometimes look like serrations, are believed to be there to serve a function. And that is to stop the lips being injured by the dogs own teeth when it is eating. Next time your dog is eating a bone, look a bit closer and you may see how it helps!
Conclusion
If you’ve ever wondered if dogs have lips, the answer is yes – they do! The upper lips are called flews and can vary in size depending on breed. Dog lips are usually black due to pigmentation and can be bumpy or serrated to help them with eating.
