Second Chance: Sloppy Slurping

20 Apr Second Chance: Sloppy Slurping

Does your dog need a bib and a five-foot drop cloth to protect the floor when he drinks? Well then you would be surprised to hear that there is actually a precise method underlying the sloppy madness of dog slurping. So yes, although the Second Chance Pet Column is typically filled with stories about lap dogs, today I am going to tell the story of dog lapping.

Munchkin

As published in Science Daily and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, using photography and laboratory simulations, researchers at Virginia Tech College of Engineering studied how dogs raise fluids into their mouths to drink. They discovered that sloppy-looking actions at the dog bowl are in fact high-speed, precisely timed movements that optimize a dogs’ ability to acquire fluids.

I would like to emphasize that researchers also compared what they learned about how dogs drink with what they knew from previous studies of cats. The scientists discovered that even though feline and canine mouths structurally are similar, their approaches to drinking are as different as — cats and dogs.

Dogs and cats are biting animals and neither have full cheeks. But without cheeks, they can’t create suction to drink as people, horses, and elephants do. Instead they use their tongues to quickly raise water upward through a process involving inertia.

Both animals move their tongues too quickly to be completely observed by the naked eye, but dogs accelerate their tongues at a much faster rate than cats, creating a water column through the use of the curled, speedy tongue and biting movement. Although it has always been thought that dogs scoop water with their tongue, it is really more about creating a water column through acceleration and unsteady inertia.

Cats, on the other hand, lightly touch the surface of the water with their tongues, usually never fully immersing them. When their tongues rise into their mouths, liquid adheres to the upper side, forming an elegant water column (emphasis here on “elegant”…).

So there you have it – more fodder for feline fabulousness.

My name is Munchkin. I am a seven-month-old orange tabby kitten here at Second Chance.  Beyond being an elegant drinker, I am very playful, well socialized. and simply adorable.  Usually these qualities translate into getting adopted very quickly, but for some reason I have been overlooked. I have been here for six of my short months of life and am bursting with desire to have a family of my own.

But, if you are looking for a sloppy slurper then six-month-young Golden Basenji mix Hullah is your match as a super fun and high energy dog.

Hullah

But for me, I want to drink up all that life has to offer outside of this shelter…and as I proved today…dogs drool and cat’s rule!

Editor’s note: It’s no secret. The Telluride region is dog heaven. Well, pet heaven. Unless you are one of our furry friends who gets caught in the maw of neglect and abuse. Then heaven is on hold until Second Chance Humane Society comes to the rescue. Second Chance is the region’s nonprofit dedicated to saving animals’ lives and promoting responsible pet parenting and human-animal bond. In her weekly blog, executive director Kelly Goodin profiles at least one, generally two of the many animals now living at the no-kill shelter, Angel Ridge Shelter, a dog and a cat, hoping to find them loving permanent homes. The column is sponsored by Ted Hoff of Cottonwood Ranch & Kennel, who from time to time exercises his skills as a dog whisperer, partnering with Kelly and her staff to help train a particularly challenging animal.

Ted Hoff &  Magnificent Mae

By the by, there is no better place to park your pup than Cottonwood whenever you head out of town (for locals) or are heading to town and staying somewhere that does not allow pets. Consider joining Ted’s Very Important Dog (VID) Club for added benies. (Details on Ted’s website.)