I can’t find anything on the web about this so far, and I’ve never heard it answered. Dogs, when stressed, shed copiously. Take them in to the vet, and watch them birth dust bunnies all over the floor, even though you groomed them recently.
My “why” question has two parts:
[ol]
[li]What is the mechanism that causes this explosion? Does adrenaline or something similar cause the hair follicles to release?[/li]
[li]Why would this be an evolutionary benefit? The animal doesn’t lose enough hair to prevent being grabbed by the coat, nor does it lose enough to distract a predator (I’m thinking of lizard tails). It seems like tracking a shedding animal should be easier, so that would be a distinct disadvantage.[/li][/ol]
Maybe it is a response to something else that IS an evolutionary benefit, but I’m getting nowhere in my queries. Can anyone “shed” some light on this one? (Sorry, I’ll check back in with this thread in a few hours… hate to ask and run!)
WAG: could this be a defence mechanism? To whit, if a predator bites and catches on your fur, the bite is more likely to slip off because the fur ins being shed.
Good question, could it have anything to do with the fact cats and dogs don’t sweat? (I don’t think they do, at least not like humans). When humans get scared they perspire more.
Actually, when dogs are stressed, they DO sweat - through their pads. As an obedience instructor, I was always able to point out to the human students when their dog was more stressed than they thought - you could see paw prints where the stressed ones were.
I’m not sure if the “defense mechanism” idea works - like I said, they don’t lose ALL the fur in an area, just some. Might be… but I have a feeling it is tied to the first part of the question.
