Dog paw pad is the soft tissue of the dog's sole, which is composed of a thick layer of fat and muscle. Dog paw pads have many functions, including relieving the impact of walking, improving the stability during exercise, increasing the grip strength and protecting the palm skin.
2, the role of black pigment
Melanin is a pigment and contains black. Melanin in dog paw pad plays an important protective role. Melanin can absorb ultraviolet rays and visible light in sunlight, prevent ultraviolet rays from damaging the molecular structure in cells, avoid allergic reactions of cells due to sunlight radiation, and reduce the incidence of cell damage and tumors.
In addition, melanin can also increase the strength and elasticity at the tissue level, which not only enhances the wear resistance of the meat pad, but also reduces the inflammatory reaction and prevents the invasion of bacteria and viruses.
3. The influence of dog breed, age and heredity.
The color of dog paw pad is influenced by dog breed, age and heredity to some extent.
First of all, different breeds of dogs have different colors of meat pads. For example, some stray dogs, mongrel dogs and black-skinned dogs usually have black palm pads and foot pads. For purebred dogs, some breeds of meat pads may be brown or pink or a mixture of black and brown.
Secondly, age will also affect the color of the meat pad. Puppies have lighter pads than adult dogs and may be pink or taupe. With the increase of age, the amount of melanin increases, which leads to the color of the meat pad gradually turning black.
Finally, heredity will also affect the color of the meat pad. Some genes can control the production and distribution of melanin, thus producing different colors of dog meat pads.
4, the influence of disease and health status
The change of the color of the dog's sole pad can also predict the dog's health. For example, if the color of the meat pad changes from black to other colors, it may indicate that the dog is sick or has other health problems. Some common problems include mucosal diseases, bacterial infections, parasitic infections, eczema and so on.
In a word, the color of dog paw pad is formed by the comprehensive action of many factors. The existence of melanin is an important guarantee for the health of meat pad, and the change of color may mean that dogs have health problems.