Why wet dogs shake off: scientists have found an explanation

A team of neuroscientists from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at Harvard Medical School has discovered the neural mechanism responsible for the unique way dogs dry themselves. The researchers realized what exactly motivates animals to shake off water.

The scientists conducted a study on mice, during which they applied oil to the mammals' necks and observed the response of several mechanosensory neurons. The results of the study were published in the journal Science, phys.org reports.

According to previous research, scientists knew that when animals such as dogs and bears get wet or need to remove irritants from their skin, they shake themselves off in a wave-like motion that effectively flings water from their fur into the air around them. However, the neural mechanism behind this shaking has not been studied and is therefore unknown. To learn more about this behavior, they conducted experiments in which they tested stimuli on wet mice, which also shake themselves off when wet.

Initial experiments involved applying several types of stimuli to the back and neck to learn more about what makes us want to shake off. The research team found that in addition to water, mice responded to breathing (air movement) or to oil applied to the back of the neck. In further experiments, they used oil as a stimulus.

To test whether the shaking was really due to mechanosensory neurons rather than automatic responses to temperature changes, the team deleted the Piezo2 gene (controls ion channels responsible for the sense of touch) in the experimental mice and found that this stopped them from shaking.

After that, the scientists measured the sensitivity of three mechanoreceptors by testing several mice by stimulating them with oil. One receptor, called C-LTMR, consistently led to a shaking reflex when the mice were stimulated. They also found that deleting it led to a significant reduction in this reflex.

The researchers then created a map showing the path of sensory signals during stimulation from the skin to the spinal cord and then to the brain. The result was a complete picture of the neural mechanisms involved in what the team describes as "shaking off a wet dog."

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