1. Some dogs have blue tongue
Chow-Chows and Shar-Pei are two dog breeds known to have naturally blue tongues. The reason for this particular coloring would be due to the genetics shared between these two dog breeds of Chinese origin.
In all other dogs, the natural and normal coloring of the tongue is pink. A bluish coloring of the tongue is then a sign of a lack of oxygenation of the tissues and constitutes an absolute veterinary emergency.
2. No, the tongue of dogs does not have the power to heal wounds
Despite a rather stubborn urban legend, the dog's tongue does not have the power to heal wounds, nor healing properties.
Although a dog licks his wounds to clean them, the healing properties of canine saliva have never been proven and it's even quite the opposite! The oral cavity of dogs contains a multitude of germs which can only create a secondary infection of the wound if however they find themselves in contact with the latter.
Worse still, some dogs have a bacteria called Capnocytophaga canimorsus in their oral flora. This bacterium can be responsible for extremely serious sepsis in humans when a dog carrying it transmits it by licking to humans.
3. The tongue of dogs is not effective for grooming
Cats have a reputation for being particularly clean animals that regularly lick their fur to groom themselves.Dogs also engage in the grooming ritual, but their tongues aren't as effective as those of small cats at doing a good job.
The cat has a rough tongue, covered with many small rigid papillae which help the animal to eliminate knots in its coat during grooming. The dog, meanwhile, is unable to do the same because it has a completely smooth tongue, much less effective than that of the cat for the toilet.
The dog therefore needs his owner more to assist him in his grooming by offering him regular brushing to help him untangle his coat and remove dead hair.
4. Dogs use their tongues to cool off
When dogs stick out their tongues, it's to cool off.
Indeed, dogs do not have sweat glands all over their bodies like humans, but only have a few under the pads.This means that dogs cannot sweat to lower their body temperature the way humans do.
Instead, they resort to panting. When dogs stick out their tongue, the outside air passes over their tongue which then acts as a "heat exchanger" .
5. Some dogs are born with too big a tongue
Some dogs are born with too big a tongue. This congenital anatomical feature is called macroglossia. This is particularly the case of dogs that belong to brachycephalic breeds, that is to say dogs that have a flattened muzzle such as the Boxer, the French Bulldog or the Pug among others.
A tongue that is too large can contribute, along with other anatomical abnormalities, to the occurrence of breathing difficulties in these dogs.
6. A dog's tongue can influence the sound of its bark
In the same way that our tongue influences the way we speak, the size and shape of a dog's tongue influences the way he barks. It participates, to a certain extent, in the creation of an individual's own voice and sound.
7. The tongue of dogs has fewer taste buds than that of humans
Dogs have more taste buds on their tongue than cats, but far fewer than humans. Dogs only have 1,700 taste buds on their tongue compared to 10,000 in humans!
Dogs would detect sweet and bitter flavors rather well but they would be much less sensitive than us to s alty flavors.
In fact, this rather underdeveloped sense of taste would be compensated by a particularly developed sense of smell in dogs. It is rather through this that a dog would choose his food or, at the very least, manage to detect the "edible" side of a food.
8. Dogs use their tongue to express their emotions
The tongue is a muscle that dogs commonly use in their body language.
Thus, a dog who starts licking his owner can do so to express his attachment to him or to calm a situation that he considers tense or stressful.
Licking your lips or nose repeatedly is also a calming signal in dogs. It usually expresses discomfort in the animal.
9. Dogs use their tongues to drink differently from cats
When we observe a dog and a cat drinking water, we see that they both use their tongues to lap it up.
At first glance, nothing distinguishes their way of doing things. But, on closer inspection, we see that the process is very different between the two animals.
" A cat uses the tip of its tongue which it dips into the liquid before quickly closing its jaw to retain the water in its mouth. The dog, on the other hand, curls its tongue backwards as if to form a spoon which allows it to collect the water and carry it to the inside of its mouth."
This video where you can observe a cat and a dog drinking in slow motion clearly shows the difference between the two species.