Page 2 | Your Dog's Secret Surveillance | Dog Articles

“Show Time” Concerns
Usually the only time you might fuss with vibrissae is if you plan to enter your pet in a dog show competition. In this case, you would have four options: surgical removal, plucking, trimming or just leaving the whiskers alone.

Surgical Removal: This is the most severe option, and many veterinarians do not recommend it. Similar to declawing cats, you would deprive your dog of something used to improve its senses, potentially eliminating one way that it takes in information about its surroundings and environment.
Plucking: Although plucking offers a more temporary solution than surgical removal, Dr. Foil advises would-be dog manicurists to quell their plucking temptations. “Don’t ever pluck (the vibrissae),” she says, “as that is very painful compared to plucking other hairs. They will bleed and bleed, and that’s why they’re also called blood hairs.” Remember that the “beauty marks” the hairs grow in are mounds of nerves, which is why plucking anything out of that mound is painful.
Trimming: Similar to shaping your eyebrows, the vibrissae can be trimmed, except with more pain involved. Such manicuring doesn’t take place with all breeds, or even in every dog of a given breed at shows, but some people will clip or trim the hairs down for a neater appearance. Your dog won’t enjoy having vibrissae trimmed, but at least trimming can be done without inflicting pain on your dog the way plucking would. If you choose this option, be careful and go slowly. “Most dogs don’t even like having their whiskers touched,” warns Dr. Eldredge.
Nothing: The do-nothing approach is the best of all, at least from the perspective of your dog and your veterinarian. You and your pet, however, might have to give up the show’s gold ribbon in favor of what you might call “a more natural look.”

Better to Be Marked, Whiskered and Proud
People tend to think of facial marks or moles as some kind of blemish, but you should see your dog’s whiskery features as beauty marks. Think of them as being more tactile than Marilyn Monroe’s or Cindy Crawford’s famous beauty spots, yet no less becoming. Your dog’s beauty mark is both attractive and highly functional, and there’s no blemish in the world that can claim that.