Canine terminology

Dog coats vary in texture, color, and markings, and a specialized vocabulary has evolved to describe each characteristic.

[3] One often refers to a specific dog first by coat color rather than by breed; for example, "a blue merle Aussie" or "a chocolate Lab".

Textures include: A special vocabulary has been developed to describe the characteristics of various body parts of the dog.

Dog heads are of three basic shapes:[4] A snipey muzzle is one that is too pointed for good breed type.

[5] The occiput in dog terms is the bump or protuberance clearly seen at the back of the skull in some breeds like the English Setter and Bloodhound.

So when breed standards refer to the length of a dog's skull, they rarely include the occiput in this measurement.

The occiput has many nerve endings and stimulates calming effects to do with the flight or fight system.

Dogs' ears come in a variety of sizes, shapes, lengths, positions on the head, and amounts and types of droop.

Every variation has a term, including: A dog's vision is actually equivalent to a human with red-green color blindness.

The skin for this specific breed is normal but can get itchy at times, these dogs need regular bathing at least every month or two.

Like ears, tails come in a tremendous variety of shapes, lengths, amounts of fur, and tailsets (positions).