Why do animals have whiskers?

Question

Specificaly dogs

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Answer 1

Whiskers hairs are a lot thicker than the body hair and are very deep rooted to the cat’s nerve endings. They are very sensitive.
Cat’s whiskers automatically grow to the width of the cat. A fat cat will have very long whiskers while skinny cats will have shorter whiskers. When a cat is trying to walk through an opening or crawl into something, their whiskers will tell the cat if the opening is wide enough. If the edges of the opening touch the whiskers, the cat will not crawl through.
When it’s dark, we all know it is hard to see. Cats use their whiskers to help them hunt and to avoid walking into objects or being attacked. Cats have excellent night vision with their eyes and the whiskers help them see even better.

Whiskers also will tell a cat if there is an object nearby by detecting a change in air current. When a person walks or moves his/her arms, it creates a wind. The cat’s whiskers can feel the wind and alerts the cat to be on guard for a something moving around the house or outdoors. When a cat approaches a piece of furniture, the whiskers can determine a difference in the air current and directs the cat to walk around the furniture rather than bumping into it.

As you can see, the whiskers are very valuable to a cat. They help the eyes and the ears perform better. This is why it is very important to never cut a cat’s whiskers. It can put a cat in danger.

Answer 2

Whiskers are coarse hairs embedded in the skin of an animal's face. When they brush against something (like tall grass, or a wall), whiskers cause nerves in the skin where they are attached to send a message to the animal's brain. This tells the animal that it has touched something.

Whiskers are especially useful in dark places, or at night when it is more difficult for the animal to see. Maybe animals find their way in dark places by feeling around with their whiskers. Like our eyelashes, some whiskers tell an animal when to close its eyes for protection. Whiskers are another example of God's wise design in nature.

Answer 3

Many use them as guides to see if they can fit in certain areas - particularly tight ones. If their whiskers are pressed against their face, they usually back away from the tight place and go about a different tactic.

This is also true with cats.

Answer 4

Its a measurement judgement thing...

http://www.vetinfo4dogs.com/dwhy.html

I could not find any really solid information on why dogs have whiskers. The closest thing I could find was a pretty good study of why rats have whiskers. I am not sure it applies but the short answer is that rats have whiskers to allow them to judge whether or not their body was going to make it through a hole their head could get through (at least that's what I think it said). I found this article in the Veterinary Information Database but it was written by M. Brechtm et. al., in Behav Brain Res, March 1997.

Answer 5

To keep their balance and so that they know if they can fit into a tight space (their whiskers are the same width as their body)

Answer 6

They are for sensory purposes, especially to help them get around in the dark.

Answer 7

They are connected to nerves and work as a sensory system.

Answer 8

um usually it is to balance them out or help them smell what they wanna smell better

Answer 9

so they dont get stuck in tight places.

Answer 10

they use em to sence and feel thing like danger ect