Redirect 3.5% of your income tax to support us!

The interactive dog atlas · Exterior and regions · Head

Chin mentum

The chin is the part below the lower lip, at the tip of the jaw. In the dog it sticks out far less than in humans.

Open in the interactive atlas Guide: Exterior Worksheet

Educational material, not a diagnostic tool. Written by the Mantrailing România team from veterinary sources we read. Updated 14.11.2026.

Dog in left lateral view — exterior, muscles, skeleton and organs Vector study after the Ellenberger, Baum and Dittrich plates: a standing dog, head to the left, deep chest and digitigrade limbs. The four layers use the same contour: exterior with body regions, superficial muscles, skeleton and organs.
  1. Chin
  2. Lips
  3. Vibrissae (tactile hairs)
Chin on the atlas drawing, "Exterior and regions" layer, with the neighbouring structures. Left lateral view, after the Ellenberger, Baum and Dittrich plates.

Where it is

Below the lower lip, at the tip of the mandible.

System
Body regions
Region
Head

What it is and what it does

The chin is the fleshy prominence below the lower lip, at the tip of the mandible. In animals it is far less marked than in humans. From here, on the inner side, start the muscles that pull the tongue forward: the genioglossus, “from chin to tongue”, and the geniohyoideus. The mental tactile hairs also sit on the chin.

Worth remembering

The tactile hairs on the chin are part of the vibrissa system described in the dog.

Names

Guides it appears in

From the same region: Head

All structures, in the atlas · Flashcards: exterior and regions