Where it is
Around the opening of the mouth; the corner of the mouth reaches the level of the cheek teeth.
- Layer
- Exterior and regions
- System
- Body regions
- Region
- Head
What it is and what it does
The lips border the opening of the mouth. In the dog they are thin and mobile, with numerous tactile hairs; the upper lip is larger than the lower one, which it covers, and the edges of the lower lip are flaccid and serrated. “Flews” is the show-ring word for the pendulous upper lips of some breeds. In their thickness lies the orbicularis oris, supplied by the facial nerve.
Worth remembering
Don't take “pendulous” lips for a sign of disease: in some breeds that is simply how they are.
Names
- Latin term: labium superius / inferius.
- In Romanian: Buzele (Romanian page).
In the atlas lessons
The head: what you see, what is underneath (6 min).
Questions from the atlas
"Find it on the drawing" questions whose answer is this structure; in the atlas you will find them in the question bank and in the lessons.
- Show the lips on the drawing. (level 1)