Dogs Have Belly Buttons, and Here Is Where You Can Find Them

Yes, dogs do have belly buttons! However, they look a little different from a human’s. The best time to spot a dog’s belly button is when he is a puppy. However, they’re visible in adult dogs as well. Here is where you can find your dog’s belly button and any special care you need to know about it.

Why Do Dogs Have Belly Buttons?

Dogs, like humans, are placental mammals. In fact, most mammals are placental mammals except for marsupials (like kangaroos or koalas) or monotremes (egg-laying mammals like the platypus). During gestation, a placenta forms in the womb and attaches to the uterine wall. The placenta is an organ structured to provide oxygen and nutrients to the fetus while also disposing of wastes from the fetus’s blood.

The fetus is attached to the placenta by an umbilical cord, and after birth, it is the cutting of the umbilical cord from the infant that forms the belly button. Humans are left with a round, “innie” or “outie” belly button. However, puppies tend only to have a small, flat scar after their umbilical cord stump dries up and drops off.

How Is the Belly Button Formed?

Each puppy is in their own fluid-filled sac inside their mother’s womb. When they are born, those sacs are either broken during delivery or if they are born with intact sacs, the mother dog (or dog owner) must break them open. From there, the mother dog tends to her puppies, licking them clean and chewing off the attached umbilical cords. If she doesn’t chew off the cords, the dog owner must cut those connections to the placenta.

A little stump will be left on the puppy’s belly, which will shrivel up and fall off over the course of one to three days. The small, flat scar that remains is the puppy’s belly button.

Where to Find Your Dog’s Belly Button

Your dog’s belly button will be much more apparent when he is a puppy. As he ages, the scar will fade and be covered by fur. You can still locate it; it just might take some hunting. You will be looking for a small slit, rather than a round hole, on your dog’s belly.

Start at the midline of your dog’s abdomen, right below the rib cage. The skin around the belly button wrinkles slightly because of the small, vertical scar. Another sign to look for is that your dog’s belly fur may swirl around the area. Though it may be hard to spot, you can feel the scar tissue with your hands. It’ll be a firmer area of skin that will be noticeably different from the rest of the belly skin. That is your dog’s belly button.

How to Care for Your Dog’s Belly Button

Unlike your dog’s teeth or ears, there isn’t any special upkeep or care for your dog’s belly button. Keeping the area clean and the skin healthy is enough.

However, a protruding belly button is something you should watch out for after your puppy is first born. It can be a sign of an umbilical hernia. That is when a bulge of fat or tissue is under the area where the umbilical cord links the puppy to his mother. After the puppy is born, the ring of tissue in the abdominal wall sometimes doesn’t heal completely. And, while the skin heals over just fine, a hole is left in the abdomen where fat or sections of organs slip out. This leads to a mass where the belly button is, called an umbilical hernia.

Contact a veterinarian if you notice a protrusion where your puppy’s belly button is located. Sometimes, if the hernia is small (less than a couple of centimeters), a veterinarian may wait to see if it heals on its own. However, if your puppy has a bulge greater than one inch in diameter or is experiencing intestinal distress, treatment may be necessary. Some signs of intestinal distress are:

• Fever
• Continual crying or whimpering
• Lethargy
• Vomiting
• Not eating
• Stops having bowel movements
• Enlargement of the hernia area

Conclusion

While it may be hard to locate, your dog definitely has a belly button. And that small scar is a bond you and your dog have as placental mammals. So, next time you give your dog a belly rub, see if you can locate that slight scar.

The photo featured at the top of this post is © 2134626691/Shutterstock.com