A Hound’s “Pickelhaube”

Just as a helmet with a tiny light over the forehead identifies the wearer as a miner or spelunker, the spiked helmet seen in old war movies not only indicates the wearer’s nationality, but also the historical era.  Called a “pickelhaube,” the ‘horned hat’ was introduced to the Prussian infantry by Frederick William IV in the fall of 1842. Other German states quickly adopted  the helmet, the German army wearing pickelhauben until 1916.

occiput, occipital bone,pickelhaube, Stahlhelme

Faithful photographic reproduction of a two-dimensional, public domain work of art – public domain

Viewed through the lens of the 21st century, the spike seems now to have been a silly, if not impractical thing to stick on the top of a military helmet, but from the perspective of the day, it was wholly practical. Given how wars were fought at the time, it deflected sword blows to the head during cavalry engagements; soldiers could identify each other from a distance, especially in smoky battlefield conditions, and it helped identify rank among officers. In late night infomercials back in the day, spokesman Billy Mays used to brag how versatile OxiClean was! Well, the spike on a pickelhaubeb was no less multi-purposed. It could be unscrewed in order to attach plumes for ceremonial wear, AND, the spike doubled as a kebab skewer and bottle opener. Ed note: We totally made up that last part.

Times change how wars are fought, and by 1916, the Pickelhaube was replaced by a steel helmet known as the Stahlhelm seen in the photo below:

occiput, occipital bone,pickelhaube, Stahlhelme

Photo of Austro-Hungarian soldiers at the Isonzo front wearing stahlhelme, from 1916

And just when you are wondering what any of this has to do with dogs………….did you know that many breeds have nature’s version of a pickelhaube?

Of course we’re stretching things, but to be fair, our topic is about protuberances on top of a dog’s head. Readers all know this “bump” to be a dog’s occiput or occipital bone bone, and every dog has one, but it is especially evident in many gun dogs and scent hounds.

Why?

Scent hounds and many gun dog breeds have very strong neck muscles needed for ground scenting and tracking; a pronounced occiput serves as an important anchor point for neck and head muscles providing strength and stability needed for their nose-to-ground working stance. A large occiput also provides more surface area for muscle attachment. Remember, too, that most hounds typically have dolichocephalic (long) skulls that optically emphasize the occiput’s prominence, particularly as compared to breeds with different skull shapes.

Old timers called the bump the “wisdom” or “knowledge” bump thinking, erroneously, that it indicated a dog’s intelligence – the more noticeable the bump, the smarter the dog. Other names have been “dumb bump,” and “love knot,”  but whatever it’s called, it has a purpose as explained above.

To reiterate, all dogs have an occiput, and some breeds, particularly hounds and sporting breeds, have more prominent occiputs than others. Very few breeds, however, use the specific words, “prominent occiput” in their respective standards. We found that the standards of the Portuguese Podengo Pequeno, Bergamasco, Ibizan Hound, and the Irish Water Spaniel were the only standards to use those exact two words. Other standards allude to it: Examples: Rather prominent occipital bone, pronounced occiput, well-defined occiput, and so on.

The gif at the top was uploaded to YouTube around 2019, and while the exact filming date is not provided, the video appears to be a humorous modern creation

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