Several times in the past I came across notes in the literature of canine hair (from Dachshund to Dalmatian) as replacement for human eyelashes, used during ultra-thin sectioning to handle sections on the water surface. So, as a dog owner, I thought it would be a fun mini project to compare dog hair from different regions of the body with human eyelashes in terms of their characteristics and tip diameters.
First a practical note: In terms of general handling, basically no differences to human eyelashes can be named.
As comparison a human eyelash on the left:
A) Hairs from the dog head (Magyar Viszla) are of slightly smaller diameter (≈ 4 Micron) than human eyelashes
B) Hairs from the dogs back have even thinner diameters, down to ≈ 1 Micron.
C) Hairs from the tail are much thicker (≈ 10 Micron) and possess split endings. In need for a micro brush?
Conclusion: In the future I will keep my eyelashes…