The phrase "Hair of the Dog" is used to refer to a drug consumed with the intent of lessening or postponing the effects of withdrawal from that drug. For example, it is frequently used to refer to alcoholic beverages consumed with the intent of lessening the effects of a hangover. It is a shortened form of the phrase "The Hair of the Dog That Bit You". The phrase is reported to come from the belief that consuming a concoction involving the hair of the dog would prevent the diseases such as rabies that the dog may carry, it is possible the phrase arose as a metaphor for that idea and never had a basis in practice. Homeopathic medicine is largely based on this idea, or more accurately its reverse. A homeopathic dog allergy medicine, for example, contains minute amounts of dog hair.
