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Canine Physiology Canine Physiology Copyright © 2018 DSPCA Dog Training Academy published by the Dublin society for the prevention of cruelty to animals www.dspca.ie All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed “Attention: Permissions Coordinator,” at the address below. The majority of images have been purchased from Bigstock: Stock Photos & Vector Art, use within course material and not merchandising or branding activities. Those images that have not been acquired from Bigstock, have been acquired under various commons licenses which are specified per image in the list of figures, or independently created by the author. First printing, September 2018 Contents Introduction Body Gait Walk Amble Pace Trot Flying Trot Canter Single Suspension Gallop Double Suspension Gallop Dwarfism & Giantism Head Shapes Dolichocephalic Mesaticephalic Brachycephalic Other Head Shapes Nose Jaws and Teeth Tail Shapes Eyes & Sight Range of Vision Light Receptors Motion Detection Nose & Scent Ears & Hearing Outer Ear Middle Ear Inner Ear Ear Types Paws Coats Colorings Texture Alterations Introduction Aims of Module By the end of this module, the learner will be able to: • Identify the various components of a dog’s body • Understand the mechanism by which dog shapes vary • Itemize the various distinctive markers of the different types of dogs • Discuss the processes of docking and cropping Having both descended from the same mammalian origins, and with traits that go back much further than that, it is no surprise that most of the organs, skeletal structures and even rough placement of components can be mapped from h u m a n s to dogs. There are of course s o m e exceptions, but we are basically made up of the same things, as we shall see in this mo d u l e . The s p e c i f i c s of actual s i z e , r e l a t i v e size, positioning and limitations of the different parts vary widely not just with other species but within species as well. Due to our influence with the dog through its evolution it is the species most varied in physical appearance anywhere in the animal kingdom. Despite our meddling, the dog still retains much of its core features from its grey wolf ancestors, specifically the underlying predator at- tributes. A core skill required for a predatory life is manoeuvrability. Naturally this is, in this day a n d a g e , heavily dependent on breed and type of dog, the skeleton itself, disregarding deformities of over breeding, is designed to allow for just that. For example, the shoulder blade, or scapula, is attached to the rest of the skeleton by four muscles that allow for maximum range of movement of the front quarters of the dog. Similar to cats, however, not to the same extremes, dogs have very flexible spines to go with these freely moving forelimbs. A flexible spine allows for larger swings of limbs to produce a longer stride when in a dead run. Additionally, in the front portion of the body, there are other alterations, such as a locked radius and ulna, the two bones of the forearm, w h i c h allow for extremely rapid direction changes without damaging the bones themselves as these are the main force bearers in such a direction change. In addition to skeletal efficiencies that are rooted in the dog’s predatory history, their senses have retained their heightened abilities as well. Dogs are much more reliant on scent than they are eyesight, and have even adapted to be able to smell u n d e r w a t e r . Their ears can swivel towards a sound independently of each other and are thus not only able to pinpoint specific sounds very well, they are also able to track multiple sources of sounds at once. Unlike humans, dogs do not have sweat glands in their skin. The only p l a c e t h e y have these is on the pads of their paws. For r el i ef from heat, dogs must also pant. This allows the tongue to hang out, which also expands in this state for greater surface area, and the saliva provides a cooling effect on evaporation. Body Figure 1: Belgian Malinois with Stop main body parts labelled. Each The point at which angle c hang e b e t w e e n the muzzle and eyes are described below. is measured on the skull Nose Dog’s noses can come in either coloured, a butterfly nose, or flesh coloured, a dudley nose Muzzle The extended shape of the skull from the nose back to the cheeks Flews The canine equivalent of upper lips Sternum Eight bones that form the floor of the chest Forearm Lower portion of the front legs, between the wrist and elbow Wrist As with h u m a n wrists, these are articulated to allow movement, however only in one of three planes, unlike ours t h a t allow for movement in two planes Carpal Pad Can be used for additional traction on steep slopes Elbow Allows for motion in one plane, just as with humans Chest Contains many of the vital organs, just as with other species Stomach/Belly Contains digestive, and reproductive organs Stifle The equivalent of the human knee, this is a very complex joint that can cause issues in many toy breeds Lower Thigh The part of the hind leg beneath the knee to the hock Pastern Portion of the leg between the Hock and the foot and can be com- pared with the bones in human hands and feet, disregarding the fingers Hock Corresponding to a human ankle, the hock only allows movement in one plane rather than multiple Tail The dog’s tail can come in a range of styles and shapes to be dis- cussed later Upper Thigh The part of the dog’s leg situated above the knee on the hind leg Croup Otherwise known as the rump, is the part of the back that is between the loins and the tail Hip The hip is a joint very similar to our own apart from its orientation Loins The loins run either side of the spine from between the false ribs and hipbone Shoulder Connected by 4 strong mu s c l es allowing for extremely free move- ment of the front limbs Withers A ridge between the shoulder blades, typically the tallest point on the body a n d a standard measurement spot for determining the height of an animal Cheek Figure 2: Beagle puppy head showing the occiput Expanse of flexible skin covering the rear opening of the jaws among other features. Occiput Pointed bone at the top of the head, more prevalent in some breeds than others Gait A dog’s gait is a description of how it moves. While it is, for some breeds, strictly specified in breed standards what sort of gait is required for a dog to have, understanding gaits is much more important for understanding whether there are any issues with our dogs’ movements. Gaits cover a number of different speeds of motion, just as with horses. There are eight types of gait, each of which we shall look at below. Walk The walk is the slowest gait that we look at. It involves having only one foot off the ground at any one time, with the other three always in support of the body. Each foot is lifted and replaced in a specific sequence. The w a l k can be broken down as right-rear, right-front, left-rear, left-front, or RR, RF, LR, LF as short hand. Amble The amble is typically a transitioning gait between walk and other gaits. In the same sequence as the walk we, at least at times, have two legs off the ground. This is usually the legs on the same side of the body as we move from the motion of the rear to the front legs. So as the right-rear leg is about to land, the right-front lifts off. Pace The pace is not a particularly natural gait. It is usually used by puppies who are not strong enough for some of the other gaits yet, i.e. the trot, or by tired dogs that need to conserve energy. In this gait, two lateral legs move together, that is right-rear and right-front or left-rear and left-front. This is what is known as a two-beat gait, that is since two legs move together at all times there are only two instances when legs hit the ground, the left ones together or the right ones together. Trot The trot is another two-beat gait, however this time opposite legs move together, that is rear-right and front-left, and then rear-left and front- right. This is very similar to trot we know from horses. Depending on the dog it can be quite a bouncy affair. Flying Trot The flying trot, or suspension trot is quite a fast gait and can often look like the dog needs to break into a canter or gallop. At it has the same sequence of movements as in the standard trot but at the extremes of each swing all four legs are off the ground.
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