Fanciers and Judges make a great to-do over the dog’s hindquarters but can they really recognize a sound, strong pelvic girdle and pelvic limb construction? Although breed blueprints revolve around specialization demanding differing angles to include descriptive terms, such as sweep of stifle or great length from hip to hock, unimpaired hindquarters construction is the same, no matter the breed.
First, we start with the basic technicalities to differentiate the thoracic from the pelvic limbs. The pelvic limbs are fused and jointed to the vertebral column, whereas the thoracic limbs are connected by muscle and ligaments, that is to say not bone to bone. The pelvic limbs are heavily muscled, longer and more angular than the thoracic limbs as they are responsible for propulsion. Pelvic limb movements surge or throw body weight forward and the thoracic limbs catch and support this weight no matter what the stride and gait. Please note that stride and gait are not the same but more on this in another essay. One more fundamental is that the arrangement of the pelvis, girdle and rump muscles, enables the simultaneous extension of the hip, stifle, and hock. I will delve into regional musculature in another series.
Moving on, the strength of the pelvis girdle and limbs, length and angularity of its bones and quality of muscling, in almost all cases, ultimately determines successful running speed. Because the dog species are carnivores, Mother Nature constructed him for running. Obviously today, as humans have intervened in evolution and created significant variations in the species, therefore functions, some breeds have greatly limited running abilities, i.e., today’s Bulldog, Pekingese. Despite this, even the Bulldog’s hindend should...
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...ry influential. Since the pelvic angle affects the width of the stifle, a faulty slope limits the area for muscle attachment and the dog may have narrow thigh muscles. This is because many important muscles and tendons originate, are housed and attached on the femur, one of the strongest and longest bones in the rear. Weak and narrow thigh muscles do not show promise of speed or power.
If the dog has a weak or poorly constructed posterior, the dog is handicapped. There are some who reproduce haphazardly, perhaps breeding to a dog that frequently wins in the conformation show ring without much thought to the pertinent details I discussed. Some casually believe that if a trend, such as over angulated hindquarters, results in accumulating more ‘wins,’ then so be it, if that is what they have to do to win. In these cases, I logically question their posterior judgement.
The fact that the dog is on its hind legs is also a vital component to
Every year an estimated 4.5 million dog bites occur in the U.S. BSL (Breed Specific Legislation) is a law that suggests that certain breeds are more prone to aggression than others. By banning or restricting the breeds in question, it is believed to help reduce the number of attacks. BSL determines which breeds are dangerous using statistics. These statistics cannot be relied on for two reasons. One, there is no concrete method to determine a dog’s pedigree. Thus, a victim, animal control officer, or owner is trusted with identifying the dog through appearance. According to Scott and Fuller, authors of Genetics and the Social Behavior of the Dog, “It has been known for decades that the cross-bred offspring of purebred dogs of different breeds often bear little or no resemblance to either their sires or dams (1965).” Visual assessments are questionable. Two, population is not accounted for. Population is important, in that it provides context to percentages. Because a dog’s breed is impossible to pinpoint, we cannot provide numbers. BSL’s cause is rendered useless when we consider these points.
For example: American Bully Breed dogs are bred for certain visual traits instead of medical and physical fitness and healthiness. In this case the American Bully Breed’s large head, big chest and little legs. Unfortunately this often can lead to severe respiratory and orthopaedic problems.
Dogs are seen as an ‘evolutionary miracle’. This is because, over 100 years, they have the most breeds and changes than any other species. They have changed spectacularly from their ancestors the wolves; they domesticated themselves into dogs and they now carry many different traits. Wolves now have little use for us unlike dogs, for example, retrievers are bred to chase and then bring back
The experimenters noticed the mink was a male. The dissection began with an posterior I-Cut stemming from the shoulders, down the abdomen to the hips. A scalpel was used lightly to open the abdominal skin, however not cutting too deep to where the abdominal wall was opened. The skin was stiff near the abdominal area, thin on the arms, and thicker around the legs. After the skin was peeled back with forceps and scalpel, the muscle was exposed. The experimenters located ten muscles by using a probe to make the certain muscle located more visible. The first muscle found was the sternomastoid located in the center of the neck, following was the biceps brachii which was located in the shoulders, the pectoralis muscle was located in the mid-chest area, the sartorius was located in the top thigh area in the middle from hip region to the knee, the tibialis anterior was located right on the tibia bone. Next muscle was the triceps brachii, which was three muscles, located in the upper arm area. The masseter muscle was located on the head in between the ear canal and the jaw, the rectus abdominis was located posterior abdominal area, the gastrocnemius was located on the calf of the legs, and the last muscle located was the rectus femoris was on the upper thigh region on the femur
Everyone should have heard this phrase that dog is man’s best friend. We live with them, love them, and take good care of them. When people talk about dog breed, the advantages and disadvantages of purebred dogs is always a controversial issue. Lots of people like purebred dogs because they are beautiful and cute; some people prefer crossbred dogs because they believe purebred dogs usually have genetic disease. Indeed, many evidence and research show that purebred dogs are easier to have genetic disease, and many purebred dogs die from incurable genetic disease every year. However, people still do not pay highly attendant to this problem. Even though purebred dogs are pretty, cute and inherited pure blood compared with the mixed-breed dogs, people should not excessively breed purebred dogs in order to satisfy our desire because a lot of them suffer serious genetic disease, are abandoned on the streets and performed euthanasia in shelters.
This procedure is usually done to a puppy that is only a few days old. It carries a high risk of post-operative infection, and causes the puppy a great deal of pain. The dog’s tail is important for balance and body language, although conversely some will say that it is not as significant. Advocates of docking argue that it “enhance a dog's safety; hunting dogs that work in ‘thick vegetation and brambles’ have a very high risk of injury to their tails.” However, those who oppose docking say that most hunting dog breeds are usually not those who have docked tails and therefore will not be at
It is Isometric. This means that it is performed in a static position. By so doing, the force of the muscles contracts over the bones, making them thicker and stronger.
Being a powerful dog, it will require sufficient and adequate control. Some prospective elderly owners or children, will not be able to supply that control. A first time dog owner, in the minds of many experienced dog breeders, should not buy an APBT or an Am Staff. An insecure person who wants only an aggressive dog to bolster some personal human inadequacy should never become an owner of one of these dogs.”
First let’s go over four very important factors of the human muscular system. First being the primary function of the muscular system is movement for the body. The nervous system communicates with the muscular system, resulting in movement. Second is the five major properties of the muscular system beginning with 1) our muscle being excitable or irritable. 2) Our muscles are contractible. 3) Our muscles are extensible. 4) Our muscles have elasticity. 5) Last, our muscle system is adaptable. Third, there are five types of muscle movements. 1) Adduction, movement towards the body. 2) Abduction, movement away from the body. 3) Flexion, “movement in the anterior-posterior plane that reduces the angle between the articulating elements.” (Martini, F 230). 4) Extension, “occurs in the same plane as flexion, but it increases the angle between articulating elements.” (Martini, F 230). 5) Last is rotation. Fourth, there are three main
The American Pit Bull is considered as a genuine breed because there are various breeds of pit bull that could have been mixed with other dogs. Pit bulls were raised for baiting larger animals during the hunting seasons. With the faithfulness of t...
The Australian Cattle Dog was originally born in Australia. It was bred to help outback ranchers round up their cattle and to withstand the harsh outback conditions. The breed is loyal and devoted to its owner. The joy of owning an Australian Cattle Dog directly relates to the breed origin, why it was bred, the general appearance, its unique traits, simple diet and easy health care. According to Katherine Buetow in “ The History of the Australian Cattle Dog” she states, “There is continuing controversy over which breeds were actually used in its development. One of the difficulties in researching the history of this breed is that there was a lot of experimentation going on in trying to find the perfect combination of dogs to make up the ultimate heeler that could live and work in the Australian outback ”( 1).
Winnie type dogs exhibit fit, toned, athletic bodies, with strong structured faces, but all of the sophistication given off by this refined appearance goes out the window when the...
The Tibetan Mastiff is a large, impressive, powerful, robust dog, which has always been appreciated by breeders due to its good health and longevity. Tibetan Mastiff has an average lifespan of 16 years, but may also exceed this age. Hard to believe, this dog almost never gets sick. Most of the large dog breeds suffer from hip dysplasia, but in Tibetan Mastiffs this disease is extremely rare, still we coulndn’t say that the dog makes an exception from it. The fact is that there are very few reported cases of Mastiff dogs that suffer from this condition.
*The terminal caudal vertebrae fused to form a short pygostyle (Fig. 21.5) which supports the bird's tail feathers. *The uncinate processes of the thoracic vertebrae help to strengthen the rib cage by overlapping with the rib behind them. *The backward elongation of sternum provides support to abdominal