Structure of the Dog, Basic Course

Structure of the Dog - Basic Course is a book for everyone interested in the structure and wellbeing of dogs.

The book has 300 A4-sized pages. It includes 98 exercises and numerous illustrative photos and drawings, which guide you to understand the details of dog structure in a very practical way. You will not just passively read, you will actively learn - by seeing, doing, practicing, and realizing yourself.

The ambitious aim of the book is to provide you with tools that will help you distinguish essential from nonessential, see all the details of the dog structure and understand the resulting whole.

By reading the book and doing all the exercises, you will become an expert of dog structure and movement. You will understand the connection between structure and movement, you will be able to recognize the risk factors in the skeletal system and joints of a dog, you will distinguish normal from abnormal structure in different structural-functional breed types, and much more.

The basis of the book is in natural sciences and ethics. The book encourages the reader to ethical dog ownership, breeding and dog sports. The main focus is on healthy structure, movement and overall wellbeing of the dog.

Structure of the Dog - Basic Course is the right book for you, if:

You want to own and breed dogs with a healthy structure
for You, healthy structure is an ethically important criterion when selecting a breed or an individual dog
You are interested in dog shows
You are planning a career as a dog show judge
You want to develop your eye for the dog structure, both in details and as a whole
You want to understand what kinds of structure and movement are the most suitable for different dog sports
You want to learn to distinguish essential from nonessential, normal from abnormal, healthy from unhealthy as regards the structure of the dog
You want to recognize the anatomical risks of dogs and understand how they impact the dog´s life
You want to deepen your knowledge of the structural-functional types of dogs as well as your understanding of their impact on the dog movement
You prefer learning by observing, doing and practicing rather than just reading
both physical and psychical wellbeing of dogs are important for You

ISBN-13: 9789523395688, ISBN-10: 9523395688

How to order?

Online bookstores in English
Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk
BOD (Postal charge for Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Sweden and Switzerland: 7,50 €.
Cdon.com
iBooks
Google Play

Online bookstores in Finnish
Booky.fi
Adlibris
BOD
Suomalainen kirjakauppa
Akateeminen kirjakauppa
The book will soon be available also as an e-book!

Table of Contents	Page
Foreword
Table of Contents	2
Learning the structure of the dog from the bottom to the top	4
Basics of the basic dog	5
The basic dog	11
Structural types	14
Structure and use	20
The chains of prey drive in the basic dog and some bred dog breeds	21
Structure and movement scheme	24
Addition to the theory of types: chondrodysplastic breeds	25
A critical look at the breed standards	25
Dog breeds on the structural-functional “world atlas”	26
Risk areas of the structural-functional world atlas	27
Does the standard describe goal or existing ideal?	28
Breeders’ choices and orientations	32
Gaussian bell curves	33
Type must be found in the standard	35
Observing rib cages and forelegs	38
The structural-functional type of chondrodysplastic breeds	40
Natural limits	41
Closed phase of gallop in different types	46
The reach of rear step in different types	47
Division into three trots	48
The three dimensions of trot	50
Right for the types	51
The trot “triangles”	55
Ideas for breed group reform	56
Innate features and their modification	59
The shape of muscles on the body	62
Learn to observe - the rudiments of comparison	63
From which direction are you looking?	75
Train your observations!	77
Don’t compare apples with pears	81
Type, breed characteristic and overall impression	85
Types in other animal species	88
Proportioning of the types	88
Information by measuring	99
Get proper structural pictures	100
Pure types: gallop type	104
Humerus in gallop	109
The trot step of gallop type	110
Compilation of gallop type breeds	112
Gallop type is a fast predator	113
Step length of gallop type	114
Pure types: trot type	115
Trot movement of trot structured dogs from above	126
Compilation of trot type breeds	129
Different modes of trot	130
Strength type	136
Risk factors in strength type	139
Primary and secondary features of the types	141
Compilation of strength type breeds	143
Comparison of the types	146
Reach of forelegs in different types	146
Reach of trot in different types	148
Cross section of limbs in different types	150
Rib cages from the front in different types	151
In between the types	152
Changes in types over the time	154
Development of breeds and breeding selections	158
Selections in breeding modify structure	162
Classification of your dog’s breed to a main type or a mid-type	166
Clear mid-types using circle models	170
“Not-so-clear” mid-types using circle models	171
“Mid-mid-types” between the three types	173
Dog or bitch? Sexual dimorphism	174
Sex chromosomes	175
Structural balance: health and disorder	182
Balance of different types	182
Balance of step lengths	183
Back is the indicator of balance	187
Compatible parts?	192
Crookedness means unbalance	193
Learn to observe the backbone of your own dog in trot	194
Draw the backbone!	196
Healthy structure	203
Variation of features in population	206
Healthy structure: bones and joints	208
Why joints should be in straight line?	214
Healthy structure: front angulations and wrists	215
The order of resilience during impact	216
Shock absorbers	217
Take-off energy from hindquarters	218
Shock absorber kit	221
Shock absorbing in jumps	223
Take-off power in jumps	224
Healthy structure: rear angulations	226
General considerations about healthy structure	227
Health considerations and body proportions	228
Size	234
Size produces power	235
Size and type	235
Instructions for measuring the height at the withers	242
Height measurement at the withers	246
Measuring the body length	249
The location of the tip of the sternum	250
Proportions	252
Proportions: shorter than height	263
Proportions: longer than height	264
Proportions: compilation	268
Different proportions of Pyrenean Sheepdog	269
Answers for the exercises	281

Back