Basic Notions of Dog Anatomy

The Dog's External Aspect
The external aspect of the dog varies in function of the breed or type that each individual belongs to, but it is convenient to become familiar with the main, common points of reference among all of them; which in some cases might have a specific terminology proper of the cinofilia.

Basic Types of Tissue
There are four basic types of tissue depending on their structure and the precise function that they serve in the body:

Epithelial: Its main mission is to protect the organism, it is a simple tissue formed by several layers of cells united to one another; it doesn't only cover the outer parts of the body, but also the heart, blood vessels and digestive, respiratory, urinary and genital tracts.

Muscular: Consists of cells that are capable of reducing their size and are closely related with the capacity of maintaining the body's posture and movement, also their capacity of transporting substances such ass food, blood or sperm through out the body. There are three types of these:

• - Voluntary muscular tissue
• - Involuntary
• - Cardiac

Nervous: Is based in cells which are capable of transmitting information that allows the animal to know what is going on around it and also allows the animal's organism to control what goes on inside it.

Conjunctive: This is the most abundant tissue, which has a fundamental role in the animal's organism since it extends around all the other tissues connecting them, putting them into place and sustaining them. There are several types of conjunctive tissues, depending on their own characteristics: blood (fluid), bones (solid), cartilage (flexible), tendons and ligaments (dense) and fibers (detached). Muscle/Skeletal System