![]() An intensive examination of the peer-reviewed literature on canine structure-function relationships reveals that there are a few specific areas of intense focus, such as examination of the relationships between tibial plateau angle and cranial cruciate ligament insufficiency ( 5) and of femoral trochlear groove structure and patellar luxation ( 6). Given the many and varied tasks of Working Dogs and the wide variety of structures of different dog breeds, it is important to develop a deeper understanding of structure-function relationships in these dogs. Each working task requires specialized training and activities that place different and often extreme physical demands on the dogs. Indeed, several differing functions might be required in the same dog. They also might spend the day detecting specific scents amongst thousands of others, requiring intense mental concentration, which can be physically exhausting. Working Dogs might need to search over rubble or in difficult environmental circumstances such as blistering heat or icy, freezing conditions, often wearing heavy body armor. Working Dogs might need the strength to undergo sudden acceleration to their maximal speed or to leap over a tall barrier, but they might also require the physical stamina to stand or walk all day long. The structural requirements of today's Working Dogs are quite varied because these dogs perform such a wide variety of functions. How that structure relates to function in Working Dogs is the subject of this review. Those differences arise from the functions for which each breed was originally developed, combined with features selected for by the dog fancy throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Further, the cranial and limb morphology of Canis familiaris are more variable than in all of the other canid species combined ( 3, 4). ![]() ![]() Dogs have the greatest morphological diversity of all mammals ( 2). However, the ways in which those components vary and are combined in each breed, resulting in their size and shape, constitute structure. The detailed anatomy of all dogs, including the bones, muscles, tendons, ligaments, innervation, and vasculature is the same ( 1). These differences in structure between different lines/functions within a breed are perhaps most noticeable in the German Shepherd Dog, the Labrador Retriever, the Golden Retriever, and the Border Collie, breeds that are often recruited for use as Working Dogs. This has progressed almost to the point where the performance and conformation lines of many breeds have few structural similarities. At the same time, some individuals chose to breed those same breeds strictly for performance competitions, often leading to distinct differences in the structure of performance and conformation lines of the same breed. However, in the last 150 years, this tight relationship between structure and function has, in many cases, dissolved as people began to breed specifically for success in the conformation ring, where dogs are judged predominantly on appearance. These dogs will be referred to using the upper case designation Working Dogs.Ĭenturies ago, most selective breeding strategies had the goal of producing dogs to assist with specific tasks that helped humans survive and thrive, such as hunting, herding, or capturing vermin. The majority of these dogs work for government institutions, such as the military, police forces, the Transportation Security Administration, Customs and Border Protection, and agriculture defense dogs. In this review, discussion will be limited to working dogs that help communities, as opposed to assisting individuals. Others have jobs as dog guides for the blind, hearing assistance dogs, assistance dogs for the disabled, and work in many other capacities to help their human partners. Some of these dogs work as military, police, search and rescue, detection (bombs, drugs, cash, agricultural products, termites, mold, cancer, etc.) dogs. There are many different types of working dogs – dogs with jobs that help to keep society and individuals safe, secure, and healthy.
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