Veterinary Parasite

Throughout my undergraduate career, I’ve bought a fair few textbooks, and referred to probably hundreds more. I’ve found that while most are generally good, there are some absolute crackers, and a few that are absolute rubbish. This is the start of several posts looking at books I’ve enjoyed using, starting with anatomy and physiology books.

Anatomy & Physiology

• Veterinary Anatomy - Dyce, Sack & Wensing
  • This is my bible of veterinary anatomy - it contains all you will ever need to know on the main species. It’s reasonably well laid out, although it divides things into a general overview, then species specific sections which I find unnecessary, and a touch confusing. It also goes into massive detail, so picking out clinically relevant details can be tricky, but in conjunction with lectures it’s ideal.
  • Definitely one to buy, you will use it all the way from first to final year.
• Guide to the Dissection of the Dog - Evans & de Lahunta
  • A great book for canine anatomy, with really descriptive advice on actual dissection technique. Anatomy-wise, it covers no more than Dyce, Sack & Wensing, but it has the added bonus of the dissection guide. I found it extremely useful during dissections, but have never really referred to it since.
  • Probably one to borrow from the library, or buy as a cheaper alternative to Veterinary Anatomy. Just try not to get it covered in blood!
• Principles of Anatomy & Physiology - Tortora & Grabowski
  • A human book, but really nicely laid out, with great pictures and excellent narrative. Some sections of it do become a little redundant in the veterinary world, and some of the clinical advice doesn’t hold true, but it is worth having as a physiology text.
  • I used this a lot in first and second year, and still occasionally look back to it. It’s relatively inexpensive, and well worth having on your shelf in my opinion
• Veterinary Reproduction - Noakes, Parkinson & England
  • I’ve included this here because it does have great sections on the normal physiology of reproduction, as well as being good for the clinical side of things. It was irreplaceable during reproduction lectures and tutorials, covering all the major species in good depth.
  • I used it a lot in second year, and it’s coming into its own again now. Expensive, but if you can afford it then definitely buy it.
• Horse Anatomy - A Pictorial Approach To Equine Structure
  • I’ve got a horse anatomy book on the way, just to work through as a bit of a refresher, and see things from another point of view. I’ll update this to a full review when it arrives and I’ve read it.

Many more sections to come as soon as I find the time to write them up! Also coming soon, some equine cutaneous neoplasms - fun fun fun!

It’s your worst nightmare - you’re walking your dog out in the park, and a small child approaches him and starts to prod/poke/squeeze and generally annoy.  Being a lovely young dog, he puts up with it for a while, but eventually he growls at the irritating youngster, who runs off crying.  As you’re a responsible owner, you quickly tell your dog off for growling at a child.  Over the next couple of weeks this scene plays out a few more times, until seemingly without warning, your dog bites the child.  And it’s bye bye doggy.

This is a situation that, happily, doesn’t occur too often, but it does occur.  With a bit of understanding of canine behaviour we can make sure it never happens to you.  Dogs are pretty simple creatures really - if you let them know a certain behaviour brings positive results (a stroke, a treat, etc.), then they’ll do that behaviour more often.  If you let them know the behaviour brings negative results (a telling off, a smack, etc.), then they’ll do it less often.  This is the basis of most training techniques, but we use the same methods unconsciously with our animals every day.

Let’s look at the situation from a dog’s point of view: “I was unhappy with a situation, so I expressed my natural warning behaviour, and growled.  I was then punished.”  We can see that following our rules from before, the dog’s expression of growling behaviour is likely to reduce in frequency.  The problem is that growling in this situation is entirely appropriate behaviour for a dog.  The growl is the lowest form of aggression a dog can show, so to express it means he does not want to bite, but would still like the annoying child to go away!  If we punish the growl, then he will eventually stop growling - unfortunately, the annoying stimulus of a prodding child is still there, and the dog still does not like it.  So what does the dog do?  He takes action to get rid of the annoying stimulus - as he can’t growl, he moves up the aggression ladder, and bites.  We have inadvertently trained our dog to progress straight to biting when he wants to express his unhappiness/fear at a situation.

So what should we do?  Well, firstly, reward your dog for growling.  This promotes the behaviour, making it less likely that he will progress to the next level - biting.  Secondly, remove the annoying stimulus.  I would argue this should involve giving the little kid a smack round the head, but unfortunately we may have to resort to taking our dog away.

Bottom line: Growling is natural behaviour for a dog, and expressing it makes them less likely to bite.  Don’t stop your dog from expressing its natural behaviour.