Customer Reviews

Dog Anatomy

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Having read the review that 'accuses' British textbooks of being dry and like PBS productions of 50 years ago, I feel that I must stand up for this book. The drawings are exquisite, they are by far the most accurate in any anatomy text book, and they have a simplicity that adds to their impact. The text is a little minimalist, for it is really in the form of expanded labelling for the illustrations.

I have to say that I find the 'chatty' style of many US non-fiction and textbooks flippant and distracting from the subject. I much prefer an author who takes his subject seriously.

All my anatomical studies are based on this book. And look at the price - a real bargain. All those who are studying dog anatomy, be they veterinary students or show judges, are mistaken if this volume does not sit on their bookshelf.

The core of "Dog Anatomy" are the 38 pages of detailed black and white drawings of the various physical systems (skeletal, blood, etc.) of the dog. The labeled illustrations are accompanied by copious notes of explanation. Medical terminology is explained in "plain language" as it occurs. Although this book is probably a "must" for a veterinary student the intended reader is the dog owner who is not a veterinary professional, such as myself. An effort is made to provide an understanding of what is inside a dog at a particular point by referencing interior dog anatomy by what can be seen and felt on the outside surface(s) of a dog. This approach achieves some success but the reader should resist the urge to assume more expertise than the book imparts. It can aid the dog owner in understanding what a veterinarian with years of experience is trying to describe but is no substitute for professional education and experience.

The only "down side" to this book is almost at the subliminal level. It was written and published in England. The English and American minds see and approach the world in slightly different ways. Simply put, the method of presentation is somewhat dry and seems more like American publications of 50 years ago than of the present. If you watch and like English programming on PBS you probably won't even notice. The cost of is cheap for an anatomy book.

I thought I'd be tempted to take a color pencil and color the correct drawn anatomy parts, as I did in my nursing anatomy books. I am a nurse, and this book was a real eye opener. The only thing missing were the colors, for the smaller, more detailed illustrations that are necessary. The book is extremely detailed, and very very complete. There's alot of text, and some of it, I found boring. But, the illustrations make up for it. This would be an excellent book for a vet. student, or anyone, like myself, to learn more about dogs. I was exspecially interested in the fact that it was only about dogs, not cats, or other animals. This book is a good book for anyone's shelf.

As mentioned in other reviews, the diagrams are great, but overall I feel that the book is not well presented. A better way to present the book would be to have more pages, with less diagrams on each page, and the labelling being on each diagram.

Found it distracting to look at the diagrams -- find the number on the diagram, and then to try to find the correct number on the other page -- that tells you the name of the various physical systems.

I would have been willing to pay more, if the book would have been presented better.

This is the best canine anatomy book for veterinary students. As a veterinary student myself, I find this book of great help. Each system of the dog is covered with a written forward into the topic in question. This is very well written and only a very basic knowledge of veterinary medicine is needed as the book is not aimed at only vets.
The diagrams of the dog are labelled with numbers which correspond to the opposite page and so this is a great book for testing yourself before exams!
If you have a general interest in what is under the skin of your dog or what that bone is bulging out from his elbow-this book is just as interesting/informative as it is to any vet student.
A must have.

This book is great for vet students (I'm at Davis). There's not much fluff, but there's a ton of information in a very portable format that's great for both learning the material and quizzing yourself afterwards. I find it best to photocopy pages and color them in, so that I can repeat the actions of learning names while coloring in. The text is spare, but to the point. I haven't seen the other coloring atlas out there, but I can't recommend this one enough.