A dog's heart works much like a human's. In the 1600's, William Harvey studied heart movement and blood circulation in dogs. In 1665, Richard Tower first performed transfusions by using quills and silver tubes to transfer blood in dogs. A year later, Sir Christopher Wren injected medicine into a dog's veins, proving to the world that life-saving drugs can be administered safely, quickly and effectively through the bloodstream.

 

The dog has contributed to the study of behavior. Not only have the interactions among young puppies been studied, but also their interactions with other animals and people. Much of the knowledge gained from these studies is now applied in the training of guard dogs, as well as guide dogs for the blind and hearing dogs for the deaf.

 

Because dogs have a high incidence of kidney disease, they are a natural choice for this research. The first successful kidney transplant was performed in dogs in the late 1950's. Dogs currently aid research to prevent the rejection of transplanted organs.

 

Dogs have also made contributions to the study of aging. Like humans, aging dogs have skin that sags, eyes that lose vision and hair that turns gray.

Advances regarding aging have thus benefited dogs, making it possible for them to have long lives, many living well past the age of 15 years.

 

Artificial hips and joints for the handicapped, injured and aged were designed and tested in dogs. The most common treatment for human cataracts, the intraocular lens, was developed in dogs.

 

In the future, they will help us to find ways to treat diabetes, ulcers, cancer, gallstones, emphysema, hemophilia, lupus and more.

 

The Contributions of the Dog to Cardiac Advances:   According to statistics released recently by the World Health Organization, heart disease is the number one killer world-wide. Atherosclerosis alone contributes to over 50,000 heart attack or stroke deaths each year in Canada.   The dog's cardiovascular and respiratory system closely resemble those of a small human being, and this similarity has made the dog a critical subject in cardiac research. It is hard to imagine what the field of cardiology would be like without the critical contributions of dogs.   As a direct result of this research, surgical procedures have been developed to open narrowed arteries in the neck or leg, preventing stroke and greatly improving function. Other surgical procedures have been developed to bypass diseased and narrowed arteries in the heart, improving the quality of life for thousands of people and extending life for many.   Children born with congenital heart defects now have improved length and quality of life due to the development of surgical techniques to treat these kind of defects.   The heart-lung machine was developed through research with dogs. This machine makes it possible to perform all kinds of open-heart procedures such as replacement and repair of heart valves, as well as heart and lung transplants. The development of the artificial heart evolved from the concept of the heart-lung machine.   Research on dogs also played an essential role in the creation and testing of many artificial devices used to substitute for heart valves or for arteries. Pacemakers and catheters were also developed and evaluated in dogs.   While several animal species have made contributions to the medical advances we have seen in cardiology, the dog model has clearly been at the top of the class in this research.