Study on Blood Physiology Characteristics in Working Dogs

Adult working dog has to do a lot of intense physical training every day. The blood physiology and hemorheological indexes were measured in three adult working dogs (Kunming, German shepherd, Belgian malinois) and one indigenous breed in Kunming. The results showed that the number of red blood cells and hemoglobin concentration in working dogs were significantly higher than those of the indigenous breed (P 0.05), which meant that the working dog had a prominent oxygen carrying capacity. This phenomenon might be that during long-term strength training and working, these descendible characteristics are experienced a strong selection. With the red blood cell count and hemoglobin concentration increased, blood flow resistance and whole blood viscosity of working dogs was obviously higher than the indigenous breed, though there was no significant difference between working dogs and the indigenous breed in Plasma viscosity and viscosity of red blood cells (P0.05). In addition, red blood cell deformability of working dogs decreased. The result suggested that these working dogs owed bad blood stream. The way to overcome the high blood flow resistance remains to be resolved.