Information - The body of the boxer

The body of the boxer

The first things that attract attention when we look at a boxer, are his short nose and compact body. This construction is also seen with other "flatnoses", as the English Bulldog and the Shih-tzu, and is caused by achondroplasia. Achondroplasia means litteraly: no cartilageproduction. The production of cartilage normally takes care of the lengthgrowth of the bones. At the far ends of the bones we find epiphyses. Till the puberty those epiphyses make cartilage, which will be transformed into bone. This way lengthgrowth is taken care of. When this proces goes wrong, the animal will stay little and compact, because its limbs won't grow.
This is also the cause of the underbite. The upper jaw won't grow as fast as the lower jaw. Here you can look at the differences of the sculls of a boxer and a german shepherd.

Because of this growth a boxer looks different than the "ordinary" races, but that doesn't mean they have a different anatomy.

As we look at the picture above, we see that dogs walk on their toes. The metatarsals are lengthened and stand more or less vertical. This way the paws are longer and the dogs can run faster than animals that walk on their footsoles.

At the picture below you see the internal organs at the left side of a male dog.

And the internal organs at the right side of a female dog.

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