Organ Systems

1. Cardiovascular System - The cardiovascular system pumps and carries blood to the many parts of the body through blood vessels.  The heart is the center of the blood flow, all blood comes and goes through the heart.  The blood contains nutrients and oxygen needed to provide energy for cells to perform correctly.

2. Lymphatic System - The lymphatic system contains lymph nodes and lymph vessels.  This part of their body helps to fight off sickness and disease, through increasing white blood cells when needed.  This system also helps return fluid that is lost through the blood vessels back to the blood stream.
 

3. Digestive System - The digestive system includes the mouth, teeth, stomach, liver, gall bladder, small intestine, large intestine, esophagus, salivary glands, pancreas.  This system absorbs nutrients from food, digests the food, and eliminates any solid waste.
 

4. Integumentary System - The integumentary system is the outer layer of the dog's body, called the skin.  A dog's body is covered in the skin plus fur. Their organs are protected by this skin and fur combo. The fur helps insulate against heat loss. Dogs lose water by panting, so there is no need to sweat.  Dogs only sweat from their pads and nose.  Their fur helps against heat loss.
 

5. Musculoskeletal System - The musculoskeletal system includes all the bones, muscles and joints.
 

6. Respiratory System - The respiratory system is charged with transporting oxygen to the lungs and getting rid of waste gas, such as carbon dioxide.  This system is also important because it regulates temperature in dogs, since they don't sweat.
 

7. Urogenital System - The urogenital system is used for both urination and reproduction.  The urinary part of this system is responsible for removing the waste products from the blood and removing them from the body through urine.  The genitals of the dog are used for reproduction. 
 

8. Nervous System - The nervous system includes the brain, spinal cord, and all the nerves that run up and down the body, and communicates between the tissues and brain.
 

9. Endocrine System - The endocrine system/organs include the thyroid glands, parathyroid glands, the adrenal glands, and part of the pancreas.  These organs produce hormones, which travel through the blood stream and affect other organs.
 

10. Special Organs System - These systems allow dogs to interact with their environment using sense of taste, smell, sight, touch, and hearing.
 

11. Hematopoietic System - the hematopoietic system includes the bone marrow that is inside the bones.  Inside the bone marrow three types of blood cells are created; white blood cells used for fighting infection, red blood cells used for carrying oxygen, and platelets used for clotting.