On the platform close to the audience, a large white dog was brought in.
He seemed particularly unconcerned by the unnatural appendage protruding from the side of his neck.
Both the hound and the decapitated head of the puppy were alive and reacting to stimuli.
The white head snarled.
The dog survived for five hours.
Some of his patients survived for a month.
His experiments with bypassing the coronary arteries were more satisfying.
Four of the dogs survived for as long as 2 years.
One dog operated in 1953 survived for 7 years.
Encouraged by his successes, Demikhov began moving to bolder experiments.
When the multiple dog regained consciousness after the operation, the puppy’s head woke up and yawned.
The big head gave it a puzzled look and tried at first to shake it off, reports Time.
The puppy’s head kept its own personality.
Though handicapped by having almost no body of its own, it was as playful as any other puppy.
It growled and snarled with mock fierceness or licked the hand that caressed it.
When it got thirsty, the puppy got thirsty and lapped milk eagerly.
When the laboratory grew hot, both host-dog and puppy put out their tongues and panted to cool off.
After six days of life together, both heads and the common body died.
Demikhov created many such medical monstrosities.
But Demikhov could clearly see the future.
That same afternoon, he reproduced the experiment by transplanting the head of a dog onto another dog.
The dog survived for several days.
He was certainly a remarkable man, having done all the research before extracorporeal circulation.
Despite his contribution to medical science, very few recognized Demikhov, especially by his own country.
Demikhov performing experimental surgery in Leipzig.
The last dog head transplant performed by Vladimir Demikhov on January 13, 1959 in East Germany.
