A practical method to obtain reproducible binocular electroretinograms in dogs

We present a simple method to record highly reproduciblebinocular electroretinograms in dogs. Rod and cone electroretinograms were elicited in 60 Beagle dogs, with the use of two adjustable photostimulators, one directed at each eye, and maintained in position with the use of a special device. Data analysis revealed no significant differences in amplitudes between the right and the left eye for each animal and each recording session, thus attesting to the high reliability of our approach. In a few instances, however, small interocular timing differences were noted. The proposed approach could therefore be used not only in a clinical setup where the functional status of the two eyes is often needed to reach a diagnosis butalso in research projects, such as toxicological assays, where the experimentation is performed on one eye while the other is kept as control.