The present work consisted of a field survey on the conduct of general anesthesia in dogs, as well as the elaboration of a demonstrative photographic atlas which retraced the various steps of practical realization of the volatile general anesthesia in this species. Our study was conducted by questioning 62 veterinary practitioners in eleven regions in Algeria (6 in the Center, 4 in the East, and 3 in the West). Data showed that 98.39% of the veterinarians practice a pre-anesthesia consultation, however, only 9.67% declare to know and to adopt the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) classification. 96.78% use a fixed general anesthesia by repeated re-administrations of ketamine (65%), the combination of tiletamine-zolazepam (26.66%) and propofol (8.33%). The remaining (3.22% of practitioners) perform volatile halothane-maintained anesthesia after induction with ketamine (50%) or propofol (50%). Four veterinarians among 62 (6.46%) monitor reflexes to assess the depth of anesthesia despite using dissociative agents (ketamine or tiletamine) that retain these reflexes throughout the anesthesia. Only 3.23% of the surveyed veterinarians perform instrumental monitoring of cardiovascular, respiratory and metabolic parameters, and the vast majority (96.77%) only monitor heart and respiratory rates and do not use anesthetic sheet (checklist). For the elaboration of the atlas, 6 cycles of volatile general anesthesia were performed outside of any surgical procedure for a demonstrative purpose. A total of 72 photographs were made, then sorted and classified according to the sequence of the different practical stages of the procedure. For each step, we have developed in a box a summary of essential knowledge to acquire. This atlas may serve as a learning tool for students and veterinarians practicing volatile anesthesia. At the end, the authors highly recommend for veterinarians’ anesthetists the systematic practice of a pre-anesthetic consultation with an ASA classification, and to avoid dissociative agents for induction in order to be able to monitor reflexes and assess the depth of narcosis.