Studies About Dogs

[poodlefan]

Hi DOLers,

Troy has given me permission to start a thread to gather information about research and studies about dogs. He will pin this one.

If you've located or read a study about some aspect of our canine friends could you please place the following information here.

* Research/study title

* Brief summary of research topic/findings

* Link to research or institution that holds it

* Brief comment on the study

If people want to discuss a particular study, can they please start another thread? That way this one can simply be a source for those looking for particular research. ;)

Edited January 24, 2010 by poodlefan

[BJean]

Title:

MANDATORY DESEXING IN THE ACT - HAS IT WORKED?

Summary:

This is a study on Mandatory Desexing in ACT

written by the AVA's Centre for Companion Animals in the Community.

and how/why it did not work.

Comments:

the report also offers insight into the notion of 'overpopulation' wrt the numbers of cats/dogs euthanased in Australia each year.

Edited January 24, 2010 by lilli

[poodlefan]

Title: Puppy Socialisation and Habituation: Why is it necessary?

Summary: A brief summary of research into the necessity for, and critical timing of puppy socialisation and habituation

Link: Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors (UK)

Comments: Adds support to the idea that pups should be raised in homes, not sheds.

[BJean]

Title:

The issue of unwanted animals: Adopting a strategic and practical approach

Summary:

This is a study on the number of cats/dogs being euthanased in Australian pounds written by the AVA's Centre for Companion Animals in the Community.

It exposes the myth of 'pet overpopulation' and rather calls for the need for a holistic approach that address the complexity of the issues at hand.

Comments: Discusses the term 'pet overpopulation' and looks at Australian facts and data.

Edited January 24, 2010 by lilli

[Jed]

Syringomyelia

Rodney S. Bagley DVM DipACVIM (Neurology and Internal Medicine)

Department of Clinical Sciences, Washington State University, College of Veterinary Medicine, Pullman,

WA, 99164-6610, USA

Research into syringomyelia

http://www.irishveterinaryjournal.com/Link...CESA_Jan_07.pdf

Edited February 6, 2010 by Jed

[Jed]

Title VACCINOSIS

An article from the USA giving useful links re vaccinosis

http://home.earthlink.net/~pawsreflect/vaccinosis.html

[Jed]

Title CASTRATION OF DOGS

Article by Mary C. Wakeman, D.V.M. an American Vet re castration of dogs

http://brytestar.com/CASTRATION%20IN%20DOGS.htm

[Jed]

Title: BREEDING FOR SUCCESS

BY

Bruce Cattanach BSc PhD DSc

Discussion on inbreeding and outcrossing in purebred dogs. Demonstrates how to inbreed for success, and lists desirable qualities of parents necessary

http://www.steynmere.com/ARTICLES9.html

[Jed]

Title: Some Practical Solutions to Welfare Problems in Dog Breeding

Authors: P D McGreevy & F W Nichols - 1999

Summary : This paper reviews the history of the establishment of dog breeds summarises current health and welfare problems, and makes suggestiongs about outcrossing and introducing new blood into established breeds. Also information on F1 hybrids, and hybrid vigour

Link: http://www.terrierman.com/mcgreevey-some-p...og-breeding.pdf

Edited February 6, 2010 by Jed

[Skruffy n Flea]

National study of the gastrointestinal parasites of dogs and cats in Australia

Abstract

The prevalence of gastrointestinal parasites in Australian pet dogs and cats was largely unknown prior to this study. Current recommendations for the prophylactic treatment of parasites in Australia are based on studies conducted 20–30 years ago. A total of 1400 canine and 1063 feline faecal samples were collected from veterinary clinics and refuges from across Australia. The overall prevalence of gastrointestinal parasites in dogs and cats was 23.9% (CI 21.7–26.1) and 18.4% (CI 16.1–20.7), respectively. Overall Giardia was the most prevalent parasite in dogs (9.3% CI 7.8–10.8) followed by hookworm (6.7% CI 5.4–8.0). Isospora felis was the most prevalent parasite in cats (5.6% CI 4.2–7.0), followed by Toxocara cati (3.2% CI 2.1–4.3). In conclusion the prevalence of intestinal helminths in Australian pet dogs and cats is low. Consequently, consideration should be given to the future use of anthelmintics and continued emphasis on pet owner education as means of preventing infection.

[poodlefan]

Good general article on factors influencing canine aggression to people. Some discussion on breed as a factor

Canine Aggression to People

[Jigsaw]

Study on Meanings of Dog Growls

‘The bone is mine’: affective and referential aspects of dog growls

References and further reading may be available for this article. To view references and further reading you must purchase this article.

Tamás Faragóa, Péter Pongrácza, , , Friederike Rangeb, 1, Zsófia Virányic, 2 and Ádám Miklósia

a Department of Ethology, Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary

b Department für Neurobiologie und Kognitionsforschung, Universität Wien, Austria

c Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition, Austria

Received 7 April 2009; revised 22 June 2009; accepted 5 January 2010. MS. number: 09-00252R. Available online 23 February 2010.

A number of species are considered to use functionally referential signals such as alarm calls or food-related vocalizations. However, this particular function of communicative interaction has not previously been found in canids. We provide the first experimental indication that domestic dogs, Canis familiaris, rely on context-dependent signals during interspecific agonistic encounters. We recorded several sequences of growls from dogs in three different contexts: during play, guarding a bone from another dog, and reacting to a threatening stranger. We analysed the acoustic structure of the growls and additionally performed playback tests in a seminatural food-guarding situation. We found that play growls differed acoustically from the other two (agonistic) types of growls, mainly in their fundamental frequencies and formant dispersions. Results of the playback experiment showed that food-guarding growls deterred other dogs from taking away a seemingly unattended bone more effectively than growls recorded in the threatening stranger situation. We ruled out an effect of the signaller's body weight on the subjects' responses. These results provide the first evidence of context specificity of agonistic vocalizations in the dog. We discuss the possible aspects of honesty and deception through acoustic modulation of growls.

Press articles together with short video clip:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn1861...one-in-dog.html

http://news.discovery.com/animals/dog-grow...munication.html

[luvmypoodleluv]

Title VACCINOSIS

An article from the USA giving useful links re vaccinosis

http://home.earthlink.net/~pawsreflect/vaccinosis.html

This is a very good article. Have you read the book "The Nature of Animal Healing"? by Dr Martin Goldstein,D.V.M. He has had much the same experience, seeing many animals having bad reactions to vaccines, long and short term. There seems to be a plethora of information on Vaccinosis becoming available.

[luvmypoodleluv]

http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/healthypets.htm

I find the above website to be very informative about the health of our pets. It concerns me greatly that dog registration bodies require that all pups should be vaccinated when there is so much evidence that vaccines are making our animals sick.

[Steve]

http://www.naiaonline.org/pdfs/Cornell%20s...20and%20pen.pdf

A Comparison of Tethering and Pen

Confinement of Dogs

There was no indication that tethering

was more detrimental to the dogs’ welfare than housing in a pen.

Although tethering is intuitively less acceptable, the fact that the dogs rarely

pulled at their chains and the lack of major differences in behavior indicate that

tethering may be an acceptable alternative housing method, but this may depend

on the breed and experience of the dog.

[corvus]

It concerns me greatly that dog registration bodies require that all pups should be vaccinated when there is so much evidence that vaccines are making our animals sick.

Well, the "evidence" is anecdotal. That's why it's not being taken seriously. Because there is no scientific evidence to support it yet. Scientists did loads of research into it for humans years ago and concluded that the benefits far outweighed the risks.

[Diva]

Here's a link to a recent paper on the inheritance of the colour pattern known as domino in Afghans and as grizzle in Salukis. The inheritance of this pattern has not been well studied previously. In my lay person's summary, the study finds that domino and grizzle are a variation of black and tan, a^t/a^t, with the expression of the black and tan affected by a newly identified allele in the E series they suggest calling E^G. The authors think that E^G is dominant to E and e, but recessive to E^m. K^b and a^y seem to suppress the expression of E^G, and therefore of the domino and grizzle patterns.

A New Mutation in MC1R Explains

a Coat Color Phenotype in 2 ‘‘Old’’

Breeds: Saluki and Afghan Hound

DAYNA L. DREGER AND SHEILA M. SCHMUTZ

Journal of Heredity 2010:101(5):644–649

doi:10.1093/jhered/esq061

Advance Access publication June 4, 2010

Journal of Heredity article on domino and grizzle

Edited August 6, 2010 by Diva

[deerhound owner]

Title: Inbreeding and fertility in Irish Wolfhounds in Sweden: 1976 to 2007

Summary: A look at the effect of inbreeding depression on litter size in Irish Wolfhounds... basically there wasn't one!

Open access article link

Edited August 30, 2010 by deerhound owner

[aitewan]

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/lifestyle/the-...6-1225984101102

Worth a read!

[corvus]

Title: Impact of nutrition on canine behaviour: current status and possible mechanisms

Nutrition Research Reviews (2007), 20, 180–194

Authors: G. Bosch, B. Beerda, W. H. Hendriks, A. F. B. van der Poel and M. W. A. Verstegen

A paper I stumbled across about how nutrition may improve dog behaviour and therefore welfare. It's a bit heavy, but might be interesting for some folks.

http://journals.cambridge.org/download.php...e7fa9d615b280fd