Category Archives: research

Dog agility: Do emotions get in the way of a top performance?

Posted on March 9, 2014 | Leave a comment

dog agility

Researchers have debated human right brain/left brain theory for years.  New research has looked into whether lateralisation of brain function affects dogs.

The study involved 19 dogs and trainers.  The study subjects went through a series of tests, firstly paw preference tests whilst offering food followed by agility tests, using A-frames, jumps and weave poles.  Throughout the tests, the dogs received trainer stimuli from both the right and left sides.

Trainers also completed questionnaires giving more information about the dog’s temperament.  Results showed a correlation between paw preference and agility.  Dogs with stronger paw preferences seemed more predisposed to training, less distracted and had greater agility.

When trainers presented on the left, dogs were more agitated, emotional, and performances deteriorated.  A dog’s left visual field stimulates the right brain hemisphere.

Overall the results revealed that behavioural lateralisation correlates with
performance of agility-trained dogs.  These results support previous evidence that lateralisation in dogs can directly affect visually guided motor
responses.

The results have practical implications for personnel involved in
the selection of dogs trained specifically for agility competitions and for the
development of new training techniques.

You can read the full article on this research here.

 Read my previous blogs about paw preference in dogs:

·        Behaviour in dogs depends on paw preference

·         Is your dog right-pawed or left-pawed?

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Adapting to the high altitudes of Tibet

Posted on March 7, 2014 | Leave a comment

In a new study published in the journal Molecular Biology and Evolution, author Dong-Dong Wu, et. al., explored the genetic basis of high-altitude adaptation of Tibetan Mastiffs, which were originally domesticated from the Chinese native dogs of the plains.

Credit: © zuzule / Fotolia

Credit: © zuzule / Fotolia

The authors examined genome-wide mutations (called single nucleotide polymorphisms, or SNPs) of 32 Tibetan Mastiffs, and compared them to 20 Chinese native dogs and 14 grey wolves. Overall, they identified more than 120,000 SNPs, and in their analysis, narrowed these down to 16 genes that have undergone positive selection in mastiffs, with 12 of these relevant to high altitude adaption.

These candidate genes have been shown to be involved in energy production critical to high-altitude survival under low oxygen conditions.

For future studies, the authors will explore whole genome sequences from individual Tibetan Mastiffs to gain better insights into high-altitude adaptations and canine evolution.

Source:  EurekAlert! media statement

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Gene discoveries in canine ataxia

Posted on March 3, 2014 | Leave a comment

What do the Gordon Setter and Old English Sheepdog have in common?

Both breeds suffer from a type of hereditary ataxia where neurons in the cerebellum that control movement begin to die, causing a gradual loss of coordination.   In humans, ataxia is also the 3rd most common neurodegenerative movement disorder (after Parkinson’s and Huntington’s diseases).

Old English Sheepdog

Researchers at the National Institute on Aging and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard looked at 630 Old English sheepdogs and mapped ataxia genetically in the families of affected animals. Eventually they mapped the disease to a gene, RAB 24, located on chromosome 4. A mutation in RAB 24 was closely associated with development of the disease, and on screening of affected dogs of other breeds, the identical mutation was found in Gordon setters, providing additional evidence that this mutation is important.

Gordon Setter

“Rab 24 is a protein that is believed to be important to the process of autophagy – which is how cells cleanse themselves of waste,” says North Carolina State neurologist Natasha Olby who collaborated on the research.

“We know that autophagy and neurodegeneration are connected, so pinpointing this protein is important to our understanding of the disease process.”

“We have not yet proven that this mutation causes neurodegeneration; it could simply be a very good marker for the disease,” Olby says. “Our next step will be to determine exactly how the mutation affects the protein Rab 24 and its function and to determine whether this results in neuron death. This gene will also be investigated in humans with hereditary ataxia.”

The findings appear in the journal PLOS Genetics. The research was funded by the American Kennel Club Canine Health Foundation with additional support from the Old English Sheepdog Club of America.

Source:  North Carolina State University media release

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Dogs give exercise new meaning for seniors

Posted on February 22, 2014 | Leave a comment
Photo courtesy of Florida State University

Bogey and his dumb bell.  Photo courtesy of Florida State University

Dogs are adding a new twist to exercise classes at the Westminster Oaks Retirement Community in Florida.  Three times each week, they accompany two doctoral students to an exercise class that is part of a study to look at whether exercising with dogs can lead to better health outcomes.

“Between each exercise, we try to leave a little bit of time so people can pet the dogs and talk to the handlers,” says Ashley Artese, a first-year doctoral student in exercise science.

Volunteers for the study at Westminster Oaks were split into two groups of seven. One exercises with dogs trained by Tallahassee Memorial Hospital’s pet therapy program. The other group exercises without them.

Walking around the room, biceps curls with light dumb bells and resistance band stretching are all a part of the routine.  When the group working with dogs lift their dumb bells,  dog Bogey picks up a plastic one. And when the seniors walk around the room, Lola, Stryker and Bogey walk in circles too.

“Exercise classes are not something I call fun, but with the dogs, it is fun,” said Mary Stevenson, a Westminster Oaks resident.  When she heard the exercise class would involve dogs, it caught her interest.

In addition to Lola, Stryker and Bogey, there are four other dogs — Cosmo, Casey, Kayla and Zachy.

For now, all of the work is on a volunteer basis, but all of the parties involved hope it will turn into a funded research study in the future.  At the end of this program, the professors and doctoral students will review the data to see how it might translate into a large-scale study.

Source:  Florida State University media release

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Teaching wolves new tricks

Posted on February 15, 2014 | 1 comment

The process of learning often involves mimicry or imitation.  In research published in the journal PLoS One, scientists from the Messerli Research Institute at the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna report on their behaviour experiments involving wolves and dogs.

The results show that wolves observe one another more closely than dogs and so are better at learning from one another. 

Photo Credit: Walter Vorbeck

Photo Credit: Walter Vorbeck

The scientists found that wolves are considerably better than dogs at opening a container, providing they have previously watched another animal do so. Their study involved 14 wolves and 15 mongrel dogs, all about six months old, hand-reared and kept in packs.

Each animal was allowed to observe one of two situations in which a trained dog opened a wooden box, either with its mouth or with its paw, to gain access to a food reward. Surprisingly, all of the wolves managed to open the box after watching a dog solve the puzzle, while only four of the dogs managed to do so. Wolves more frequently opened the box using the method they had observed, whereas the dogs appeared to choose randomly whether to use their mouth or their paw.

The researchers think that it is likely that the dog-human cooperation originated from cooperation between wolves. During the process of domestication, dogs have become able to accept humans as social partners and thus have adapted their social skills to include interactions with them, concomitantly losing the ability to learn by watching other dogs.

Source:  University of Vienna media release

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Your dog may have a permanent headache

Posted on February 15, 2014 | 4 comments

Through selective breeding, toy breeds including the Griffon Bruxellois, Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, Chihuahuas and their crosses may have to live with a permanent headache and other maladies.

A Griffon Bruxellois Photo by © Vincent / Fotolia

A Griffon Bruxellois
Photo by © Vincent / Fotolia

Research published in the journal PloS One by researchers at the University of Surrey has identified the specific effect Chiari malformation has on the shape of a dog’s skull and brain.

Researchers took brain, skull and vertebrae measurements of 155 Griffon Bruxellois and compared dogs affected by the condition, with normal Griffons. They discovered that Griffons with the disease had taller foreheads and that it had also caused the shape of the brain to change, with severely affected animals having their cerebellum pushed underneath the main part of the brain.

The taller forehead makes some toy breeds look like a doll, making them more attractive to people looking to purchase a dog.

Although it can be asymptomatic, in many dogs Chiari malformation can cause headaches, problems with walking or even paralysis.

Lead author, Dr Clare Rusbridge says: “Chiari malformation can be described as trying to fit a big foot into a small shoe. It can be very painful, causing headaches and pressure on the brain and can result in fluid filled cavities in the spinal cord. Our latest discoveries will be significant in driving this research forward and hopefully allow us to identify which genes may be associated with the condition. Our next steps will be to apply our technique to other breeds with Chiari malformation and investigate more sophisticated ways of screening, so that risk of disease can be detected more easily, at an earlier age and with a single MRI scan.”

The research team wants to work with responsible breeders to use scanning technology so they can remove the condition from the breeding population.

Source:  AlphaGalileo press release

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A dog cancer that is 11,000 years old

Posted on February 11, 2014 | 2 comments

Scientists have sequenced the genome of the world’s oldest continuously surviving cancer, a transmissible genital cancer that affects dogs.

Credit: © Melinda Nagy / Fotolia

Credit: © Melinda Nagy / Fotolia

The cancer, which causes grotesque genital tumours in dogs around the world, first arose in a single dog that lived about 11,000 years ago. The cancer survived after the death of this dog by the transfer of its cancer cells to other dogs during mating.

Analysis of the genetic variants in the genome revealed that the dog may have resembled an Alaskan Malamute or Husky. It probably had a short, straight coat that was coloured either grey/brown or black. Its genetic sequence could not determine if this dog was a male or a female, but did indicate that it was a relatively inbred individual.

The genome has over 2 million mutations; the research team used one type of mutation, known to accumulate steadily over time, as a ‘molecular clock.’  This led to the estimate that the cancer first arose 11,000 years ago.

“The genome of this remarkable long-lived cancer has demonstrated that, given the right conditions, cancers can continue to survive for more than 10,000 years despite the accumulation of millions of mutations”, says Dr Elizabeth Murchison, first author from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and the University of Cambridge.

Transmissible cancers are very rare in nature.  Apart from the dog transmissible cancer, the only other known naturally occurring transmissible cancer is an aggressive transmissible facial cancer in Tasmanian devils that is spread by biting.

Source:  Wellcome Trust media statement

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The leader of the pack

Posted on February 9, 2014 | Leave a comment

Dogs’ paths during group walks could be used to determine leadership roles and through that their social ranks and personality traits, say researchers from Oxford University, Eötvös University, Budapest and the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.

The research team tracked the movements of six Vizsla dogs and their owner using high-resolution GPS harnesses during fourteen 30-40 minute walks off the lead.

Photo credit: Zsuzsa Ákos

Photo credit: Zsuzsa Ákos

The dogs’ movements were measurably influenced by underlying social hierarchies and personality differences.

‘On individual walks it is hard to identify one permanent leader, but over longer timescales it soon becomes clear that some dogs are followed by peers more often than others. Overall, the collective motion of the pack is strongly influenced by an underlying social network.’ said study author Dr Máté Nagy of Oxford University’s Department of Zoology.

Dogs that consistently took the lead were more responsive to training, more controllable, older and more aggressive than the dogs that tended to follow. Dogs that led more often had higher dominance ranks in everyday situations, assessed by a dominance questionnaire.

One possible use of the technology would be to assess search and rescue dogs to see which dogs work best together.  The results have been published in the journal PLOS Computational Biology.

Source:  University of Oxford media release

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Driving, seniors and dogs don’t mix

Posted on January 26, 2014 | 1 comment

Researchers at the University of  Alabama at Birmingham say that senior drivers who always take their dog in the car are at an increased risk of being involved in an accident.

Photo courtesy of University of Alabama

Photo courtesy of University of Alabama

Overall and at-fault crash rates for drivers 70 years of age or older were higher for those whose pet habitually rode with them.

“This is the first study to evaluate the presence of pets in a vehicle as a potential internal distraction for elderly drivers,” said Gerald McGwin, Ph.D., a professor in the Departments of Epidemiology, Ophthalmology and Surgery and senior author of the study. “The increased crash rate for elderly drivers who always drive with pets is important in the context of increasing driver awareness about potentially dangerous driving habits.”

The crash risk for drivers who always drove with their pets was double that of drivers who never drove with a pet, while crash rates for those who sometimes or rarely drove with pets were consistent with the rates for non-pet owners.

The study involved 2,000 community-dwelling (those who do not live in assisted living or nursing homes) licensed drivers age 70 and older, of whom 691 had pets. Study subjects took a survey on driving habits, and those with pets were asked about the frequency of driving with pets. Participants also underwent visual sensory and higher-order visual processing testing.

More than half the pet owners said they took their pet with them in the car at least occasionally, usually riding on the front passenger seat or in the back seat.

“That is consistent with previous studies looking at all drivers, which indicate that slightly more than half of all drivers take a pet with them at times,” said McGwin. “And it’s interesting to note that earlier surveys indicate that 83 percent of those surveyed agreed that an unrestrained dog was likely dangerous in a moving vehicle, yet only 16 percent have ever used any type of restraint on their own pet.”

I’d really like to see a study comparing accident rates with properly restrained pets and those without.  I support the use of safety harnesses for dogs who are traveling in cars and am consistently amazed at the number of people who allow their dog in the car without restraint.

The research team has published its research in the journal Accident Analysis and Prevention.

Source:  University of Alabama press release

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No correlation between breed and aggression

Posted on January 18, 2014 | Leave a comment

Researchers from the University of Bristol’s School of Veterinary Sciences have investigated the occurrence of dog aggression towards people with a survey of UK dog owners.

The 4,000 responses revealed:

  • aggression towards unfamiliar people was reported more commonly by owners than aggression to family members
  • 7 per cent of owners responded that their dog barked, lunged, growled or actually bit when people came to the house
  • 5 per cent of owners said that these things happened when out on walks
  • 3 per cent of owners reported aggression towards family members

Dog bearing teeth

The study highlighted that the majority of dogs showing aggression do so in just one type of situation. This indicates that the tendency to categorise dogs as either generally ‘safe’ or ‘vicious’ is a misconception, and that most dogs show aggression as a learnt response to particular situations.  (A lot of trainers working in animal shelters probably already knew this.)

The research also highlighted that although general characteristics, such as breed type, are significant risk factors across large populations they explain only a small amount of the overall difference between aggressive and non-aggressive dogs.   Therefore, it is not appropriate to evaluate the risk of aggressive behaviour in an individual dog using characteristics such as breed type.

That’s another black mark for supporters of breed specific legislation!

The results of this research have been published in the journal of Applied Animal Behaviour Science.

Source:  University of Bristol media release

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