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Unfortunately, due to problems affecting the University of Edinburgh server on which the Dogslife website is hosted, data entered to the Dogslife website between 25th July 2014 and 1st August 2014 has been deleted from the website. Now that the server is working again, we would be very grateful if any data entered to the site by our members during this time could be re-submitted if possible. Apologies for any inconvenience.
Labradors at work: Conservation Dogs
Eureka! I’ve figured it out!
Labrador Health Concerns; views from across the pond!
What can we learn from studies like Dogslife?
Labradors at work: Conservation Dogs
Conservation Dogs, sister company of Specialist Detection Dog Company, WAGTAIL UK, is a training centre where dogs are taught to detect various forms of wildlife and plants by their scent to help with conservation. Using their heightened sense of smell, dogs can detect plant and wildlife scents that humans cannot smell or see. Here, dogs are trained to search for native and invasive species of plants and animals, and diseased plants. They provide an efficient, cost effective, non-invasive and environmentally friendly means of assisting in this type of field research.
Invasive plants can destroy ecosystems so it is vital that they are detected and eradicated early to minimise any damage. Conservation Dogs are trained to identify specific invasive plants (or diseased plants such as Ash Dieback) by their scent and can trace them even when they are in their early stages. Due to a dogs’ agility, they can search in difficult terrain making them very effective in uncovering specific plants that could threaten ecosystems.
Dogs can also be trained to detect specific wildlife. In fact, Conservation Dogs have trained and supplied the first Great Crested Newt Detection Dog giving ecologists and conservationists a new method for assessing Great Created Newt presence and numbers. Dogs can find wildlife accurately by sniffing out their dens or nests without causing disruption to the animal or their surroundings. This can be particularly useful when trying to locate an elusive species that is rarely seen. Conservation Dogs have also trained dogs to detect pests and locate any infestations (such as mice) and find out where they enter and exit a building. These dogs are able to identify high incidence areas of pests so that the infestation can be dealt with quickly. Conservation Dogs also hope to be able to train dogs to detect bed bugs and crop pests in the future.
A lot of valuable data can be collected on animals from their scat (stool), for example, the animal’s abundance and distribution. Currently, Conservation Dogs are helping to survey Pine Martins by locating their scat. Dogs are able to detect a larger number of unique animals accurately and efficiently using this method, compared to other human methods. Dogs can also cover a larger search area more quickly than humans, saving time and money.
Similarly, research has shown that when detecting a carcass, dogs have a greater success rate than humans alone (much like search and rescue dogs). By using dogs, more ground can be covered and carcasses are therefore located more rapidly and the overall search time is reduced. Detecting carcasses (for example, of bats) is important because the remains can be used to find out mortality rates and the reasons why they have died (such as disease outbreaks, or the use of pesticides) so the appropriate action can be taken to help conserve the species.
Conservation Dogs have also trained anti-poaching dogs to detect prohibited products from luggage and transport loads at various check points on behalf of the Gabonese National Parks Agency. Findings have so far have included: leopard skin, ivory, shark fin, bush meat and iboga tree products.
To find out more about Conservation Dogs and their work in the UK and abroad, please click here.
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Eureka! I’ve figured it out!
Does your dog seem very happy when they have solved a problem? A Swedish study has been looking at whether receiving a reward for solving a problem makes the experience enjoyable for dogs, or if they are simply happy to have successfully solved the problem, even if there is no reward.
The study was set up following the findings from a survey of cattle, which discovered that the cattle seemed to be happier after receiving a reward following the completion of a task, rather than simply receiving a reward on its own. When studying dogs, a similar pattern was noticed as they seemed to be happier (shown by wagging their tails more) when they earned a reward after solving a problem instead of receiving a reward alone. Perhaps not surprisingly, dogs preferred a food-based reward - identified by them becoming more active when expecting food - more than patting from a well-known human, or time with another dog.
Twelve Beagles took part in the study and were divided into pairs. Within each pair, dogs were trained on three different pieces of equipment each before the experiment started (so they were also untrained on three pieces of equipment each to act as a control dog for half of the time). During training, the equipment was present, but the dogs were not rewarded for playing with it. The six pieces of equipment used in the study made a different noise when the task was complete if it was operated correctly by the dog. Examples of the equipment include: a plastic box that had to be pushed off a stack and hit the floor to make a noise, a paddle lever that made a bell ring, and a dog piano that had to be pressed for a note to play.
The study found that the dogs trained on the equipment they were presented with were more eager to start the process than the dogs which were not trained. The un-trained dogs also sometimes bit or chewed the equipment (which the dogs trained on that equipment did not do), were quicker to leave the training arena, and did not wag their tails as much as the dogs who knew how to solve the puzzle. The control dogs were therefore considered to be less happy even though they were getting the same reward at the end of the experiment.
The dogs which were trained on the equipment and could access the reward when they were able to solve the puzzle (referred to as the ‘Eureka moment’) appeared to be excited by realising that they could control their environment as well as receiving a reward. The findings of the study show that using cognitive skills, being able to solve problems and make decisions have a significant effect on dogs’ emotional experiences and therefore their welfare. To find out more about this study, please click here.
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Labrador Health Concerns; views from across the pond!
The American Kennel Club canine health foundation surveys their breed parent clubs each year to ascertain what their primary health concerns are, which in turn can be used to guide researchers as to the health priorities each of the breed parent clubs feel are most important to them. Of course, this is not the same as saying they are the most common diseases, it is simply the opinion of representatives of the breeds parent group about the health problems which are the greatest concern to them. Similarly, it also doesn’t mean that diseases which don’t appear in the list are not important to the breed or their owners.
The results from the 2013 survey make for interesting reading. The Labrador Retriever Club members reported that their main concerns (in descending order) where; Cruciate Ligament Rupture (Figure 1), Elbow Dysplasia, Hip Dysplasia, Tricuspid Valve Dysplasia (heart disease), Infertility, Cataracts, Retinal Dysplasia (an eye problem), Leptospirosis (an infection) and Progressive Rod-cone Dysplasia (an eye problem).
Of particular interest is that the list of concerns for Labrador Retrievers contains some of the top ten diseases (but not all) listed by all the parent breed clubs together, which were Hip Dysplasia (listed as a concern by 41.7% of parent breed clubs), Epilepsy (40.4%), Allergies (37.6%), Hemangiosarcoma (a tumour, 37.2%), Hypothyroidism (36.7%), Lymphoma (32.6%), Gastric Dilatation-Volvulus (24.3%), Patellar Luxation (24.3%), Cruciate Ligament Rupture (21.6%) and Inflammatory Bowel Disease (20.6%). These differences demonstrate that certain diseases have more impact on Labrador Retriever owners, than owners of other breeds. We know from Dogslife and other studies that Labrador Retrievers can develop all of these diseases, but clearly some are perceived to be more important (either by their severity or because of the number of dogs they could affect).
You can read more about the survey, and download the results yourself by visiting http://www.akcchf.org/canine-health/breed-specific-concerns/
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What can we learn from studies like Dogslife?
Carys Pugh, who is in the third year of a PhD on the Dogslife project - and who generates most of the facts and figures you read about the project in this newsletter - sought to answer this question in a paper recently published in the on-line journal, Canine Genetics and Epidemiology. More specifically, Carys reviewed the literature published about cohort studies of dogs (i.e. studies which look at groups of dogs for periods of time) to examine the benefits of wider use of such studies in the future.
Cohort studies, like Dogslife, offer the investigators the opportunity to assess the relationship between risk factors (such as exercise or feeding) and diseases over time. Historically, cohort studies of people initially investigated specific exposures, for example the impact of smoking on the risk of developing lung cancer, but there has been a movement in recent years to more broadly assess the impact of complex lifestyles on health. These studies generate new theories about the impact of environmental and genetic risk factors on disease.
Carys found that although cohort studies have been few and far between in dogs, they have made a valuable contribution to the understanding of dog health in areas such as infectious disease, for example in the control of the infectious disease Lieshmaniasis. The role of specific effects such as neutering and dietary restriction on dog health, have also been directly investigated. Following the trends in human health, large cohort studies of dogs have been set up to assess the wider impact of dog lifestyle on their health.
The biggest cohort study of dogs to be set up to date is Dogslife. Thank you to everyone who supports the study and provides vital information about their dog’s health and lifestyle to help us identify the factors that affect dogs’ health over their lifetime. You can read Carys’ paper in full here: http://www.cgejournal.org/content/1/1/5
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Don't forget to come back to Dogslife to update your dog's record www.dogslife.ac.uk
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