Defining Terms Used for Animals Working in Support Roles for People with Support Needs.

The nomenclature used to describe animals working in roles supporting people can be confusing. The same term may be used to describe different roles, or two terms may mean the same thing. This confusion is evident among researchers, practitioners, and end users.

Mortality Resulting from Undesirable Behaviours in Dogs Aged Three Years and under Attending Primary-Care Veterinary Practices in Australia.

There is increasing evidence that undesirable behaviours (UBs) in dogs can compromise the welfare of both canine companions and their carers. Veterinarians are regularly consulted about affected animals and may be asked to euthanase the more severely affected individuals. A recent study of veterinary records showed that UBs were the predominant cause of mortality in young dogs in the UK.

Mental Health Disease or Preventable Problem? Australian Dog Trainers' Opinions about Canine Separation Anxiety Differ with Training Style.

Separation anxiety is common. Many dog owners do not seek help from a veterinarian but might consult a trainer. The objective of this study was to investigate Australian trainers' opinions about separation anxiety.

Association between coat colour and the behaviour of Australian Labrador retrievers.

Background: Making assumptions regarding temperament and intelligence based on the physical appearance of dogs can be a conscious or unconscious human act. Labrador retrievers with chocolate-coloured coats are anecdotally considered to be less trainable and more hyperactive and aggressive than their black or yellow peers. To test these assertions, we analysed the owner-reported behavioural traits of Labradors in relation to both their observable coat colour, and their and genotypes.

Work-type influences perceived livestock herding success in Australian Working Kelpies.

Background: Working dog handlers and breeders have very different behavioural requirements in the animals that they employ for managing livestock. The Australian Working Kelpie breed may be used in several working contexts, notably yards, paddocks and a combination of both. The working context influences the skillsets required and gives rise to three corresponding work-types: and Kelpies.

Holding back the genes: limitations of research into canine behavioural genetics.

Canine behaviours that are both desirable and undesirable to owners have a demonstrable genetic component. Some behaviours are breed-specific, such as the livestock guarding by maremmas and flank sucking seen in Dobermanns. While the identification of genes responsible for common canine diseases is rapidly advancing, those genes underlying behaviours remain elusive.

Empirical assessment of competitive hybridization and noise in ultra high density canine tiling arrays.

Background: In addition to probe sequence characteristics, noise in hybridization array data is thought to be influenced by competitive hybridization between probes tiled at high densities. Empirical evaluation of competitive hybridization and an estimation of what other non-sequence related features might affect noisy data is currently lacking.

Results: A high density array was designed to a 1.