Through this project -“Projekt Pedadoggen”- I have tested dog training as a pedagogical resource at Daily activities. The study was made together with a group of persons with intellectual and neuropsychiatric disabilities, whose daily activities consist of running a day-care centre for dogs. Each participator of the project trained a dog towards a specific goal. This goal was individually formulated by each participator from his or her specific interest. The participators chose to set up a show, which was planned and performed by them selves. At the end of the project the participators were interviewed about their experiences of taking part on the project. Together with notes from the training, these interviews were the foundation of the hermeneutic influenced analysis. The theoretical outpost touches job satisfaction, work-integrated learning and the role of the pedagogue. The main conclusion is that dog training can create good conditions for personal development which favour both the work-integrated learning and the lifelong learning. The role of coaching creates opportunities for personal development, among other things by giving the participators opportunities to plan, to work towards a goal, to read and adjust another individual, to improvise, to learn about exercise psychology, etcetera. The training with dogs creates lots of opportunities for interaction, for examples between the participator and participator, between the participator and the dog, and between the participator and people outside the work place. A positive aspect which was stressed by the participators is their own job satisfaction as well as the job satisfaction of the dog. They also stressed the special friendship which can develop between human and dog.

Då vårdhundar är en relativt ny företeelse i Sverige har vi genom en mikro-etnografisk fallstudie studerat Ludvika kommuns Projekt vårdhund och haft som syftet att undersöka vad en vårdhund kan ha för arbetsuppgifter och vilka eventuella effekter dessa arbetsuppgifter kan ha för brukarna. Frågeställningarna som studien hade var: Vad kan syftet med en vårdhund vara? Vilken evidens använder sig projektet av i praktiken? Hur ser interaktionen mellan vårdhundsteamet och brukarna ut? Studien utfördes genom intervjuer med teamet och observationer. En vårdhund kan användas i rehabiliterande syfte, fungera som både en social och motiverande faktor och öka det psykiska välbefinnandet. Evidensen som projektet förlitar sig på är oxytocinets verkan och effekter som har en dokumenterad effekt när det gäller att minska oro, aggressivitet och öka det psykiska välbefinnandet. Vi fick se interaktionen mellan teamet och brukare där vi såg hur brukarna blev glada och motiverade att röra på sig när Alfred kom på besök. Vi ser att arbetet med vårdhundar kan föra med sig ett salutogent synsätt. Mer forskning kring sambandet mellan oxytocin och relationen mellan djur och människa behövs enligt oss då det i dagens läge inte finns någon forskning som definitivt kopplar ihop dessa. Vi har märkt att replikering kring detta område kan vara svårt då förutsättningar skiftar och att alla hundar och människor är olika.

Population estimation is an important task in all wildlife conservation. Such estimations are often difficult in low-density species such as big carnivores. The painted dog (Lycaon pictus) is an endangered species and the first aim of IUCNs action plan is to assess the size and the distribution of the remaining population. This study is the first step towards a quantitative method to distinguish painted dog footprints from footprints of feral domestic dogs and hyaenas. Footprint photographs were collected and digitally processed and total pad area and angles between the digits and backpad of the paw were measured. Both the pad area and the angles show a statistically significant difference between the species. However, further analysis shows that there is no significant difference in pad area between painted dog females and domestic dog males. Size of the pads alone is therefore not suitable as a measure to determine the species from an unknown footprint. The angles between backpad and digits seem to be more suitable to distinguish between species. Therefore, a combination of pad size and the angle between backpad and digits might be useful to estimate the species from an unknown footprint in the field.

Archaeologists have favored a date of 14,000-15,000 years before present (BP) for canine domestication. However, recent studies of mutations in the mitochondrial DNA sequence by molecular geneticists have implied that dogs were domesticated over 100,000 years ago, which has challenged traditional theory. Geneticists have further hypothesized that dogs originated from wolf ancestors based upon the number of substitutions observed in dog and wolf haplotypes. Although both disciplines provide substantial evidence for their theories, the origin of dog domestication remains controversial. Several areas continue to be debatable. First, both geneticists and archaeologists incorrectly use the term domestication to describe events that clearly can not be proven to under human control. Second, the evolutionary development of canines is viewed by molecular biologists as well as archaeologist to be indicators of domestication without any further exploration of other probable causes. Third, the studies in canine genetics are so complex that most archaeologists have difficulty in providing evidence that would be contradictory to molecular theory. Fourth, both fields of study continually ignore innate behavioral characteristics of wolves that would make domestication highly improbable. Fifth, geneticists rely heavily on data gathered from sequencing of mitochondrial DNA, which has been assumed to maternally inherited. However recent human studies have shown that this assumption has now been proven to be incorrect. And finally, not only are morphological traits of fossilized dogs and wolves so similar that making a taxonomic identification improbable, but also the amount of archaeological remains available are too sparse and fragmented for accurate affiliation. An alternate theory of canine domestication will be proposed utilizing data gathered from the archaeological record and molecular research. I hypothesize that dogs diverged naturally from wolves 100,000 years ago as a result of the natural course of evolution, not human intervention, and had already evolved into a dog prior to being domesticated by humans 14,000-15,000 years ago. Evidence will be presented to clearly show that this hypothesis is a more accurate scenario of canine domestication.

Domestication has resulted in animals with broad variations between as well as within breeds, which allows for the selection and breeding of animals for preferred traits. This selection has affected both the genotypes and phenotypes of animals. In dogs, it has allowed for breeding for different purposes, such as companionship or the performance of specific tasks, e.g., herding, hunting, searching and protecting. Each of these types of working dogs has specific traits that are, in part, controlled by genes; however, genes are not solely responsible for the variations in the traits of an individual. The environment also plays a role, which has been studied in rodents and primates in recent decades. For instance, it has been shown that the amount of maternal care that a rat receives as a pup affects its temperament later in life; the more maternal care, i.e., licking, grooming and arched-back nursing (LG-ABN), that a rat receives, the more stress resistant, less reactive and more explorative it will be as an adult. However, the question is whether this is also true for dogs, and the investigation of how temperament in dogs is affected by environmental factors early in life is the main objective of this thesis. Three of the studies presented in this thesis focused on investigating the general parameters, particularly maternal care, that influences offspring behaviour to contribute to the understanding of temperament development in military working dogs. One of these studies concentrated on the environmental factors that influence dogs early in life, and the results indicated that some factors, such as parity, litter size and birth season, affect temperament later in life. Another study investigated how females take care of their young, and the results demonstrated that females consistently vary in their maternal style during the first three weeks postpartum and that this variation affects the temperament of the offspring. The third study focused on factors in the home environment, and the results showed that dogs approved through the evaluative temperament test were significantly associated with being hyperactive or restless and having difficulty settling down in the home environment. However, those dogs were also left home alone for more hours in a day than non-approved dogs. To be able to operate functionally, a military working dog needs to possess certain traits, or a certain temperament, and a vital characteristic is the way it responds to and copes with stress. This was investigated during an evaluative temperament test used to select dogs suitable for further training. Surprisingly, the results showed that the dogs approved for further training had significantly higher levels of salivary cortisol both before and after the test compared with the non-approved dogs. These findings may be of profound importance for understanding individual variations in behaviour and improving breeding schemes for working dogs. / För över 15 000 år sedan började våra anfäder avla på vargar och lade då grunden för den uppsjö av olika hundraser vi ser idag. Exakt hur den här processen såg ut, när eller vart den startade vet vi faktiskt inte med säkerhet, men att vargen/hunden var det första djur att påbörja en sådan förändring, det vet vi. Att aktivt välja ut och avla på önskvärda egenskaper påverkar och förändrar gradvis djuret. Den här förändringen styrs i hög grad av gener, vilket medför att ett djurs s.k. genotyp förändras. Den här förändringsprocessen, där ett djur gradvis anpassas till ett liv som tamdjur, kallas för domesticering och innebär inte bara att djuret förändras genetiskt, utan också att den ändrar utseende och beteende, dvs. djurets fenotyp ändras också. Det är därför vi bl. a. ser så många olika hundraser som vi gör idag, allt från en liten hårlös Chihuahua till en stor raggig St. Bernard. Alla är de hundar, men de ser väldigt olika ut och har delvis olika egenskaper eller temperament. Det medför att de passar till att göra olika saker och därför också kan vara till stor nytta i samhället i allt från sällskapshunden som kan lära sig leta kantareller, till olika typer av tjänstehundar. Bra ledarhundar åt synskadade, polishundar som söker försvunna människor och narkotika, och försvarsmaktens tjänstehundar som kan förhindra angrepp eller terrorverksamhet genom att leta efter t ex. bomber och vapen - alla kan i förlängningen innebära ökad livskvalité och räddade människoliv. Men för det krävs att hunden passar för jobbet. Det är både generna, arvet och olika miljöfaktorer i den tidiga uppväxten som avgör egenskaperna hos en individ. Det är något som har visat sig gälla till exempel för råttor och primater. Studier på råttor har exempelvis pekat på att mängden omvårdnad en råtta får som liten (t ex hur mycket mamman slickar sina barn) påverkar dess egenskaper som vuxen. Och att ju mer omvårdnad de fått, desto mer stresståliga, mindre nervösa och mer nyfikna blev de. Även i studier på människor pekar resultaten i samma riktning. Men gäller detta även för våra hundar? För att öka kunskapen om och förståelsen för hur tidiga erfarenheter påverkar temperament, stress och arbetsförmåga hos våra blivande tjänstehundar i försvarsmakten har därför en rad olika studier på området genomförts. Den här avhandlingen fokuserar således på att undersöka vilka generella tidiga erfarenheter och faktorer i den tidiga uppväxtmiljön som tycks kunna vara med och påverka temperamentet hos våra tjänstehundar. Specifikt undersöker den hur tikens omvårdnad påverkar vissa egenskaper. Avhandlingen undersöker vidare hur stresståliga våra hundar är och hur detta yttrar sig i samband med de lämplighets test som hundarna genomgår i syfte att bedöma vilka individer som bör gå vidare till fortsatt träning efter ett och ett halvt års ålder. Resultaten i en studie visar att de hundar som bedömts som lämpliga vid lämplighetstestet något oväntat uppvisade ett högre påslag av stresshormonet kortisol, och i en annan studie att lämpliga hundar bedömts vara hyperaktiva/rastlösa och ha vissa svårigheter att ta det lugnt i hemmiljö. Detta samtidigt som de uppvisade en önskvärd temperamentsprofil vid uttagningsprovet, vilket kan antyda att dessa hundar är mer flexibla och motståndskraftiga mot stress, vilket skulle kunna vara resultatet av en lyckad avel. Vidare visade resultaten att det finns generella faktorer i den tidiga uppväxtmiljön, såsom tikens tidigare erfarenhet av att vara mamma, kullstorlek och när på året kullen föds, som är med och påverkar olika egenskaper. Den visar också att tikarnas sätt att ta hand om sina valpar varierade men var konsekvent under den första omvårdnadstiden på tre veckor och att det finns en koppling mellan mammans omvårdnads-stil och hur deras valpar blir som vuxna. Sammantaget visar avhandlingen att det finns faktorer i den tidiga uppväxtmiljön som påverkar temperamentet senare i livet på våra tjänstehundar. / <p>The ISBN <strong>987</strong>-91-7685-945-2 in the thesis is incorrect. Correct ISBN is <strong>978</strong>-91-7685-945-2.</p>

No description available.

Šiame darbe analizavome DEA 1.1 kraujo tipo pasiskirstymą šunų populiacijoje, kraujo morfologinių rodiklių dinamiką prieš ir po kraujo donacijos praėjus 7, 14 ir 21 dienai. Tyrimai atlikti Kauno smulkių gyvūnų veterinarijos klinikose – ,,Kauno veterinarijos praktika“ ir ,,Santakos veterinarija“, 2012 – 2013 metais. Tyrimo metu nustatyta, kad didžiąją dalį donorų sudaro patelės (67,35 proc.), tarp šunų donorų plačiau paplitęs DEA 1.1-teigiamas kraujo tipas (53,06%). Išanalizavus kraujo morfologinius rodiklius, praėjus 7, 14 ir 21 dienai po kraujo donacijos nustatėme, kad šunų kraujas į normos ribas grįžta per 14 dienų. / In this work was analyze DEA 1.1 blood type distribution in the canine population, dynamics of morphological parameters of blood before and after blood donation at 7, 14 and 21 days. The study was carried out in a small animal clinics – ,,Kauno veterinarijos praktika” and ,,Santakos veterinarija” in Kaunas, 2012 – 2013. The investigation revealed, that most of the donors is a female (67,35 proc.), between the canine donors most prevalence DEA 1.1-positive blood type (53,06%). Analysis of morphological parameters after 7, 14 and 21 days, blood donation revealed, that dog blood returns to the normal range within 14 days.

Kangal dogs are the most popular dogs of Turkey due to their strength, intelligence, loyalty, endurance to extreme temperatures and their lack of predatory behavior towards livestock. In this study to provide genetic information about the distinctness of Kangal and Akbash dogs and hence to provide a basis to conserve them separately, 585 base pair of the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region sequence was analysed in 105 Kangal and 9 Akbash dog samples. All the results indicated that Kangal and Akbash dogs were different from each other. Comparison of the Turkish data with those from other dogs revealed that Kangal dogs harbour a rare haplogroup which is only seen in Scandinavian (36%), Portuguese (20%), Turkish (20%) dogs and only one Spanish dog, but not in Akbash, Middle Eastern, other European, Eastern Asian and Indian dogs. Furthermore, comparison of the Kangal and Akbash dogs with the dogs from different geographic regions indicated that Kangal dogs are genetically closer to Scandinavian and South West Asian dogs whereas Akbash dogs are more similar to European and East Asian dogs, based on the mtDNA control region sequences Today, the sizes of Kangal and especially Akbash populations are decreasing. An urgent program for their conservation is needed. In order to conserve them separately, it must be understood that these two dogs are genetically distinct. That is why, the main purpose of the present study is to provide genetic information about the distinctness of Kangal and Akbash dogs.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:32:54Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2006-07-07Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T19:26:23Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 dossi_acs_me_jabo.pdf: 247848 bytes, checksum: 85bd25465d561a1526cea385be01c24d (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / O cão é o principal reservatório da Leishmania (Leishmania) chagasi, o parasita responsável pela Leishmaniose Visceral (LV) nas Américas. Na (LV) estudos em modelos experimentais, têm mostrado diferenças na resposta imunológica entre macho e fêmea. Na (L VC) tais estudos, não foram realizados. Este trabalho investigou em cães assintomáticos machos e fêmeas, naturalmente infectados por Leishmania (L.) chagasi, os níveis séricos de IgG contra antígenos totais de Leishmania, o nível de IL-10 e IFN-y, no sobrenadante do extrato do baço e fígado, e a citocina regulatória TGF-j3 no sobrenadante do extrato do baço e fígado, e sua produção natural no sobrenadante de cultura de células esplênicas. Os níveis de anticorpos anti-L. (L.) chagasi da classe IgG nos cães assintomáticos machos e fêmeas, não apresentaram diferença significativa entre o sexo. O nível de IL-10 mostrou-se elevado, no sobrenadante do extrato do fígado em cães infectados machos e fêmeas assintomáticos e apresentou dominância marcante em relação às outras citocinas. O nível do TGF-j3 mostrou-se aumentado no extrato do baço. O nível de IFN-y no baço dos grupos avaliados foi quantitativamente menor que as citocinas IL-10 e TGF-B. diferindo do observado no fígado onde foi observado uma baixa produção de TGF-j3 em relação ao IFN-y. No baço, o IFN-y apresentou diferença significativa em fêmeas assintomáticas quando comparadas com os machos assintomáticos. A observação da predominância das citocinas TGF-j3 no baço, e IL-10 no baço e fígado, em modelo ex vivo, sugere uma polarização da resposta imunológica para o padrão Th2 em cães naturalmente infectados por Leishmania (L.) chagasi. / The dog is the main reservoir of Leíshmanía (Leíshmanía) chagasí, the parasite responsible for Visceral Leishmaniasis (VL) in the Americas. Experimental studies on VL have shown differences in the immune response of males and females. Such studies have not been carried out on canine visceral leishmaniasis. This study investigated the seric levei of IgG against Leíshmanía total antigens, the levels of IL-10 and IFN-y in the supernatant of spleen and liver extracts, the regulatory cytokine TGF-131 in the supernatant of spleen and liver extracts, and its natural production in the supernatant of spleen cell culture, in male and female asymptomatic dogs naturally infected by Leíshmanía (L.) chagasi. The levels of anti-L. (L.) chagasí IgG antibodies in male and female asymptomatic dogs did not differ significantly between the sexes. IL-10 levei was high in the supernatant of the liver extract of male and female asymptomatic infected dogs and predominated over the other cytokines. TGF-131 levei was increased in the spleen extract. The levei of IFN-y in the spleen of the group evaluated was quantitatively lower than the IL-10 and TGF-131 cytokine levels, different from what was observed in the liver, where a low productíon of TGF-131 was observed when compared to IFN-y. In the spleen, IFN-y presented a significant difference in the asymptomatic females when compared to the asymptomatic males. The observation of a predominance of TGF-131 cytokines in the spleen and of IL-10 in the spleen and liver of an ex vívo model suggests a polarization of the immune response towards the Th2 pattern in dogs naturally infected by Leíshmanía (L.) chagasí.

No description available.