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.

Foram utilizados trinta cães do sexo masculino, da raça Pastor Alemão, adultos de diferentes idades. Os animais foram doados por Centros de Controle de Zoonoses, consultórios, clínicas e hospitais veterinários dos municípios de São Paulo (SP) e Petrolina (PE), sendo que os animais eram necropsiados no próprio local de coleta, onde eram previamente pesados e mensurados. Inicialmente, promovíamos uma incisão única, da região mentoniana ao períneo. As cavidades craniana, oral, torácica, abdominal e pélvica eram abertas, expondo seus respectivos órgãos, que tinham suas dimensões determinadas com o auxílio de paquímetro milimetrado e/ou fita métrica milimetrada, enquanto sua massa era aferida com o uso de balança analítica de precisão digital. Os resultados foram tabulados, os animais separados em três grupos, conforme as dimensões de altura e comprimento corporais, promoveu-se o teste de correlação linear de Pearson, sendo que com todas as variáveis que correlacionaram-se, efetuou-se as análises de variâncias para determinar a existência de diferença entre as médias. Foram cruzadas as variáveis dos órgãos com os parâmetros corporais e com a idade, além de confrontar dados referentes aos próprios órgãos e destes com órgãos homólogos ou com seus pares, como é o caso do globo ocular, dos lobos tireoideanos, dos rins, das glândulas adrenais, dos ureteres, dos testículos, dos ductos deferentes e dos lobos pancreáticos. Com relação aos dados corporais, obteve-se correlação significativa entre altura e comprimento corporais (resultado que demonstra padrão de longilinidade, onde seu esquadro corporal de perfil mostra-se retangular, sendo que quanto mais alto é o animal, mais longo ele será), altura corporal e altura do tórax, comprimento corporal e altura do tórax, altura corporal e altura abdominal, comprimento corporal e altura abdominal, largura do tórax e largura abdominal, altura corporal e altura da cabeça, comprimento corporal e altura da cabeça, largura do tórax e largura da cabeça, e altura abdominal com altura da cabeça. Com relação à organologia, foram obtidas as seguintes correlações: altura do globo ocular direito com altura do globo ocular esquerdo, comprimento do globo ocular direito com comprimento do globo ocular esquerdo, massa do globo ocular direito com massa do globo ocular esquerdo, altura com comprimento laríngeos, comprimento com largura laríngeos, comprimento com massa laríngeos, largura com massa laríngeos, altura com comprimento cardíacos, altura com massa cardíacas, comprimento com massa cardíacos, altura com largura da traquéia, comprimento com largura da traquéia, altura com massa da traquéia, largura com massa da traquéia, altura da traquéia com altura corporal, altura traqueal com comprimento corporal, comprimento da traquéia com altura corporal, largura traqueal com altura corporal, largura da traquéia com comprimento corporal, massa traqueal com comprimento corporal, altura com largura diafragmáticas, altura com massa diafragmáticas, largura com massa diafragmáticas, espessura com massa do fígado, comprimento com massa do duodeno descendente, massa do duodeno descendente com altura corporal, comprimento com massa do baço, espessura do lobo pancreático direito com espessura do lobo pancreático esquerdo, altura da glândula adrenal direita com altura da glândula adrenal esquerda, comprimento da glândula adrenal direita com altura da glândula adrenal esquerda, largura da glândula adrenal direita com largura da glândula adrenal esquerda, massa da glândula adrenal direita com massa da glândula adrenal esquerda, altura do rim direito com altura do rim esquerdo, comprimento do rim direito com comprimento do rim esquerdo, largura do rim direito com largura do rim esquerdo, massa do rim esquerdo com comprimento do rim direito, massa do rim direito com massa do rim esquerdo, comprimento do ureter direito com altura corporal, comprimento do ureter direito com comprimento corporal, diâmetro do ureter direito com diâmetro do ureter esquerdo, massa do ureter direito com massa do ureter esquerdo, largura com massa prostáticas, espessura da glande com espessura da raiz e do corpo penianos, altura do testículo esquerdo com altura do testículo direito, comprimento do testículo direito com comprimento do testículo esquerdo, comprimento do ducto deferente direito com comprimento do ducto deferente esquerdo, diâmetro do ducto deferente direito com diâmetro do ducto deferente esquerdo, massa do ducto deferente direito com massa do ducto deferente esquerdo. / They made use of 30 dogs, male, breed: German Shepherd, adults from different ages. The donation of the animals were done by Zoonoses, clinics, offices and veterinarian hospitals in São Paulo(SP) and Petrolinea (PE), being necropsyed at the same place of their collect where they were previously weighted and listed. Inicially was done just one incision from mentoniana to perineum. The skull cavity, oral, chest, abdominal and pelvic were opened exposing their respectives organs, that had their dimensons detemined by the auxiliary of a paquimeter and/or a millimetered measuring tape, while its mass was compared by the use of corporal lenght was done a linear correlation test of Pearson, as with all of the changeablewhich were correlated, the analyses were done by variancies. To determine the existence between the médium average difference. It was crossed the changeable of the organ to the corporal parameters in relation to the age, besides confronting the data referent to the own organs and from these to homologo organs or with their pairs, as the use of eye bail tireoideans lobes, kidneys, adicional glands, ureters, testicles from different ductos and pancreatics lobes. Refering to the corporal data, they obtained significative correlation between corporal height and lenght. Results that shows pattern of longilinity, where its outline corporal square shows itself retangular, as taller the animal is as longer it will be,corporal height, chest height, corporal lenght and chest height, corporal height and abdominal height, chest and abdominal width, corporal and head height, chest and head width, abdominal and head height. Referent to organologic , they obtained the following correlations: right eye bail height with left eye bail height, right eye bail lenght with left eye bail lenght,right eye bail mass with left eye bail mass, laringean lenght, laringeans lenght and width, lenght with laringeans mass, width with laringeos mass, height with cardiac lenght, height with cardiac mass, windpipe width, lenght width windpipe, height with windpipe mass, width with windpipe mass, height windpipe with corporal height, windpipe width with corporal lenght, windpipe mass with corporal lenght, diafragmatics height and width, height abd diafragmatic mass, width with diafragmatic mass. Thickness with mass descendent duodeno with corporal height, spleen mass, right panceatic lobe, thickness with left pancreatic lobe thickness, right adrenal gland height with left adrenal gland height, right adrenal gland lenght with left adrenal gland lenght, right adrenal gland width with left adrenal gland width, right adrenal gland mass with left adrenal gland mass, right kidney height with left kidney height, right kidney lenght with left kidney lenght, right kidney width with left kidney width, left kidney mass with right lidney lenght, right kidney mass with with left kidneymass, rightureter lenght mass, prostatic width mass, thickness of the gland with thickness root of the penial body, with the right ureter lenght with corporal lenght, right ureter diameter with left ureter diameter, right ureter mass with left testicle height with right testicle height, right testicle lenght with left testicle lenght, right deferent duct lenght, diameter of the right deferent duct with diameter of the left deferent duct lenght, mass of the right deferent duct with mass of the deferent duct.

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>