Die neurologische Untersuchung stellt die Grundlage der klinischen Neurologie dar und führt durch die Festlegung einer Neurolokalisation (neuroanatomischen Diagnose) zur Eingrenzung eines Krankheitsprozesses auf eine bestimmte Region im Nervensystem. Basierend auf der Neurolokalisation erfolgt die weitere klinische Aufarbeitung des Patienten wie die Erstellung einer Liste an möglichen Differentialdiagnosen und notwendigen diagnostischen Maßnahmen zum Nachweis der Erkrankung im Nervensystem. In der veterinärmedizinischen Literatur existieren zum jetzigen Zeitpunkt nur wenige Angaben über die Genauigkeit der festgelegten Neurolokalisation. Die wenigen vorliegenden Studien analysierten zudem lediglich die Genauigkeit der Neurolokalisation in ausgewählten Segmenten des Nervensystems. Das Ziel dieser prospektiven Studie war es daher, das Ergebnis der neurologischen Untersuchung (Neurolokalisation) mit dem Ergebnis weiterführender diagnostischer Maßnahmen zu vergleichen und dabei die Genauigkeit der Neurolokalisation zu ermitteln. Weiterhin wurde untersucht, ob Faktoren wie die Körpermasse des Patienten, die klinische Erfahrung des Untersuchers und die Lokalisation im Nervensystem einen Einfluss auf den Grad der Übereinstimmung zwischen Neurolokalisation und tatsächlich ermittelter Lokalisation der Läsion haben. Es wurde bei 214 Hunden verschiedener Hunderassen eine vollständige neurologische Untersuchung durch einen Tierarzt aus der Abteilung Neurologie der Klinik für Kleintiere durchgeführt. Mit Hilfe der neurologischen Untersuchung wurde bei jedem Tier eine Neurolokalisation festgelegt. Danach erfolgte die diagnostische Aufarbeitung jedes Patienten der Studie in der Klinik für Kleintiere zum Nachweis einer Läsion im Nervensystem. Im Anschluss an die Diagnostik wurde die Übereinstimmung zwischen der festgelegten Neurolokalisation und der nachgewiesene Lokalisation der Läsion ermittelt. Bei den 214 Hunden wurden, resultierend aus der neurologischen Untersuchung, insgesamt 237 Neurolokalisationen im gesamten Nervensystem festgelegt. Mit Hilfe der diagnostischen Maßnahmen konnten bei den 214 Hunden 221 Läsionen im gesamten Nervensystem nachgewiesen werden. Die allgemeine Übereinstimmung zwischen festgelegter Neurolokalisation und nachgewiesener Lokalisation der Läsion lag bei 71 Prozent. Bei 13 Prozent (27/214) der untersuchten Hunde stimmte die Neurolokalisation nicht mit der Lokalisation der Läsion überein. Bei 16 Prozent (35/214) der Patienten konnte keine Läsion im Nervensystem mit Hilfe der diagnostischen Maßnahmen ermittelt werden. Dies bedeutete nicht, dass der Patient keine neurologische Erkrankung hatte, sondern vielmehr dass eine Reihe von neurologischen Erkrankungen existieren, die selbst mit modernster Technik nicht nachweisbar sind. Anhand der Untersuchungen der vorliegenden Arbeit wurde festgestellt, dass die klinische Erfahrung des Untersuchers und die Körpermasse des Patienten keinen Einfluss auf die Übereinstimmung zwischen Neurolokalisation und in der Diagnostik nachgewiesener Lokalisation der Läsion hatten. Das Rückenmarksegment Th3-L3 erwies sich als Lokalisation mit der höchsten Übereinstimmung zwischen neuroanatomischer Diagnose (Neurolokalisation) und Lokalisation der Läsion. Schlussfolgernd aus den Ergebnissen dieser Arbeit kann man sagen, dass die Neurolokalisation mit einer Genauigkeit von 71 Prozent eine relativ verlässliche Grundlage für die weitere diagnostische Aufarbeitung eines Patienten ist. Jedoch hat diese Arbeit auch Schwachstellen der neurologischen Untersuchung aufgedeckt. So war beispielsweise die Untersuchung des Flexorreflexes der Vorder- und Hintergliedmaßen zur Festlegung der Neurolokalisation im Bereich der vier Rückenmarkssegmente eine nicht zu unterschätzende Fehlerquelle. Diese Erkenntnis sollte sich in Zukunft auf eine Ausweitung der diagnostischen Maßnahmen im Falle eines fehlenden Nachweises einer Läsion auswirken. Die Ergebnisse dieser Studie zeigen außerdem, dass die Grundkenntnis über die Funktionalität der einzelnen anatomischen Strukturen des Nervensystems sowie die intensive Kenntnis über die Grundelemente der neurologischen Untersuchung ausreichend sind für eine zuverlässige Festlegung der Neurolokalisation.

The thesis deals with the presence of a dog in the city, specifically in the public space and the research itself is aimed at negotiating "more than human" public space. The presence of animals in the human world causes conflicts about the "right" place of this animal, whether is place conceptual or physical. The work takes the form of a case study, where I chose for research borough of Prague 2 and on particular cases of negotiation, I watched how each party tries to affect a form of public space. Through qualitative analysis I uncover the key points of negotiation by which I learn how the different parties understand the presence of a dog in a public space, on what basis is constantly negotiates form of residence and movement of the dog in this specific area. I have used several techniques of qualitative research, especially analysis of available documents, semi-structured interviews and participant observation. Data was analyzed using open coding. In the end the thesis answers to research questions, formulate recommendations and open debate.

In recent twenty years dogs have become model subjects of comparing studies. These experiments show us that specific cognitive skills have developed during their domestication as an adaptation to anthropomorphic environment. For example dogs can follow human gaze and understand gestures. An important topic of today researches are linguistic skills of dogs. Knowledge from this area would help to discover more from evolution processes which formed human language. Last studies have proven dogs can distinguish a new object by a fast mapping. But when distinguishing two new objects, dogs had problems. That is why I decided to verify if dogs are able to remember two new words and match them with correct objects during one session. For this experiment I worked on a new methodical procedure and used three border collies dogs. The results showed that after some training dogs were able to correctly distinguish two new words in case the experimentalist stood in front of them and they used multisenzorial perception. In case they had only one communication source (visual or acoustic), they made more mistakes. The results show that functional reactions of dogs to human vocalization are getting better if they can use visual and acoustic source in one time during an interspecies communication. Key words: dog,...

This master thesis introduces a form of volunteering which is not well known to the public, so-called puppy raising of guide dogs for the visually impaired. This phenomenon is introduced on the background of a comparison of two civil society service organizations, one based in the Czech Republic and the other in the United States of America. These organizations both come from a different type of civil society but have many similarities as well. At the end of this thesis, the results found through qualitative research are presented, where these data were gained through interviews, documents, but also by participatory observation directly in the respective organizations.

From birth and throughout their lives, dogs experience a variety of potentially stressful stimuli. Early neurologic stimulation (ENS) is believed to improve the ability of animals to handle stress, however its effects on dogs have not yet been fully explored. This study aimed to evaluate the effects and potential welfare implications of providing ENS to puppies in commercial breeding kennels. Seventy-six puppies, comprising two cohorts in one kennel were studied. Puppies were assigned to one of three treatment groups: ENS, held, or control, and then were marked for identification, and handled daily Monday through Saturday for 21 days, beginning on day three post-partum. ENS puppies received five “Bio Sensor” exercises (Battaglia, 2009). Puppies in the held treatment group were held for 30 seconds, which was the same length of time that was required to apply the Bio Sensor exercises to ENS treated puppies. Control puppies received identification marks daily and health assessments weekly, but otherwise were handled as normal for the breeder’s management plan. To evaluate treatment effects on physical health, all puppies received physical health assessments weekly, and additionally before and after transport to a distributor. To evaluate effects of treatment on behavioral responses to stressors, puppies were assessed shortly before and after transport (a known stressor), using three stranger approach tests and a 3-minute isolation test. Puppies were found to be generally healthy and clean throughout the study. A three-way interaction was observed between treatment, sex, and week of life, which affected puppies’ weights over the first eight weeks of life at the breeder’s kennel prior to the application of stressors (<i>p</i> = 0.006). Female ENS puppies were found to weigh more than their held and control counterparts, while for male puppies, held and control puppies weighed more than ENS puppies. A two-way interaction was observed between treatment and isolation on behavior for a single step of the multi-step stranger approach test performed at the breeder’s kennel (<i>p</i> = 0.025). While more puppies showed affiliative behavioral responses to the experimenter reaching for them after isolation than before, the change was greater in ENS and held treatment groups than controls. Treatment also directly affected the time puppies spent performing fearful behavior during the isolation test (<i>p</i> = 0.041). Handled puppies spent more time performing fearful behaviors than control puppies. No other significant effects of treatment were observed for the behavioral or physical health parameters measured. However, the finding that ENS and held-groups tended to show greater increases in the number of puppies displaying affiliative behavior than controls (though it was only significant for one step) suggests that handling treatments primed puppies to view people as a form of social support during stress. The additional finding that ENS and held group puppies spent more time performing fearful behaviors (e.g., escape attempts, low postures) during isolation than control puppies, further supports this theory. While these results do not support the purported effects of ENS, they indicate that early handling may still benefit puppies by providing them positive interactions with humans. These interactions potentially prime developing puppies to view humans as safe sources of social support, perhaps increasing their likelihood of forming secure attachments with people later in life. Further, findings from this study suggest that simply holding puppies daily for short periods may be sufficient to produce beneficial effects. Future studies should incorporate measures of recovery in response to stress testing puppies receiving ENS treatment and should consider evaluating ENS in conjunction with attachment theory to provide more information on the potential welfare effects of early handling of puppies in commercial breeding and other kennel types.

For about 14 000 years ago the domestication of the wolf, Canis lupus, began. This initiated the extensive work of breeding that resulted in man´s best friend, the dog. Its Latin name, Canis lupus familiaris, clearly shows how close they stand us people today. The Swedish Kennel Club has 343 registered breeds which are very different from each other in terms of the exterior, but also behaviourally. The behavioural differences in adult dogs of different breeds are commonly known. Something that is still in dispute is when these differences begin to manifest in the dog´s life. In this study two interview investigations were conducted with the aim to see whether distinct behavioural differences between breeds could be identified in the puppy stage. The breeds that were included in the study were American Staffordshire terrier, Border collie and Whippet. Two questionnaires were designed. One was sent to breeders because they were considered to have the most experience of the breeds in question. The other questionnaire was sent to veterinarians to get a more objective picture of the puppies’ behaviour. The results from the breeders showed that there was a statistically significant difference between the American Staffordshire terrier and Whippet puppies in their curiosity and the way they behaved socially. The outcome of the study is very interesting because it could mean that the breeding not only affects the behaviours of the adult dogs, but also the behavioural patterns of puppies. The results from the veterinarians showed that there was no difference between the breeds. The difference in results between the two groups could be due to the fact that different questions were asked, they have different preferences for the breeds, meet them in different environments, for different lengths of time or other sources of error. Further studies in this area are needed to investigate when the differences, which give dogs the title of the most varied species ethologically speaking, begin to appear.

L’identification des mutations génétiques impliquées dans les maladies rares est un prérequis pour mieux les comprendre, les traiter et accompagner les patients. Pour se faire, des modèles animaux présentant des maladies spontanées homologues aux maladies humaines sont très prometteurs. Le chien développe spontanément des maladies génétiques, rares chez l’Homme, mais fréquentes dans certaines races de chiens, ce qui simplifie les analyses génétiques. Ma thèse a porté sur deux maladies neurologiques : l’épilepsie et la neuropathie. Pour l’épilepsie, l’objectif était d’identifier des variants génétiques à partir de données de génotypage et de séquençage de génomes complets de deux races canines prédisposées. Un locus lié à la maladie a été identifié dans une race et des variants ponctuels et structuraux candidats ont été identifiés dans les deux races et sont en cours de validation par séquençage ciblé. Pour la neuropathie, l’équipe avait identifié une mutation en amont du gène GDNF, responsable d’une neuropathie sensitive chez des chiens de chasse. J’ai participé à la validation fonctionnelle de cette mutation. De plus, GDNF étant un excellent gène candidat pour les neuropathies humaines, j’ai séquencé ce gène chez 111 patients et extrait les variants de GDNF d’une base de données d’exomes et de génomes de plus de 600 patients. J’ai ainsi identifié 21 variants rares ou inconnus et les ai priorisé selon leurs impacts prédits in silico. Ces deux projets, alliant analyses génétiques, génomiques et fonctionnelles, chez l’homme et le chien, montrent le potentiel du chien pour l’identification de gènes candidats dans des maladies rares et/ou complexes chez l’Homme. / The identification of genetic mutations involved in rare diseases is a prerequisite for a better understanding, therapies and care to patients. To this aim, animal models declaring spontaneous diseases, homologous to human diseases are very promising. Dogs spontaneously develop genetic diseases, rare in humans, but frequent in some dog breeds, which simplifies the genetic analyzes. My thesis focused on two neurological diseases: epilepsy and neuropathy. For epilepsy, the goal was to identify genetic variants from genotyping data and sequencing of whole genome of dogs from two predisposed breeds. A disease-related locus has been identified in one breed and candidate point mutations and structural variants were identified in the two breeds and are being validated by targeted sequencing. For neuropathy, the team previously identified a mutation upstream of the GDNF gene, responsible for sensory neuropathy in hunting dogs. I participated to the functional validation of this mutation. In addition, GDNF being an excellent candidate gene for human neuropathies, I sequenced this gene in 111 patients and extracted GDNF variants from a database of exomes and genomes from more than 600 patients. I identified 21 rare or unknown variants and prioritized them according to their in silico predicted impacts. These two projects, combining genetics, genomics and functional analyses, in humans and dogs, show the dog's potential for identifying candidate genes in rare and / or complex diseases in humans.

Orientador: Márcio Garcia Ribeiro / Resumo: O estreitamento da relação entre tutores e animais de companhia, nas últimas décadas, aumentou consideravelmente o risco de transmissão de patógenos dos animais para os humanos. A microbiota da cavidade oral de animais de companhia é polimicrobiana e estes agentes podem potencialmente infectar humanos pelas mordeduras ou contato direto com mucosas ou feridas de pele. No entanto, são escassas as informações sobre a identificação destes micro-organismos por técnicas moleculares (microbioma, proteômica). Ainda, o perfil de sensibilidade microbiana in vitro da microbiota bacteriana bucal de cães e a etiologia dos agentes envolvidos em mordeduras em humanos não são completamente elucidados, posto que muitos cães são errantes e evadem após a agressão. Com efeito, o presente estudo investigou a presença de agentes de origem bacteriana e fúngica na cavidade oral de 100 cães hígidos por técnicas de cultivo microbiano convencional, sequenciamento genético em larga escala (microbioma) e espectrometria de massas (MALDI-TOF MS), bem como investigou o perfil de sensibilidade/resistência in vitro dos isolados. Foram identificados 213 micro-organismos de origem bacteriana e 20 de origem fúngica. Os agentes bacterianos mais prevalentes no diagnóstico microbiológico e espectrometria de massas foram Staphylococcus pseudintermedius (40/100=40%), Streptococcus α-hemolítico (37/100=37%) e Pasteurella stomatis (22/100=22%). O gênero de fungo mais prevalente foi Aspergillus (10/100=10%). Imipenem (2... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: The close relationship between humans and companion animals in recent decades has strongly increased the risk of transmission of pathogens from pets-to-humans. The microbiota of the oral cavity from companion animals is polymicrobial and these agents may potentially infect humans through bites or by direct contact with mucous membranes or cutaneous lesions. Nonetheless, the identification of these microorganisms by molecular techniques (microbiome, proteomics) is scarce. Besides, the in vitro microbial susceptibility pattern of oral bacterial microbiota from dogs and the etiology of agents involved in human bites are not fully understood, since many dogs are homeless and/or evade after aggression. The present study investigated the presence of bacterial and fungal agents in the oral cavity of 100 healthy dogs based on conventional microbiological culture, large-scale DNA sequencing (microbiome), and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS). In vitro antimicrobial susceptibility profile of the isolates was assessed as well. A total of 213 bacterial and 20 fungal microorganisms were identified. The most prevalent bacterial agents diagnosed by microbiological culture and mass spectrometry were Staphylococcus pseudintermedius (40/100=40%), α-hemolytic Streptococcus (37/100=37%), and Pasteurella stomatis (22/100=22%), whereas the most common genus of fungi was Aspergillus (10/100=10%). Imipenem (207/213=97.2%), ceftiofur (196/213=... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre

Studiens syfte har varit att beskriva och förstå hur samvaro med hund kan bidra till att öka ungdomars välbefinnande, samhörighet och självkänsla. Studien har utgått från en etnografisk metodansats där två observationer genomförts på en hundkurs för ungdomar i en kommun i Sverige. Observationerna har kompletterats med dagboksanteckningar från ungdomarna samt intervjuer med kursinstruktörerna. Resultatet visar på att samvaro med hund kan bidra till ökad känsla av välbefinnande, samhörighet och självkänsla. Hunden kan genom sin närvaro skapa trygghet och fungera som stöd i sociala interaktioner där hunden blir ett givet samtalsämne, vilket ökar både välbefinnandet och samvaron mellan ungdomarna. När hunden och ungdomen lyckas med olika övningar tillsammans ökar ungdomens självkänsla samtidigt som hunden kan användas för att ge ungdomarna verktyg att ändra sin inställning till sig själv samt sin prestation. Utifrån resultatet har slutsatsen dragits att samvaro med hund bidrar till flertalet positiva effekter, såväl psykiskt som fysiskt. Därför anses det vara en god idé att utöka användandet av hunden i förebyggande arbete för bättre välmående. / The study aims to describe and understand how being together with a dog can help increase the well-being, fellowship and self-esteem of youths. This study has been based on an ethnographic methodology where two observations was conducted on a dog course for youths in a municipality in Sweden. The observations have been supplemented with diary notes from the youths as well as interviews with the instructors of the course. The results show that being together with a dog can contribute to an increased sense of well-being, fellowship and self-esteem. The dog can, through its presence, create security and act as support in social interactions where the dog becomes a given topic of conversation, which increases both the well-being and the fellowship between the youths. When the dog and youth succeed in various exercises together, the youth's self-esteem increases while the dog can be used to give the youths tools to change their attitude towards themselves and their performance. Based on the results, it has been concluded that coexistence with dogs contribute to many positive effects, both psychologically and physically. Therefore, it is considered a good idea to increase the use of the dog in preventive work regarding better well-being.

Studiens syfte var att undersöka om och hur pedagoger upplevde vilka effekter läshundar hade på elevers motivation för läsning i lågstadiet. Syftet var dessutom att ta reda på vilka sätt dessa pedagoger uppfattade effekterna. Läshundar ska hjälpa elever att utveckla sin läsning och bidra till elevers motivation till att läsa. Eleverna läser högt för läshunden och hunden finns där för att uppmuntra eleverna till lärande. Tidigare forskning (Friedmann, Katcher, Thomas, Lynch &amp; Messent, 1983, s. 461) visade att hundar kunde påverka människan genom att dämpa stress och ångest.Som metod tillämpades en kvalitativ intervjustudie med fyra pedagoger. Då den tidigare forskningen i Sverige var begränsad och antalet personer med koppling till läshundar var få, resulterade det i fyra deltagare i studien. Under utförandet av studien pågick även virusutbrottet Covid-19, vilket försvårade urvalet av deltagare.Med fokus på intrinsic motivation, som är en del av teorin SDT (self determination theory), (Deci, Ryan, 2000, s. 69) och läsmotivation (Bråten, 2008, s.75) applicerades två motivationsteorier för att analysera resultatet. Med hjälp av definitioner på dessa begrepp behandlades resultatet utifrån dessa teorier.Resultatet visade att pedagogerna ansåg att läshundar påverkade elevers motivation för läsning. Detta synliggjordes genom att eleverna blev engagerade, nyfikna och kände en glädje till att läsa för hunden. Pedagogerna upplevde att elevernas mående, beteende och inställning till läsning hade förbättrats. Dessutom upplevde pedagogerna att läshundenhjälpte eleverna att göra framsteg i sin läsutveckling med hjälp av deras inre motivation.Resultatet i denna studie pekar på att läshundar ökar elevers motivation för att läsa. Studien visade även att det behövs mer forskning för att göra resultatet generaliserbart. Detta på grund av att denna studie har gjorts i en begränsad omfattning. I likhet med tidigare forskning visade pedagogernas intervjusvar att det finns en tydlig uppfattning om att läshundar kan fungera som ett hjälpande verktyg i skolan.Författarna av denna uppsats ansvarar för olika delar av studien. Lina Fransson ansvarar för analysen av intervjusvaren från pedagog a och b, samt kapitel 6: Metod. Tilda Nordenholm ansvarar för analysen av intervjusvaren från pedagog c och d, samt kapitel 3: Tidigare forskning. De andra delarna av uppsatsen har författarna ett gemensamt ansvar över.