The Other End of the Leash

Patricia McConnell, Ph.D., a Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist, has made a lifelong commitment to improving the relationship between people and animals.

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Wowser: 2018 Canine Science Initiative Rocks

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HOLY MOLY dog lovers, did you get a chance to watch any of SPARCS 2018?  (No worries if you missed it, because we all can watch it (and for free, no kidding) in a week or so through it’s new sponsor, the National Canine Research Council.

SPARCS stands for The Society for the Promotion of Applied Research in Canine Science, and is a three-day, live-streamed conference in which animal behavior scientists “present, discuss and debate their findings” in an accessible style. Best of all to me, the format includes lots of Q&A and discussions between the presenters and the community of dog lovers who are watching.

This is absolute heaven for any of us who have experienced the best of academia—cutting edge research, honest discussions of what we know and what we don’t know, and lots of Q&A after each presentation, hosted by the ever-brilliant Julie Hecht (Dog Spies) and Mia Cobb (Do You Believe in Dog?). Don’t be intimidated by the presenters (awesome) and this year’s topic (canine behavioral genetics). Although genetics can be uh, dense, these accessible presentations are a great opportunity to catch up on new discoveries about the genetics of behavior, which are coming at us as fast as a teenage Labrador off leash for the first time.

I was out of town for much of the weekend, and missed most of it, but that’s okay, because we all can watch it (for free) in a week or so through it’s new sponsor, the National Canine Research Council. Kudos to the Council for taking this on, and especially for providing the information free for everyone and anyone.

Did you watch any of it? If so, tell us what you found most interesting. If you missed it, and to whet your appetite, here are just a few things you could have learned if you’d been able to watch the whole thing:

From Jessica Hekman, DVM, PhD, a specialist in stress hormones, we learned why, in both evolutionary and physiological terms, pregnant dogs should not be so coddled that they live in a bubble, but if over stressed, can create pups that grow up with little resilience. And did you know that stress has the strongest effect on the pups in mid to middle-late pregnancy? (Please, no pregnant females in shelters, she suggests.) She gave a great presentation on the effects of stress on early development. It’s a subject I know a bit about, and I still learned a lot.

Claire Wade, PhD, who began her career in quantitative genetics before making the leap to genomics (I had to look that up), caused me to abandon packing for awhile when I heard the words “different types of working Kelpies,” and “the genetics related to traits that make a sheepdog better at gathering large fields or working in the pens”. She explained that handlers argue to her (I can hear them myself) “Why do this research? We already know that some lines have more power and guts, and others do better doing independent work that takes more finesse than push?”  But her argument is sound: There is a lot to learn when looking for genetic markers for traits that appear to have a genetic component. This is a fantastic opportunity to begin to push the boundaries of what we know about the influences on certain observable behaviors–most likely a combination of genetics and early development.

The other presenters were:

Adam Miklosi, PhD, DSc, founder of the Family Dog Project, covered the research comparing modern wolves and dogs, highlighting the enormous differences in their interactions with people. His discussion of breed selection illustrated that even though small genetic differences can cause measurable effects, the environment can mitigate them. (Bottom line of just about everything I’ve heard lately re genetics: Genes/Environment/Genes/Environment–the interactions between these two factors are constant and pervasive.)
Kristopher Irizarry, PhD, is the Director of the Applied Genomics Center at Western University, where he specializes in decoding the behavioral and anatomical information coded in genomics. Some of his previous work involved identifying specific gene sequences that made individual humans susceptible to depression, and that might lead to improvement treatment paradigms based on an individual’s genetic code. I can’t wait to hear his discussion about genetics and selection, and to listen to his mantra: “Genotype + Environment = Phenotype”. (Is this beginning to sound familiar?)
Kelly Ballantyne, DVM, DACVB, is a Board Certified Applied Veterinary Behaviorist practicing at the University of Illinois, and is especially interested in the impact of pet behavioral problems on their owners. I look forward to listening to her talk on all the ways that the physical appearance of a dog tells us little about its temperament, and that making false assumptions based on breed appearance often has a negative impact on canine welfare and human safety.

Elinor Karlsson, PhD, is an assistant professor in bioinformatics and integrative biology at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. She is particularly interested in diseases shared by humans and dogs. She also initiated the Darwin’s Dogs project,  which I’ll be joining myself in the near future. I love that she flat out said “This is complicated” when taking about trying to understand heritability and genetics” but inspires us all to do just that.

I haven’t begun to list everything these impressive people have done, (for more, see SPARCS-2018) but I hope it’s clear that this is a rare opportunity to learn from people at the cutting edge of behavioral genetic science. Lucky us!

MEANWHILE, back on the farm: Finally good weather! Yay!  After brutal heat and humidity, we got a bit of a break. Whew. Jim and I took a 24-hour vacation from the farm and stayed in downtown Madison on Saturday night. We had a great time being tourists in our own home town. I highly recommend it! Here’s view of Lake Mendota from the Monona Terrace:

Here is the flock streaming down the hill after I called them. Look how the lambs have grown!

 Sheep have bad hair days too:

 

 

 

 

xxxxx

Comments

  1. It’s called a location, staying in town and going out like a tourist. It’s so fun. We did it one year for our birthdays when one of the dogs was too frail to travel. We stayed home and went to attractions and restaurants we wouldn’t normally go to as “locals.” Gives a new perspective.

    I just watched Jessica Hekman’s talk last night. She makes genetics very accessible. She also has a great blog called the Dog Zombie [http://dogzombie.blogspot.com].

    I can’t wait to see the rest of SPARCS over time. So grateful for this resource. Thank you to whomever is putting this up for us all to access.

  2. Yay! I *love* the National Canine Research Council and all they’ve done to highlight and clarify population-level reports on aggressive behavior and bites (and, by extension, have helped dogs like my own, who would likely be profiled as a “dangerous dog” based on appearance in some jurisdictions). Very glad they’re sponsoring this.

  3. I was able to watch on Sunday all day. Loved Dr. Hekman’s and Dr. Ballantyne’s talks. I took a lot of notes which I’ll have to review again. My brain filled up pretty fast 😉 I look forward to watching the ones I missed. As usual, SPARCS rocked!

  4. Since summer is just around the corner, I would like to recommend a great summer read. Outside of all the amazing books by Dr.Trisha, a new book by Dr. Marc Berkoff called CANINE CONFIDENTIAL: WHY DOGS DO WHAT THEY DO.

    I am reading it now and I think it is wonderful! I hope before too long , that Dr. Trisha will share with us her take on it, too.

  5. I HOPE not ‘Wowser’ 🙁

    “Wowser” is a term that originated as a slang expression; it is most commonly heard in Australian and New Zealand English. “Wowser” refers to a person who seeks to deprive others of behaviour deemed to be immoral or “sinful”.

  6. Well Wowsers! (Which is what I should have said!) It turns out that “wowser” indeed is a name for a killjoy, while ‘wowsers,” with an s at the end, is an expression of delight or surprise. Ah, the wonderful things I learn through the blog!!! Thanks Jenny H, loved it.

  7. I rarely find anyone talking about Kelpies, so this is refreshing. I have a Kelpie mix, great dog, so much fun. He swims, fishes, skis (runs on ski trail), fetches the biggest possible sticks from water (lakes, rivers, ocean), catches balls, chases laser pointers, plays balloon toss, loves to listen to classical music, etc. I have not tried odors.

  8. I “attended” the SPARCS conference three years ago, when you alerted us to it – absolutely fascinating! Kudos to the National Canine Research Council for making it available to all of us. I intend to watch the whole symposium as soon as it’s available.

    Love the “bad hair day” photo! And glad you and Jim had a staycation; that can be as refreshing as a week on the beach (and a lot easier to arrange).

  9. Thanks so much for posting about SPARCS, I can’t wait to watch!! There are so many great ones to choose from..

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