Helpful Definitions chondrodystrophy (CDDY) – a genetic mutation that causes abnormal vertebral discs with premature degeneration and slightly shortened legs in dogs. This mutation increases the risk of back pain, including but not limited to intervertebral disc herniation, which can lead to significant pain and loss of mobility. Dogs with this mutation have intervertebral disc disease, and many if not all of them have back pain whether or not they actually have intervertebral disc herniation. chondrodysplasia (CDPA) – a genetic mutation that causes abnormally shortened, often bowed legs in d ..read more

Carolyn Kelly is a registered nurse with over 30 years of experience in human health including in labor and delivery, and in mental health. She also holds a Masters Degree in Nursing Leadership. She runs a mixed breed companion dog program, Old Mission Retrievers. Erica Pytlovany, KPA CTP, is an experienced behavioral consultant at WOOFS! Dog Training Center in Virginia. She runs the Boson Dog Project, a mixed breed companion dog program, with her wife, Laura Sharkey. I got together with Carolyn and Erica to talk about what companion personalities look like in dogs and why they focus their br ..read more

We want to welcome the two newest board members to the board of The Functional Dog Collaborative – our first additions since our founding board! Welcome Nina Ojala. Nina is a skilled developer and the person behind Datacanis, which we are developing into the FDC’s breeder data platform. She is also a brilliant designer – you’ve already seen what she did with our website and our store. Welcome Christina Hargrove. Christina is a lawyer and brings not just legal advice to the table but a clear and effective way of thinking through problems to find a solution that works for everyone. Both Nina and ..read more

This week I’m talking to Drs Claire Wade and Sophie Liu about their paper on genetic diversity in the Doberman breed. Dr Claire Wade is the Chair of Computational Biology and Animal Genetics at the University of Sydney, where she studies canine behavioral genetics. Dr Sophie Liu  is a veterinarian specializing in behavior and the founder of the Doberman Diversity Project, about which she’s spoken previously on this podcast. Both of them are passionate about dogs not just as part of their careers but as part of their lives. They joined me to talk through the findings in their paper, which ..read more

Examining Cognitive Dissonance in Dutch Dog Owners When Selecting A Dog Ophorst, S., Aarts, N., Bovenkerk, B., Hopster, H. Not All Puppies and Sunshine: How Dog Keepers Cope with Dog-Related Problems in Dutch Society. Animals 3, 1038 (2023). Link (open-access): https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13061038  This study explored the coping strategies owners used when discussing dog-related problems in times of cognitive dissonance. The information from this study can help provide information on why owners make certain choices about where to get their dog from, and how people talk about issues when fa ..read more

Prevalence of Health Conditions Across Breeds Wiles, B.M., Llewellyn-Zaidi, A.M., Evans, K. et al. Large-scale survey to estimate the prevalence of disorders for 192 Kennel Club registered breeds. Canine Genetics and Epidemiology 4, 8 (2017) Link (open-access): https://doi.org/10.1186/s40575-017-0047-3 By: Noah Stetson This study collected data from over 40,000 purebred Kennel Club-registered dogs and found that some health conditions were significantly more common in certain breeds compared to others. This study is one of the first attempts to compare prevalence of he ..read more

A primary goal of the Functional Dog Collaborative (FDC) is supporting breeders in breeding healthier and more behaviorally resilient dogs. We believe collaboration with animal shelters is an important part of that work. However, we find SPCA Tampa Bay’s “For All Dogs” program, a partnership between the shelter and a puppy broker and pet store chain, concerning. The “For All Dogs” program will bring retired breeding dogs and “imperfect” puppies to the shelter via the new partnership. In clarifying the goals of the new program, SPCA Tampa Bay CEO Martha Boden has explained that bringing in dogs ..read more

Jessica Hekman: Welcome to the Functional Breeding Podcast. I’m Jessica Hekman, and I’m here interviewing folks about how to breed dogs for function and for health: behavioral and physical. This podcast is brought to you by the Functional Dog Collaborative, an organization founded to support the ethical breeding of healthy, behaviorally sound dogs. FDC’s goals include providing educational, social, and technical resources to breeders of both purebred and mixed breed dogs. You can find out more at www.functionalbreeding.org, or at the Functional Breeding Facebook Group, which is a friendl ..read more

Continuing on with describing the talks at the Dog Breeding for the Future conference (March 13, 2023, in Hurdal, Norway): the second talk of the day was Dr. Dave Dean, a practicing veterinarian at Valley Vets in South Wales. His talk was titled “Practice Policy on Brachycephalic Breeds.”  Dr. Dean talked about being a primary care vet and being asked to assist with the breeding of dogs who were quite unhealthy, who he did not feel should be reproducing. Having that discussion with owners is always challenging for veterinarians. Dr. Dean drew the line when presented with an English bulldo ..read more

The first day of the Dog Breeding for the Future conference convened on March 13, 2023, in Hurdal, Norway. It was a small group, about 50 people, all specifically invited for their particular contributions. Many were veterinarians and/or researchers. The conference was organized by the Norwegian Society for the Protection of Animals. This group, the oldest animal welfare organization in the world, is attempting to change the culture of dog breeding to produce healthier dogs. Their approach is different from the Functional Dog Collaborative’s approach, and I’ll talk more about that in detail in ..read more