18/07/2023
Summary of DAY 2 at the 8th Canine Science Forum β Are dogs happy these days?
This day was an βApplied ethologyβ day with presentations about the latest results on canine welfare, rehoming and personality.
In the morning, we started with an exceptional plenary talk by Peter SandΓΈe about the rise and fall of dog breeds, frequent breed specific- and breeding problems and underlying causes.
He pointed out that less than 20% of certain breeds, including the most popular French Bulldog, for instance, are registered by kennel clubs, and this trend is getting worse and worse every year, at least in Europe. This means that traditional kennel clubs have less control over purebred dogs, while celebrities and influencers are getting more and more influence. Therefore, designer breeds arise, and we can also see the growing number of the so-called crossbreds (e.g. labradoodles, cockapoo, morkie etc.) where breeding is totally out of control and leads to the increase of lots of diseases already. He also talked about the major problem in breeding, namely putting appearance above health and behaviour.
He suggested that, based on these trends, we can state that dog breeds as we know them today will soon cease to exist.
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We thank Dr Anna Gergely for writing the summaries! πΆ
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