简体中文
Australian researchers are searching for the strongest breeds of working dogs, delving into the mix of genetic and environmental factors to that determine how well canines work on farms in the hope of breeding super dogs.
Researchers from the University of Sydney have so far surveyed more than 800 owners about the dogs that work their land, hoping to ultimately lead to a new generation of super farm dogs through breeding in an effort to reduce the numbers that are put down for not performing.
"We now know what the farmers value. Our next step will be to match up DNA sequences that are associated with the traits farmers want in their dogs, high intelligence, calmness, patience and trainability," lead researcher Professor Paul McGreevy told local media on Monday.
The behavioural genetics McGreevy has already has looked into the Australian Working Kelpie, bred by farmers for over a century for the their ability to work with livestock. However, he's hoping thousands of Australian farmers will aid his research through saliva and behavioural descriptions.
"For those who tell us their dogs are particularly good in certain traits, we'll target those samples and then start looking for gene sequences that align with high scores in those domains," McGreevy said.
McGreevy said the research wouldn't look for a single gene for trainability, but rather common sequences among high-performing dogs that could ultimately lead to an elite pool for breeding purposes.
