Study Shows that Breed is a Poor Predictor of an Individual Dog’s Behavior

The citizen science organization Darwin’s Ark sequenced the DNA of over 2,000 purebred and mixed breed dogs to study how genetics intersect with breed characteristics. The findings show that while genes are closely associated with physical traits, genetics is not a reliable predictor of any given dog’s personality. The Darwin’s Ark study surveyed over 18,000 …

Common Causes of Cancer in Pets

Our dogs, cats, and other pets can get cancer just like humans.  And, like humans, there can be different causes of cancer in animals. The Merck Veterinary Manual has outlined the most common causes of cancer in pets, and what you can do to help lower the risk. Genetics Some animals have an increased risk …

Study Shows Dog Coat Patterns Evolved Long Before Domestication

Dog breeding has led to a wide variation in the sizes and shapes of the many dog breeds we see today, from the tiniest Chihuahua to the biggest Great Dane, but what about your dog’s coat? A new study of canine genetics reveals that nature, not human intervention, created the main dog coat colors and …

How Responsible Breeding Can Reduce Hereditary Diseases in Dogs and Cats

The American Veterinary Medical Association convention went virtual this year, and one of the topics discussed was that a greater understanding of how genetic diseases occur can help vets prevent and mitigate their effects in our pets. The speaker, Dr. Jerold Bell, a veterinarian and geneticist at Tufts University, said that many of the most …

Scientists Develop New Dog Aging Calculator

Does one dog year really equal seven human years?  This long-held belief is undergoing some high-tech revision. Scientists say a more accurate way to measure an animal’s age is to use something called an epigenetic clock—the accumulation of chemical modifications in an animal’s DNA over its lifespan. One particular modification known as methylation is especially …