Schedule

Live demonstration or discussion of ultrasounding pregnant females, scanning of male testes/prostate, semen collection and evaluation best practices, and more!

8:00 am to 8:30 am: Introduction into Canine Genetics and Genomics, Eldin Leighton, PhD, IWDA, IWDR, IWDRC 8:30 am to 9:20 am: Suspected autosomal recessive primary ciliary dyskinesia in a colony of Labrador Retriever guide dogs, Katy Evans, DVM, PhD, The Seeing Eye 9:20 am to 10:10 am: Eldin Leighton, PhD 10:10 AM to 10:25 AM: Break 10:25 am to 11:10 am: Discovery of Early On-Set PRA, Glenna Fiddyment, Guide Dog Foundations 11:10 am to 12:00 pm: Fighting Cancer with Genomics: Developing Breeding Values to Reduce Hemangiosarcoma Risk and Unlocking DNA insights for both dogs and humans, Francis Chen, DVM, PhD

The Behavior Checklist (BCL) is a method of assessing dog behavior. Specifically, it is a behavior scoring system developed by Dr. James Serpell from the University of Pennsylvania, USA in collaboration with multiple guide dog organizations, including The Seeing Eye and Guiding Eyes for the Blind. The BCL provides a way to describe aspects of behavior important for guide and service dogs (however the behaviors measured in this assessment can still be helpful for other working dog roles or even pet/breeder temperament evaluations). Importantly, the BCL has been validated and demonstrates the capacity to measure behavior in a consistent manner that lends itself to analysis. The IWDR has developed some tools that utilise BCL scores to provide analysis on aspects of your breeding program: you can learn more about this in our Estimated Breeding Values and Reports sections.

1:00 pm to 1:40 pm: Lifetime Health Data: Critical for Your Decision-Making, Jane Russenberger, International Working Dog Registry 1:40 pm-2:30 pm: The Importance of Longitudal Behavioral Data, Dr. Dave Roberts and Rachel Goldammer 2:30 PM to 3:10 PM: GDB Whelping Box Fleece and Hip Dysplasia Study 3:10 to 3:20 pm: Break 3:20 pm to 4:10 pm: Harnessing the Power of Longitudinal Data in IBC: Insights, Challenges, and Applications, Dana Hunter, Assistance Dogs International's International Breeding Cooperative 4:10 pm to 5:00 pm: Anchor at Sea: Breeding for the Whole Dog, Eldin Leighton, PhD, International Working Dog Association