Working Dogs: Health, Diseases, Behavior, Welfare and as Sentinels

Dear Colleagues,

Working dogs have been an integral part of several human cultures for many millennia. The abilities of canines have been harnessed by humans (often literally) and further specialized for our benefit. Correspondingly, it can be argued that canines have likewise benefitted from human cooperation in terms of increased food-security and ultimately sustained fecundity and global dispersion. 

Despite this ancient cross-species relationship moving into modern times with all its advances in science and medicine, the health, welfare and behavior of these dogs are nevertheless largely overlooked. Perhaps in part because the use of these dogs is viewed as something belonging to a bygone era. But these dogs still encompass a great, and sometimes central, cultural meaning in some cultures, and they perform a myriad of different, but all important, tasks around the World. On top of their utility, they also help us understand our own cultural past, such as human migration and evolution. Moreover, they often live outdoors thereby existing in the overlap between nature and human society, which makes them valuable sentinel species for both human and ecosystem health, as well as for the study of physiological responses to extreme climates. 

We would like to dedicate a Special Issue for these, through millennia, loyal colleagues and we, therefore, highly encourage our colleagues to submit any research related to this subject. Perhaps something has been lying in your drawer or hard drive for too long without publishing, perhaps there has been a question on your mind about these dogs that you wanted to investigate, perhaps you are currently working on a project involving working dogs—then now is the time to submit it and get it published and shared with colleagues and the World through this open access platform! 

As guest editor, I am strongly looking forward to sharing the interest in this subject with you by viewing your work and publishing your interesting work of scientific quality! My own merits lie in years of studying the genetically, physiologically and historically unique Greenland sled dogs. I know, from this work, that there are many fascinating aspects yet to elucidate for working dogs around the World.

Dr. Emilie Ulrikka Andersen-Ranberg
Guest Editor

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