The Science of Working and Sporting Dog Performance

A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Companion Animals".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2025 | Viewed by 4428

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
School of Animal, Rural & Environmental Sciences, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham NG25 0QF, UK
Interests: canine health and welfare; genetics; parasitology; performance and sporting animal biology; general zoology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Canine health and welfare continues to attract research and wider interest as the role of dogs in society changes from working companion to family member. However, dogs remain essential as working colleagues with wide-ranging remits including protection, guarding, detection, herding, hunting and transport. Many other dogs fulfil active roles as sporting and active companions for their human counterparts. In all these situations, health, welfare, and performance output are critical factors and understanding their impact is important.

The aim of this Special Issue is to expand current knowledge relating to the science of working and sporting dog performance through original research and review articles.

Areas of interest: enhancing working and sporting dog performance; supporting welfare of working dogs; training and conditioning of working and sporting dogs; nutritional management of active dogs; dog-handler dyads; health of working and sporting dogs; livestock guarding dogs; protection and detection dogs; sled dogs; the canine athlete

I cordially invite you to share your relevant research and review articles via this Special Issue of Animals.

Dr. Jacqueline Boyd
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • canine science
  • working dog
  • training
  • conditioning
  • nutrition
  • sporting dog
  • canine performance
  • dog health
  • dog welfare

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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22 pages, 1781 KiB  
Article
Preliminary Analysis of Collar Sensors for Guide Dog Training Using Convolutional Long Short-Term Memory, Kernel Principal Component Analysis and Multi-Sensor Data Fusion
by Devon Martin, David L. Roberts and Alper Bozkurt
Animals 2024, 14(23), 3403; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14233403 - 26 Nov 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1115
Abstract
Guide dogs play a crucial role in enhancing independence and mobility for people with visual impairment, offering invaluable assistance in navigating daily tasks and environments. However, the extensive training required for these dogs is costly, resulting in a limited availability that does not [...] Read more.
Guide dogs play a crucial role in enhancing independence and mobility for people with visual impairment, offering invaluable assistance in navigating daily tasks and environments. However, the extensive training required for these dogs is costly, resulting in a limited availability that does not meet the high demand for such skilled working animals. Towards optimizing the training process and to better understand the challenges these guide dogs may be experiencing in the field, we have created a multi-sensor smart collar system. In this study, we developed and compared two supervised machine learning methods to analyze the data acquired from these sensors. We found that the Convolutional Long Short-Term Memory (Conv-LSTM) network worked much more efficiently on subsampled data and Kernel Principal Component Analysis (KPCA) on interpolated data. Each attained approximately 40% accuracy on a 10-state system. Not needing training, KPCA is a much faster method, but not as efficient with larger datasets. Among various sensors on the collar system, we observed that the inertial measurement units account for the vast majority of predictability, and that the addition of environmental acoustic sensing data slightly improved performance in most datasets. We also created a lexicon of data patterns using an unsupervised autoencoder. We present several regions of relatively higher density in the latent variable space that correspond to more common patterns and our attempt to visualize these patterns. In this preliminary effort, we found that several test states could be combined into larger superstates to simplify the testing procedures. Additionally, environmental sensor data did not carry much weight, as air conditioning units maintained the testing room at standard conditions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Science of Working and Sporting Dog Performance)
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13 pages, 1440 KiB  
Article
Effects of Exercise on Urinary Parameters and Proteins in Well-Trained Canicross Dogs: A Preliminary Study
by Giuseppe Spinella, Simona Valentini, Thomas Dalmonte, Gloria Isani and Giulia Andreani
Animals 2024, 14(22), 3216; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14223216 - 9 Nov 2024
Viewed by 851
Abstract
The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of exercise during canicross competition on urinary biochemical parameters and urinary proteins. Our results showed that, among the parameters analysed in routine urinalysis, pH was affected by exercise and albuminuria also showed [...] Read more.
The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of exercise during canicross competition on urinary biochemical parameters and urinary proteins. Our results showed that, among the parameters analysed in routine urinalysis, pH was affected by exercise and albuminuria also showed changes immediately after physical exercise with a return to baseline within 2 h after the physical activity. In particular, SDS-PAGE electrophoresis allowed the separation of the urinary proteins on the basis of their molecular mass allowing a qualitative evaluation of the urinary proteome and a quantitative analysis of urine albumin and uromodulin, with a significant increase in urinary albumin and a decrease in uromodulin after exercise. In this study, urine was collected by spontaneous voiding and the use of this non-invasive sampling method proved useful in obtaining information on the health of the animals in the immediate moments before and after the competition without increasing the stress of the animals involved in the competition by any visits or invasive manipulations by veterinarians. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Science of Working and Sporting Dog Performance)
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Review

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11 pages, 1841 KiB  
Review
Fibrotic Contracture of the Infraspinatus Muscle with or without Contracture of the Teres Minor Muscle: A Retrospective Study in Eight Dogs
by Androniki Krystalli, Sofianos Papaefthymiou, Kornilia Panteli, Aikaterini Sideri, Elena I. Pappa and Nikitas N. Prassinos
Animals 2024, 14(17), 2589; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14172589 - 6 Sep 2024
Viewed by 1825
Abstract
(1) Background: Fibrotic contracture of the canine infraspinatus muscle (FCIM) is considered an uncommon musculotendinous condition mainly affecting hunting dogs. After an acute onset of a painful non-weight-bearing lameness over a period of one to four weeks, a characteristic circumducted gait is developed [...] Read more.
(1) Background: Fibrotic contracture of the canine infraspinatus muscle (FCIM) is considered an uncommon musculotendinous condition mainly affecting hunting dogs. After an acute onset of a painful non-weight-bearing lameness over a period of one to four weeks, a characteristic circumducted gait is developed in the affected thoracic limb. (2) Methods: Eight client-owned dogs of varying breeds, both sexes, aged 4–9 years old, and weighing 14–26 kg participated in the study. The duration of lameness prior to their first consultation ranged from 10 to 450 days. All participants were thoroughly examined clinically, orthopedically, and radiographically. (3) Results: The dogs underwent infraspinatus tenotomy, resulting in improved limb function. In three cases, a teres minor muscle contracture was revealed intraoperatively and resolved via a tenotomy at its insertion. The findings showed that 15 days post-operation, all dogs returned to full activity. The results obtained confirm and reinforce the literature data around FCIM and describe the first recorded condition of the simultaneous contracture of the infraspinatus and teres minor muscles. (4) Conclusions: In every case of shoulder lameness, contractures of all shoulder muscles should be included in the differential diagnosis and patients should be assessed for concurrent contractures even if infraspinatus contracture is identified. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Science of Working and Sporting Dog Performance)
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