Pure Dog Talk

Research to develop scientifically based information about fear in dogs Candace Croney is one happy researcher. Her team has received a grant for a ground-breaking study on the genetics and biological markers of fear in dogs. “This study is going to give us information nobody has,” Croney said. The $2 million grant will continue Croney’s work with commercial kennels and is designed to investigate how to best identify dogs which can be successfully rehomed as adult dogs. Part of the Canine Care Certified program is making sure the dogs are treated humanely after their breeding career is done, Croney noted. Her hope is that she will be able to look at which dogs are more or less likely to run into trouble when transitioning from kennel to home Measurable results But all of the research is giving Croney invaluable information about how to measure fearfulness in dogs. The research is looking at both phenotypical manifestation of fear (spinning, pacing, freezing) and actual biological markers such as cortisol l