Background The Shetland Sheepdog is a popular breed of Dogs in Sweden. The breed is mostly used as a companion dog and is also popular within certain dog sports such as agility. The Shetland Sheepdog is not included in any breeding programs regarding joint health. The animal insurance company, Agria had recently informed the Swedish Shetland Sheepdog Club (SSSK) that they had noted an increasing number of arthritis in the elbow joints, therefore they wanted to exclude elbow joints from the insurance until SSSK started a breeding program against elbow dysplasia. After the start of this study Agria withdrew their demand, but the study went on as planned. Aims of this study The aims of this study was to investigate if there is any data that may show if there is a larger or smaller reason than before to suspect that the breed has a problem with elbow dysplasia and therefore would benefit from a breeding program regarding this.

The aims of this project were to describe the circumstances around Dogs being left alone in cars, to investigate owners? knowledge of the risks associated with leaving Dogs in cars and the relevant legislation and, finally, to study how changes in the air temperature and air composition in the car affect the dog. The project consisted of a survey of the literature, a questionnaire part and an experimental part. An important conclusion is the importance of the level of knowledge of owners, since there are several ways in which an owner can prevent their dog from heat stroke and, in the case of an eventual accident, their action can have direct consequences in minimizing the long-term damage to the dog and even whether or not it survives. Fewer than half of the owners in the study knew that for a dog suffering heat stroke, the most important thing is to bring the body temperature down. Only a third of dog owners knew that if a dog is left in a warm car and showing signs of heat stress, then the police should be contacted and the dog quickly helped out of the car.

Hemoplus® (Sarstedt, Nümbrecht, Tyskland) is a guaiac-based fecal occult blood test developed for human medicine. Guaiac-based tests make use of the pseudoperoxidase activity of hemoglobin so the test is not specific for human hemoglobin and can therefore be used in veterinary medicine. Peroxidase-containing foods such as meat (hemoglobin and myoglobin) can cause false-positive results of the test. To ensure that a positive result is not caused by diet, it has been suggested that canine patients should be fed a meatless diet for a few days prior to fecal occult blood testing. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of commercial dog food on guaiac-based tests. In this study fecal samples from healthy Dogs were analyzed with Hemoplus®.

The aim of this study was to examine which research had been done on dietary supplements for Dogs suffering from osteoarthrosis. The main questions the author wanted answers to were ?Is there evidence in the research that dietary supplements for Dogs with osteoarthritis have effect in such a way that quality of life is increased in these animals??, ?are there any contraindications regarding dietary supplements?, ?who is responsible for the control of safety on dietary supplements for Dogs in Sweden? and ?what kind of advice would I give to dogowners about dietary supplements?. To be able to answer these questions the author conducted a literature study of the recent research on dietary supplements for OA in Dogs. The results showed that despite the lack of research in this field, some promising research has been done on multiple different supplements.

Chronic valvular disease (CVD) is the most common cardiac disease in Dogs, which account for 75% of all the cardiac cases. Cavalier King Charles spaniel (CKCS) is the most affected breed and it´s 13th times more likely that a CKCS, between the age of 7-10 years, will die or be euthanized for cardiac disease, compared with other breeds. The prevalence has been proven to bee independent of coat color and weight but highly dependent on age and gender in CKCS. In 2001 the Swedish Kennelclub and the Special club for cavalier King Charles spaniel created a breeding program against CVD in CKCS. In this program Dogs are not allowed to breed until 4 years of age and have to have a heart auscultation without murmurs.

The canine population has during it?s time with humans gone through at least 2 major genetic bottlenecks, the first when it was separated from the wolf, and the second when it was divided into different breeds. Among other things, this has lead to the accumulation of unwanted genes, such as genes causing disease in Dogs. One such inherited disease is syringomyelia, which has proven to be more common than expected, especially in certain smaller breeds such as the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. Syringomyelia in Dogs is often a secondary condition caused by the malformation called occipital hypoplasia.

Vaccinology is an ever expanding field. As a member of the veterinary staff it is important to stay up to date with the continuous new scientific data and recommendations that affect the care that our companion animals receive at the veterinary clinic. This paper presents adverse vaccination reactions, their cause, risk factors and suggestions how we can minimize the risk of adverse vaccine events in Dogs. Dog owners in Sweden were allowed to answer a questionnaire about adverse events following vaccination. Lethargy, edema and pruritus were among the most frequently seen adverse effects.

Surgical site infections are a recurrent problem in veterinary medicine. A 2-5 % infection rate in clean surgery has been reported. During the last years the increase in methicillin resistant staphylococci has also taken its toll on veterinary medicine, demanding a stricter hygiene and antibiotic regime. The 2008 outbreak of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) at the University animal hospital, Swedish University of Agriculture indicated that that the MRSA problem was now a real, possibly zoonotic problem.Since the first dog, in Sweden, was diagnosed as a carrier of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus pseudintermedius (MRSP) in a study in 2006, the infection rate by this bacterium has increased. In 2009 (January 1st - December 2nd) the National Veterinary Institute (SVA) has identified 58 samples as MRSP positive.

It is a well known fact today that suffering due to skin disorders is one of the most common causes to veterinary calls. For the Doberman breed included in the group of working Dogs, the frequency and distribution of the different skinrelated diagnoses that causes visits to the veterinary clinics remains undocumented. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the frequency of skinrelated problems causing veterinary visits of Doberman at four different veterinaryclinics in Sweden retrospectively, and compare these results with Dogs in general and three other working dog breeds with the help of information collected from Agria - a Swedish animal insurance company. The total amount of veterinary calls that were registered at the clinics in question during the time of the study was 2460 visits. From these, 658 visits were due to skinrelated disorders, which amount to 27%. The most frequent cause to skinsuffering was injury caused by trauma, 15,7% of the Dobermans that were included in the study were affected, the second most frequent cause was inflammatory and infectious skin problems with 12,3% followed by neoplastic changes in the skin with 7% of the Dobermans affected.

BACKGROUND Until 1988, it was forbidden to neuter male Dogs in Sweden without a veterinary medical cause, so there is clearly no long tradition of this procedure in healthy Dogs. According to the website of The Swedish Kennel Club (SKK), February 11, 2011, there has been an increase of castrated male Dogs in Sweden. They see this increase as worrying, especially in cases of the less common breeds, where it is most important to maintain the gene pool. The SKK expresses concern that castration is used as a tool to influence the personality of Dogs, instead of training and education of the dog. They write that castration should be preceded by a discussion initiated by the veterinarian, where the pros and cons of castration are weighed against each other.

During one week (9-13 May, 2005) the use of veterinary diets for the hospitalised patients att the University clinic was registered. The animal owners were interviewed by telephone six months later about the feeding after coming home. Four out of ten animal owners answered yes to the question if the veterinarian had asked what food their animal normally consumed. Out of 35 animals, 15 (43%) were prescribed to a veterinary diet. Among cats it was 8 out of 14 (57%) and among Dogs it was 7 out of 21 (33%). Four animals out of ten were recommended a veterinary diet when going home, but 20% did not follow the recommendation all the way through and stopped feeding their animal the veterinary diet. Reasons that were given was that the diet didn't last the entire period, that the animal didn't need the diet anymore according to the owner and one dog that became to lean when fed the diet. The diagnosis for these three Dogs was vomiting, foreign body in the digestive system and bloody diarrhoea.

India is home to every sixth person in the world, some 30 million Dogs and a quarter of the total world cattle population. A vast majority of Indians are Hindus, and even though the Hindu religion proclaims love, nurturing and worshipping of animals, sometimes the same religion constitutes an obstacle for animal welfare in practice. This paper investigates the significance of historic and religious symbols to the way animals are perceived in modern Indian society, as well as the different social factors which underlie attitudes to animals. The concept of karma, as well as that of good versus bad deaths, is probably the foundation of the general Hindu reluctance to euthanasia in any form. Although in theory all species are generally regarded as equal in Hinduism, in practice there seems to be a differentiation; for cultural, religious, medical and financial reasons.

Genetic parameters for four leg conformation traits in Dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) are in this literature review summarized to investigate whether selective breeding could be useful to improve purebred Dogs´ health and welfare. The four traits are leg length, leg weakness, hip joint and elbow joint conformation. When summarized, the genetic parameters are compared with genetic parameters affecting in pigs (Sus scrofa). Of the four traits, hip and elbow conformations were mostly studied in Dogs. However, these traits were not widely studied in pigs.

Animals living in captivity are often subjected to various kinds of stress. Individuals within species can respond differently to the same stressor depending on differences in coping style and physiology. Active and passive coping is a common way to describe different coping styles in animals and it is likely that these strategies have a high heritability. Individuals with an active coping style are characterized by an urge of control and a higher level of aggression than individuals with passive coping style, who in general are more flexible and respond to stress by immobilisation to a greater extent. The aim of this bachelor?s thesis is to investigate the presence of different coping styles and personality types in Dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) and horses (Equus ferus caballus) and to find fields of application for this information.

Overweight and obesity is currently a major health problem in our Dogs all around the world and it is becoming more common each year. There are few studies on the proportion of overweight Dogs in Sweden, but it was estimated to be 33% in 2005. Studies in other countries report that between 25-40% of all Dogs are overweight. The aim of this study was to survey the animal care for an overweight dog. It was also important to develop a scientifically based advice.