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.

Joint-related diseases including hip dysplasia (HD) and elbow arthritis (ED) can in advance cases lead to that the dog has to be put down, and these diseases are also the cause to expensive veterinary treatments of many large breeds, including Labrador Retrievers. The aim of this study was to make a follow-up study on the 271 Labradors, who previously participated in a study on the effect of nutrition and exercise on hip and elbow status in a birth cohort born year 2000. That study investigated the relationship between nutrition, exercise, and HD and ED. A follow up study on the same dogs at 5-6 years of age investigated the clinical effects of the radiological hip and elbow status at 1 years of age and if was effected by body condition score. This study took place in 2011-2012 and 187 Labrador retrievers participated.

There are about 700 000 dogs in Sweden. Roughly 70 % of the dogs are purebred and registered in the database at the Swedish Kennel Club (SKC). The database includes records of birth date, pedigree, offspring and results from e.g. veterinary examinations related to genetic health programs.Every year approximately 10% of the dogs die; most are euthanized by a veterinarian. Dog mortality data is stored as digital medical records at animal clinics and in insurance databases.Dog owners tend to register their puppy in the SKC, but they rarely report that the dog has passed away.

There are about 700 000 dogs in Sweden. Roughly 70 % of the dogs are purebred and registered in the database at the Swedish Kennel Club (SKC). The database includes records of birth date, pedigree, offspring and results from e.g. veterinary examinations related to genetic health programs.Every year approximately 10% of the dogs die; most are euthanized by a veterinarian. Dog mortality data is stored as digital medical records at animal clinics and in insurance databases.Dog owners tend to register their puppy in the SKC, but they rarely report that the dog has passed away.

Inbreeding, the mating of related individuals, has been the one dominating breeding strategy for dog breeders during the last 200 years. However, its negative effects on fer-tility and other fitness traits, a phenomenon called inbreeding depression, have been ignored in the quest of perfect unity in conformation or performance. The purpose of this study was to test the hypotheses that litter size is reduced as a consequence of in-breeding, affected by both the inbreeding coefficient of the dam and the litter and that a rapid increase in the inbreeding coefficient affects litter size more than a slower rate. Data were collected from the Swedish Kennel Club registry of origin. Breeds included in the study were the Bernese Mountain Dog, the Cocker Spaniel, the Golden Retriever, the Rottweiler and the West Highland White Terrier.

Peat litter has been used in animal houses for a long time. Because of its good ability to absorb liquid and nutrients from the manure it can create a dry surface for animals and a valuable manure product. Through changes in agricultural practises the use of peat litter has diminished and is to a great extent replaced by straw, sawdust and cutter shavings although Sweden is rich in peat-findings. The aim of this work was to summarize the presented knowledge about the used of peat litter, techniques, advantages and disadvantages and to compare with other commonly used litter materials. Articles on peat litter have been searched for in magazines, databases and books at SLU library. Visits to peat industries, interviews with peat producers and with peat researchers contributed to the material. Peat is not a uniformly material.

Renal dysplasia in dogs is a severe kidney disease that causes great suffering for the affected individual. The disease disturbs the development of the kidneys which leads to an immature microscopic structure of the kidney and smaller kidneys than normal. A dog with renal dysplasia only lives between 4 and 24 months, because of kidney failure. There are different ways to establish a diagnosis, but the most common way today is to take a renal biopsy. In a scientific study, ultrasound based diagnosis was shown to match the histopathological picture of the disease.

The aim of the study was to investigate whether the sedation method had an effect on the screening result for hip dysplasia (HD). Another aspect considered was if the dog?s weight had an impact on the results. This study was a follow up on the results from an earlier study of sedation routines in Swedish dogs. The breeds included in this study were the same as in the earlier one; German shepherd, Bernese mountain dog, Boxer, Newfoundland, Rottweiler, Saint Bernard, Golden and Labrador Retriever.

Renal dysplasi (RD) is a congenital chronic renal disease affecting young dogs. It is a rather common disease that occurs in a large number of dogs and in some breeds there is a familiar incidence or suspected hereditary background. Both the etiology and pathogenesis are still unknown, but a theory about the cause of RD is that the two components that form the kidney, the uretheric bud and the metanephrogenic blastema, don´t interact normally in the embryo. Kidneys affected by RD contain fetal (immature) structures that are inappropriate for the state of development/age of the dog and abnormal structures caused by an abnormal differentiation. Affected dogs usually are under .

In 1996 a hunting test for British gun dogs was started in Sweden, based on a similar one al-ready in place in Norway. The aim of the new test was to describe the hunting ability of the dog and to use the results as a basis for selection. However, up to now, no genetic study of these data has been done. Therefore the aim of this study was to estimate genetic parameters for the traits measured in the hunting test and to investigate whether the traits can summarized into fewer overall measures. Data from trails of British gundogs between 1996 and 2005 in Sweden were used to estimate genetic parameters and environmental effects in hunting performance. British gundogs consist of five different breeds: Pointer, English setter (ES), Gordon setter (GS), Irish red setter (Irl S) and Irish red and white setter.

SAMMANFATTNINGDilaterad kardiomyopati (DCM) är en ärftlig, primär hjärtmuskelsjukdom som är mycket vanligt förekommande hos dobermann. Sjukdomens förlopp har tre stadier. Det första stadiet innebär att sjukdomen föreligger men kan enbart påvisas vid histologisk undersökning av hjärtmuskelvävnad. Det prekliniska stadiet innebär att inga sjukdomstecken ses hos hunden, men förändringar, såsom hög förekomst av kammarextraslag och dilatation av vänster kammare, kan hittas med hjälp av elektrokardiografi (EKG) och ekokardiografi. I det overta (kliniska stadiet) uppvisar hunden sjukdomstecken som nedsatt arbetsförmåga, trötthet, hosta samt kachexi.