Day seminar with Dr. Udo Ganslosser and Dr. Adam Miklosi

The effect of genes on behavior…. …..and what else has an influence?!

dr Adam Miklosi: The effect of genes on behavior

There is no behavior without genes

During this one day seminar you will learn the basics of genetics. Without this knowledge one cannot understand the behavior of the dogs. There is so much talk about „inherited behavior“ or even „instinctive behavior“ but few really understand what these terms mean.

The genes are activated before birth and determine many behaviors. They provide the reason for domestication and selection.

We try to answer the biggest questions:

• What is inherited and what is acquired?
• Is it even possible to answer these questions?

You can’t do without genetics, and without genetics you can’t understand why there are so many breeds and why most breeds still show so many similarities.

You shouldn’t be allowed to breed dogs at all without genetic knowledge, and we’ll (unfortunately) see where the lack of genetic study has led: Most purebred dogs suffer from hundreds of genetic diseases that they can’t get rid of.

Should you create new races, or somehow improve the current ones?

The genes have a strong influence on specific forms of behavior, such as B. Aggression. Can these effects be controlled or prevented? Can you select for specific behaviors in dogs?

dr Udo Ganslosser: … and whatever else has an impact

In addition to genetic predisposition, a number of other dependencies of future behavior have become known, especially through recent studies:

• Litter size and litter composition can influence future behavioral characteristics, as can the mother’s experience and temperament, contacts with babysitters and humans, or the sensory stimuli in the environment.
• Gender differences in behavior, especially when playing, are prepared by the genetically pre-determined sex hormone system, but they continue to have an impact on the composition of the litter as important control factors. And finally, breed differences in the appearance and intensity of play and serious behavior show the future puppy different paths again.

• The analogy of the embryologist Waddington, according to which the young animal development resembles the course of a ball that is dropped on the top of a mountain and can roll down different paths down the valley, will accompany us throughout the day.

Genetics is one of the valley walls that steer the path. But there are others too…

SPEAKERS

dr Udo Ganslosser,  Priv.Doz. for Zoology at the Zool Institute and Museum of the Univ. Greifswald and lecturer at the Phylogenetic Museum and at the Institute for Special Zoology at the University of Jena, regularly conducts courses in behavioral and zoological biology and gives guest lectures at other institutes, takes on consulting activities for zoos, animal parks and animal shelters, advanced training events and publication supervision. dr Ganslosser is known for his extremely competent and entertaining lectures.

dr Adam Miklosi , – speaks German very well – will give an entertaining talk in detail about behavior and cognition and how dogs solve problems. “Budapest has been a metropolis for behavioral research on dogs for years. Under the research director Dr. Adam Miklosi, the world’s largest working group for research into the relationship between dogs and humans was set up at Budapest’s Eötvös University. In contrast to earlier research, the test animals are systematically tested here together with their caregivers. Because when it comes to social intelligence, you have to keep an eye on both partners.