Generation Pup
Please find the Generation Pup project objectives, publications and papers below. There is also lots of information on the website (where dog owners can also sign up), or you can find us on Facebook or Twitter. Thank you so much for your interest!
Project background and summary
Generation Pup is the first study to follow dogs of all breeds throughout their lives, focussing on their health and behaviour as they age. We are asking owners of all UK and Republic of Ireland puppies under 16 weeks of age, of any breed or cross breed, to sign up and become part of the Generation Pup community.
By collecting information and biological samples for puppies, researchers in the Generation Pup team can investigate whether aspects such as genetics, environment, social interaction, diet, exercise, or daily routine may be important in the development of a range of health and behaviour conditions which impact on the well-being of our dogs.
The problem, and its context within Dogs Trust.
Behavioural problems, chronic disease and injuries represent a major welfare concern in dogs. There is remarkably little good quality research evidence about common health and behavioural problems that impact on dog welfare. These conditions may only become apparent in mid/later life but involve early-life factors (e.g., environment, diet, specific learnt experiences).
The optimal approach to accurately determine the temporal relationship between risk factors and diseases or behaviours is to undertake a prospective cohort study, where puppy owners are recruited, and information gathered about risk factors and outcomes of interest throughout the dogs’ lives.
The long-term aims are to:
- Follow the cohort through mid and later life to record the incidence of outcome measures of importance to canine welfare.
- Investigate earlier life and genetic risk factors for focal outcome measures using nested case-control studies.
- Recruit a large enough sample size of dogs to investigate rarer conditions.
Stakeholders include dog owners, veterinarians, veterinary nurses, dog breeders, dog trainers and canine welfare organisations.
Publications
2021
'Generation Pup' – protocol for a longitudinal study of dog behaviour and health
2020
Owner perception of problem behaviours in dogs aged 6 and 9-months
Puppy acquisition: factors associated with acquiring a puppy under eight weeks of age and without viewing the mother
Sleep Duration and Behaviours: A Descriptive Analysis of a Cohort of Dogs up to 12 Months of Age
An abstract describing early findings from the Generation Pup cohort on puppy diets and feeding routines was presented at the 2nd Companion Animal Nutrition Conference in February 2020.
Diet and Feeding for Wellbeing - Early findings from Generation Pup PDF 66 KB
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2019
A poster describing preliminary findings for the Generation Pup cohort study regarding owner-reported canine behaviour problems to age 6 months. This Clinical Research Abstract was presented at the British Small Animal Veterinary Association (BSAVA) congress held in Birmingham in April 2019.
Generation Pup Owner perceptions of problem behaviours in dogs aged 6 months PDF 143 KB
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A poster describing preliminary findings for the Generation Pup cohort study regarding owner-reported canine health problems to age 12 months. The poster was presented at the SVEPM symposium in Utrecht in March 2019.
Generation Pup - Owner-Reported Canine Health Problems to Age 12 Months PDF 1.3 MB
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An abstract describing preliminary findings from the Generation Pup cohort study regarding factors affecting intended adoption of reward-based training methods. This Clinical Research Abstract was presented at the British Small Animal Veterinary Association (BSAVA) congress held in Birmingham in April 2019.
Generation Pup Factors that affect intended adoption of reward-based training reported by a cohort of puppy owners PDF 118 KB
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An abstract describing preliminary findings from the Generation Pup cohort study, regarding the effect of dog ownership experience on uptake of preventative health practices as puppies. This Clinical Research Abstract was presented at the British Small Animal Veterinary Association (BSAVA) congress held in Birmingham in April 2019.
Generation Pup: Effect of dog ownership experience on the uptake of preventative health care practices reported by puppy owners PDF 109 KB
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An abstract describing factors associated with owner acquisition of puppies under 8 weeks of age. This Clinical Research Abstract was presented at the British Small Animal Veterinary Association (BSAVA) congress held in Birmingham in April 2019.
Generation Pup: Factors associated with owner acquisition of puppies under 8 weeks of age PDF 107 KB
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An abstract describing the body condition scores (BCS) of Generation Pup dogs at 12 months, agreement between owner and veterinary assigned BCS, and the association between age and risk factors for future obesity was presented at the 23rd Congress of the European Society for Veterinary and Comparative Nutrition in September 2019.
The Skinny on UK dog diets - early findings from the Generation Pup cohort study PDF 99 KB
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2018
A poster describing the methodology and early recruitment for the Generation Pup cohort study. The poster was presented at the SVEPM symposium in Tallin in March 2018.
Generation Pup - Methodology and Early Recruitment for a UK Birth Cohort of Dogs PDF 781 KB
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An abstract, and poster, describing preliminary data from the Generation Pup study regarding puppy acquisition behaviour. The abstract was accepted for a presentation as a poster at the International Symposium for Veterinary Epidemiology and Economics (ISVEE) in Chiang Mai in October 2018
Generation Pup: Puppy acquisition behaviour – preliminary data from the ‘Generation Pup’ birth cohort PDF 3.06 MB
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Puppy Acquisition Behaviour – Preliminary Data From the ‘Generation Pup’ Birth Cohort PDF 3.06 MB
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2015
Longitudinal birth cohort study investigating risk factors for behaviour and disease in dogs