Generation Pup: Research

Key people: Dr Rachel Casey, Dr Séverine Tasker, Rachel Kinsman, Dr Sara Owczarczak-Garstecka, Rosa Da Costa, Ben Rosier and Adam Williams.  

Please find the Generation Pup project objectives, publications and papers below. There is also lots of information on the Generation Pup website (where dog owners can also sign up), or you can find us on Facebook or Twitter. 

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.