Military Working Dogs in the United States Armed Forces from World War I to Vietnam

At the beginning of World War I, the only military working dogs the United States owned were sled dogs. In comparison, European nations in World War I used canines as sentries, messengers, ambulance, and draft dogs. In 1942, members of the American public, created Dogs for Defense Inc. to help recruit dogs for military use. By the end of the Vietnam War, dogs no longer were donated by the American public for use, rather the American military owned the dogs they deployed. This thesis examines the use of dogs by the American military from World War I to the Vietnam War. It explores the idea that the evolution of military technology and tactics are ironically tied to the increased use of military dogs in the period of modern warfare by the United States Armed Forces. The grassroots movement of the American public, and its desire to contribute to the war effort, helped to accelerate the creation of an American war dog program. Even with technology becoming increasingly important in warfare, dogs were needed to fulfill roles that humans and technology could not. The expansion of these duties is evidenced by their continued use in Vietnam. For the infantry soldiers serving on the frontlines, dogs saved lives and instilled a greater degree of confidence on patrol, all the while acting as mans’ best friend

Advancing Genetic Selection and Behavioral Genomics of Working Dogs Through Collaborative Science

The ancient partnership between people and dogs is struggling to meet modern day needs, with demand exceeding our capacity to safely breed high-performing and healthy dogs. New statistical genetic approaches and genomic technology have the potential to revolutionize dog breeding, by transitioning from problematic phenotypic selection to methods that can preserve genetic diversity while increasing the proportion of successful dogs. To fully utilize this technology will require ultra large datasets, with hundreds of thousands of dogs. Today, dog breeders struggle to apply even the tools available now, stymied by the need for sophisticated data storage infrastructure and expertise in statistical genetics. Here, we review recent advances in animal breeding, and how a new approach to dog breeding would address the needs of working dog breeders today while also providing them with a path to realizing the next generation of technology. We provide a step-by-step guide for dog breeders to start implementing estimated breeding value selection in their programs now, and we describe how genotyping and DNA sequencing data, as it becomes more widely available, can be integrated into this approach. Finally, we call for data sharing among dog breeding programs as a path to achieving a future that can benefit all dogs, and their human partners too

The vaccination of 35,000 dogs in 20 working days using combined static point and door-to-door methods in Blantyre, Malawi

An estimated 60,000 people die of rabies annually. The vast majority of cases of human rabies develop following a bite from an infected dog. Rabies can be controlled in both human and canine populations through widespread vaccination of dogs. Rabies is particularly problematic in Malawi, costing the country an estimated 13 million USD and 484 human deaths annually, with an increasing paediatric incidence in Blantyre City. Consequently, the aim of this study was to vaccinate a minimum of 75% of all the dogs within Blantyre city during a one month period. Blantyre's 25 administrative wards were divided into 204 working zones. For initial planning, a mean human:dog ratio from the literature enabled estimation of dog population size and dog surveys were then performed in 29 working zones in order to assess dog distribution by land type. Vaccination was conducted at static point stations at weekends, at a total of 44 sites, with each operating for an average of 1.3 days. On Monday to Wednesday, door-to-door vaccination sessions were undertaken in the areas surrounding the preceding static point stations. 23,442 dogs were vaccinated at static point stations and 11,774 dogs were vaccinated during door-to-door vaccinations. At the end of the 20 day vaccination programme, an assessment of vaccination coverage through door-to-door surveys found that of 10,919 dogs observed, 8,661 were vaccinated resulting in a vaccination coverage of 79.3% (95%CI 78.6-80.1%). The estimated human:dog ratio for Blantyre city was 18.1:1. Mobile technology facilitated the collection of data as well as efficient direction and coordination of vaccination teams in near real time. This study demonstrates the feasibility of vaccinating large numbers of dogs at a high vaccination coverage, over a short time period in a large African city

Animal-Computer Interaction: the emergence of a discipline

In this editorial to the IJHCS Special Issue on Animal-Computer Interaction (ACI), we provide an overview of the state-of-the-art in this emerging field, outlining the main scientific interests of its developing community, in a broader cultural context of evolving human-animal relations. We summarise the core aims proposed for the development of ACI as a discipline, discussing the challenges these pose and how ACI researchers are trying to address them. We then introduce the contributions to the Special Issue, showing how they illustrate some of the key issues that characterise the current state-of-the-art in ACI, and finally reflect on how the journey ahead towards developing an ACI discipline could be undertaken

Canine-centered interface design: supporting the work of diabetes alert dogs

Many people with Diabetes live with the continuous threat of hypoglycaemic attacks and the danger of going into coma. Diabetic Alert Dogs are trained to detect the onset of an attack before the human handler they are paired with deteriorates, giving them time to take action. We investigated requirements for designing an alert system allowing dogs to remotely call for help when their human falls unconscious before being able to react to an alert. Through a multispecies ethnographic approach we focus on teasing out the requirements for a physical canine user interface, involving both dogs, their handlers and trainers in the design. We discuss tensions between the requirements for the canine and the human users, argue the need for increased sensitivity towards the needs of individual dogs that goes beyond breed specific physical characteristics and reflect on how we can move from designing for dogs to designing with dogs

The Emerging Nature of Participation in Multispecies Interaction Design

Interactive technology has become integral part of daily life for both humans and animals, with animals often interacting with technologized environments on behalf of humans. For some, animals' participation in the design process is essential to design technology that can adequately support their activities. For others, animals' inability to understand and control design activities inevitably stands in the way of multispecies participatory practices. Here, we consider the essential elements of participation within interspecies interactions and illustrate its emergence, in spite of contextual constraints and asymmetries. To move beyond anthropomorphic notions of participation, and consequent anthropocentric practices, we propose a broader participatory model based on indexical semiosis, volition and choice; and we highlight dimensions that could define inclusive participatory practices more resilient to the diversity of understandings and goals among part-taking agents, and better able to account for the contribution of diverse, multispecies agents in interaction design and beyond

Smart Computing and Sensing Technologies for Animal Welfare: A Systematic Review

Animals play a profoundly important and intricate role in our lives today. Dogs have been human companions for thousands of years, but they now work closely with us to assist the disabled, and in combat and search and rescue situations. Farm animals are a critical part of the global food supply chain, and there is increasing consumer interest in organically fed and humanely raised livestock, and how it impacts our health and environmental footprint. Wild animals are threatened with extinction by human induced factors, and shrinking and compromised habitat. This review sets the goal to systematically survey the existing literature in smart computing and sensing technologies for domestic, farm and wild animal welfare. We use the notion of \emph{animal welfare} in broad terms, to review the technologies for assessing whether animals are healthy, free of pain and suffering, and also positively stimulated in their environment. Also the notion of \emph{smart computing and sensing} is used in broad terms, to refer to computing and sensing systems that are not isolated but interconnected with communication networks, and capable of remote data collection, processing, exchange and analysis. We review smart technologies for domestic animals, indoor and outdoor animal farming, as well as animals in the wild and zoos. The findings of this review are expected to motivate future research and contribute to data, information and communication management as well as policy for animal welfare

Preliminary evaluation of prevalence of hip and elbow dysplasia in Boerboel dogs

Hip dysplasia (HD) and elbow dysplasia (ED) are developmental diseases that affect large breed of dogs disproportionately. Despite the large size of Boerboel dogs, there are no breed prevalence for HD and ED in Nigeria. This study provides preliminary information about HD and ED prevalence in Boerboels. Twenty Boerboels of both sexes were evaluated. Ventrodorsal radiographs of the hip joint and flexed lateral radiographs of elbow joint were made from each dog, using digital technology. Hip grading was done using the Fédération Cynologique Internationale system (World Canine Organization), assigning grades ranging from A - E. Elbow radiographs were graded based on the International Elbow Working Group criteria, and scores ranging from 0-3 were assigned. Prevalence of HD and ED were expressed as percentages. Age and sex difference were compared using a chi square test. Differences were considered significant at P ≤ 0.05. Mean age of the dogs at the time of radiography was 2.4 ± 0.4 years. Seven (35%) Boerboels had normal hips, while thirteen (65%) had HD. Fifteen (75%) Boerboels had normal elbows, while five (25%) had ED. Five (25%) Boerboels with HD were males, while 8 (40%) HD diagnoses were in females. Two (10%) Boerboels with ED were male, while three (15%) were female. There was no significant (p ˃ 0.05) association between the sex and age of the dogs and distribution of HD and ED, or between sex and concurrent presence of HD and ED in Boerboels. In conclusion, HD prevalence in Boerboels (65%) is higher than that of ED. Further research on hip and elbow disease of African large dogs is indicated.Keywords: Boerboel, Dogs, Dysplasia, Elbow, Hip, Prevalence, Radiograph

Technology for Bonding in Human-Animal Interaction

This workshop focuses on the use and influence of technology on human-animal bonding, and how to facilitate them with technology. We explore the elements and characteristics of human-animal bonding, and how technology is connected to emotions and bonding between the human and the animal. We are particularly interested in animal's experiences, emotions, and welfare in bonding. The workshop facilitates discussion, creates a framework to support design activities, identifies future research themes, and creates ideas on facilitating the mutual bonding in human-animal interaction. The main focus is on dogs, but workshop aims is to pave way for further investigations and research with other domestic animals, such as cats, horses, and rabbits

Environmental determinants of landmine detection by dogs: Findings from a large-scale study in Afghanistan

This article’s purpose is to examine the strengths and weaknesses of mine-detection dogs in different environments. The experiments employed a total of 39 dogs in Afghanistan between October 2002 and July 2003. The results are discussed here