Browsing by Subject "dogs"
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(2020)Dog activities (urination and defecation) can be a source of nitrogen accumulation in the snowpack of urban parks. Urban parks are commonly visited by urban residents and excessive buildup of nitrogen in snowpack can be a health concern. This accumulation of nitrogen in snowpack may wash away during spring with the runoff of melting snow, which can cause the eutrophication and deterioration of lake ecosystems. In this study, I investigated the concentration of some nitrogen-related compounds along with a few physical parameters in the snowpack of urban parks and compared these between areas with high dog activities and areas with no dog activities. I hypothesized that, nitrogen concentrations will be higher in areas with high dog activities, like snowpack beside paths than in areas with no dog activities. The study was performed in 10 parks of two cities in Finland; Helsinki and Lahti. In these parks, samples were collected from snowpack immediately next to walking paths (path edge), and in control areas 8 m away from these paths, where dogs were unlikely to visit. Samples were collected from February to April of 2019. The concentration nitrogen from snow samples of both parts of parks were compared. The study showed that, the concentration of most nitrogen species, e.g. Total Nitrogen (TN), ammonium (NH4+), Total Organic Nitrogen (TON), and electrical conductivity followed a similar pattern of having higher values in snow from path edges where dog activities were the highest. However, the concentration of NO3 – and pH values were both slightly lower in the path edge samples compared to control areas undisturbed by dogs, but differences were not statistically significant. Information from this study can be useful for understanding the connection between dog activities and nitrogen build up in snowpack of urban parks, and can also be helpful for designing urban parks by considering environmental and health effects of nitrogen accumulation in the snow from dog activities. My findings can also be useful to urban waterbody related studies, e.g. eutrophication, and the accumulation of nutrients in lakes.
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(2012)The main objective of this study was to estimate genetic parameters to aggression- and fear-related traits in Rottweiler-breed. We also determined which kind of variables could be useful in genetic studies. We used a questionnaire which was sent to Rottweiler owners. Genetic parameters were estimated from a data including responses from owners of 510 dogs. Analysis were carried out with Restricted Maximum Likelihood method for three different variables: owner impression, behaviour components and single behaviour guestions. Heritability estimates for different types of aggression and fear were low or moderate. Most common aggression was dog-directed aggression while owner-directer aggression was most rare. Aggressive behaviour was divided into three genetic complex: social unsureness, aggression in encounter situations and sharpness. The widest complex, social unsureness, had highest heritability estimate. Dog’s aggression in social situations was related to fear and unsureness. Owner impression –guestions and behaviour components could be useful when studying personality traits because they measure a wider complex than just a single behaviour. In this study social dogs had less aggressive and fearful behaviour. It could be possible to reduce aggression- and fear-related behaviour problems by raising dog’s sociality by breeding. This study showed that owner impressions could be used to measure dog’s sociality.
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