‘Generation Pup’ is the first study to follow dogs of all breeds from puppy-hood as they grow up into adults.
Dogs Trust, Ireland’s largest dog welfare charity, is delighted to announce that Irish puppies will be recruited and included in a unique type of research project called ‘Generation Pup’.
‘Generation Pup’ is asking owners of Republic of Ireland puppies of 16 weeks of age or less, of any breed or cross breed, to sign up and become part of the Generation Pup community.
This pioneering study, conducted by researchers at Dogs Trust and The University of Bristol, and funded by Dogs Trust, has the potential to be the largest study of our canine companions of this generation!
This is also known as a ‘birth cohort study’, like the well-known 'Children of the 90s' study, which has had a massive impact on knowledge about child development, health and disease and informed many aspects of public health policy.
'Generation Pup' aims to do the same but for all breeds and cross breeds of dogs. This has some big advantages over other approaches, as it enables investigative work to determine whether events or environments early in life, influence the development of conditions as dogs get older.
Dogs play an important role in our families, and have an irreplaceable place in our lives and hearts. It is devastating when they are injured, suffer from disease or have behaviour problems which impact on their wellbeing.
Research is essential to better understand how and why these problems develop, so we can prevent and treat them.
Commenting on today’s announcement, Executive Director at Dogs Trust, Suzie Carley said “not only will this study deliver vital insights on our dogs’ development from an early age but the results could pave the way for effective preventative measures to be put in place, or lead to new approaches for therapy or treatment for our dogs.”
For more information about the study please log onto: http://generationpup.ac.uk/
