Domestication is a well-known example of the relaxation of environmentally-based cognitive selection that leads to reductions in brain size. However, little is known about how brain size evolves after domestication and whether subsequent directional/artificial selection can compensate for domestication effects. The first animal to be domesticated was the dog, and recent directional breeding generated the extensive phenotypic variation among breeds we observe today. Here we use a novel endocranial dataset based on high-resolution CT scans to estimate brain size in 159 dog breeds and analyze how relative brain size varies across breeds in relation to functional selection, longevity, and litter size. In our analyses, we controlled for potential confounding factors such as common descent, gene flow, body size, and skull shape. We found that dogs have consistently smaller relative brain size than wolves supporting the domestication effect, but breeds that are more distantly related to wolves..., We processed the collection of dog skulls that is maintained at the Department of Anatomy, Cell and Developmental Biology, Eötvös Loránd University (Budapest, Hungary). This private collection (owned by TC) is composed of specimens that have been obtained mostly in the last 10 years by the appropriate preparation of the heads of deceased dogs (which were donated post-mortem), from which the soft materials have been removed a priori. TC systematically collected the prepared skulls with the aim of having both male and female samples from as many breeds as possible. Breed identity was usually verified upon the collection of cadavers/skulls, given that these materials originate from known dog breeders. Alternatively, we checked the appropriate breed certificates/chips for pedigree. Currently, the collection consists of 383 individual skulls (including males, females and unknown sexes) from 146 breeds. We selected 172 skulls (38 females, 83 males and 50 unknown sexes) across all breeds repre..., Microsoft Excel, RÂ

The basic tenets of the evolutionary theories of senescence are well supported. However, there has been little progress in determining the relative influences of mutation accumulation and life history optimisation. The causes of the well-established inverse relationship between lifespan and body size across dog breeds are used here to test these two classes of theories. The lifespan-body size relationship is confirmed for the first time after controlling for breed phylogeny. The lifespan-body size relationship cannot be explained by evolutionary responses to differences in extrinsic mortality, either of contemporary breeds or of breeds at their establishment. The development of breeds larger and smaller than ancestral grey wolves has occurred through changes in early growth rate. This may explain the increase in the minimum age-dependent mortality rate with breed body size and thus higher age-dependent mortality throughout adult life. The main cause of this mortality is cancer. These patterns are consistent with the optimisation of life history as described by the disposable soma theory of the evolution of ageing. The dog breed lifespan-body size relationship may be the result of the evolution of greater defence against cancer lagging behind the rapid increase in body size during recent breed establishment. Methods Data are from published sources.

The Stanford Dogs dataset contains images of 120 breeds of dogs from around the world. This dataset has been built using images and annotation from ImageNet for the task of fine-grained image categorization. There are 20,580 images, out of which 12,000 are used for training and 8580 for testing. Class labels and bounding box annotations are provided for all the 12,000 images.

To use this dataset:

import tensorflow_datasets as tfds

ds = tfds.load('stanford_dogs', split='train')
for ex in ds.take(4):
 print(ex)

See the guide for more informations on tensorflow_datasets.

https://storage.googleapis.com/tfds-data/visualization/fig/stanford_dogs-0.2.0.png" alt="Visualization" width="500px">

Breed and breed group sample size (N), sex (F: female, M: male), and mean age (years) of dogs tested in the present study.

Context

This dataset contains images of 120 breeds of dogs from around the world. This dataset has been built using images and annotation from ImageNet for the task of fine-grained image categorization. It was originally collected for fine-grain image categorization, a challenging problem as certain dog breeds have near identical features or differ in colour and age.

Content

• Number of categories: 120
• Number of images: 20,580
• Annotations: Class labels, Bounding boxes

Acknowledgements

The original data source is found on http://vision.stanford.edu/aditya86/ImageNetDogs/ and contains additional information on the train/test splits and baseline results. If you use this dataset in a publication, please cite the dataset on the following papers: Aditya Khosla, Nityananda Jayadevaprakash, Bangpeng Yao and Li Fei-Fei. Novel dataset for Fine-Grained Image Categorization. First Workshop on Fine-Grained Visual Categorization (FGVC), IEEE Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR), 2011. Secondary: J. Deng, W. Dong, R. Socher, L.-J. Li, K. Li and L. Fei-Fei, ImageNet: A Large-Scale Hierarchical Image Database. IEEE Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR), 2009.

Inspiration

• Can you correctly identify dog breeds that have similar features, such as the basset hound and bloodhound?
• Is this chihuahua young or old?

The dataset you have consists of a collection of images of different dog breeds that were obtained from the web. The images showcase a variety of dog breeds with different physical characteristics such as size, shape, color, and fur type. The images were gathered from various online sources, and they may vary in quality, resolution, and orientation.

The dataset provides a valuable resource for researchers and developers interested in studying and developing computer vision and machine learning algorithms for image recognition, object detection, and classification. The images can be used to train and test machine learning models to accurately identify and classify different dog breeds.

The dataset includes a diverse range of dog breeds, including but not limited to Labrador Retriever, German Shepherd, Bulldog, Beagle, Rottweiler, and many more. Each breed is represented by multiple images, taken from different angles and in different poses, to capture as much information about the breed's physical features as possible.

Body size is an important trait in companion animals. Recently, a primitive Japanese dog breed, the Shiba Inu, has experienced artificial selection for smaller body size, resulting in the “Mame Shiba Inu” breed. To identify loci and genes that might explain the difference in the body size of these Shiba Inu dogs, we applied whole genome sequencing of pooled samples (pool-seq) on both Shiba Inu and Mame Shiba Inu. We identified a total of 13,618,261 unique SNPs in the genomes of these two breeds of dog. Using selective sweep approaches, including FST, Hp and XP-CLR with sliding windows, we identified a total of 12 genomic windows that show signatures of selection that overlap with nine genes (PRDM16, ZNF382, ZNF461, ERGIC2, ENSCAFG00000033351, CCDC61, ALDH3A2, ENSCAFG00000011141, and ENSCAFG00000018533). These results provide candidate genes and specific sites that might be associated with body size in dogs. Some of these genes are associated with body size in other mammals, but 8 of the 9 genes are novel candidate genes that need further study.

The dog and pet breeding industry has shown an increasing focus on ethical practices and transparency, driven by public demand for humane treatment of animals. The traditional market dynamics are changing with more people choosing shelters over breeders. High-value purebred breeds still appeal because of their predictable traits, yet the growing popularity of adoption campaigns emphasizes the need for breeders to differentiate their offerings and enhance their reputation. Many businesses adapt through genetic testing, providing health guarantees that build consumer confidence and align with responsible pet ownership trends. This evolution reflects both challenges and opportunities for breeders. Through the end of 2025, industry revenue is expected to drop at an annualized rate of 0.5% to $4.0 billion, including an estimated 1.2% drop in 2025. Over the past five years, profitability in the breeding field has experienced pressure from changing consumer preferences and rising operational costs. Adoption trends have steered potential pet owners away from purebred purchases, impacting revenue streams. Despite this, focusing on high-value breeds with specific desirable traits has allowed breeders to maintain a high profit. Breeders control expenses by minimizing wage outlay in small operations by relying on family labor, while larger breeders invest more in their workforce. Depreciation and purchase costs remain central concerns, particularly with rare breeds demanding higher initial investments and specialized care. Marketing strategies have shifted online, leveraging social media to reach broader audiences without inflating budgets and maintaining an efficient cost-to-revenue ratio. Looking ahead over the next five years, the pet breeding industry is projected to evolve under growing regulatory scrutiny and public awareness. Regulatory bodies are expected to impose stricter standards, pushing breeders to enhance welfare practices and ensure compliance. This shift may encourage breeders to communicate their ethical practices more transparently. Concurrently, demographic changes and urbanization trends influence consumer behavior. Younger generations often favor experiences over long-term commitments, suggesting a potential market for temporary pet ownership models. As urban living constrains traditional pet adoption, there is potential for breeders to adapt with apartment-friendly pets or virtual care services. While profitability might face challenges because of escalating costs in veterinary services and pet essentials, focusing on strategic pricing, community engagement and digital marketing could help sustain growth and align with evolving consumer values. Through the end of 2030, industry revenue is projected to fall at an annualized rate of 1.9% to $3.6 billion.

The top dog breed in the UK in 2022, as measured by number of registrations, was the Labrador Retriever breed. Some 44,311 retrievers were newly registered in the UK in 2022. French Bulldogs and Cocker Spaniels rounded out the top three dog breeds in the UK that year.

Surge in UK dog registrations

In 2022, many dog breeds saw a decrease in registrations after large growth in 2021. Over 17 thousand fewer Labrador Retrievers were registered in 2022 than in 2021. Registrations of French Bulldogs and Cocker Spaniels also saw significant decreases in the UK that year.

UK pet food market

Europe and North America produce the most pet food worldwide. In 2022, Europe produced about 11.8 million metric tons of pet food. Though less pet food is produced in North America overall, the United States has the highest pet food revenue worldwide by far. The UK has the second highest revenue, reaching over 6.8 billion U.S. dollars that year.

Maltese dogs are the most common dog breed owned in South Korea, according to a survey conducted in 2023, with around ** percent of respondents answering to own such a dog. The market for pets and pet products in South Korea has continued to grow over the last years in Korea and, according to forecasts, will continue to do so for the next six years. Dog population in South Korea Just as the pet market size has grown, the dog population in South Korea has also experienced an upward trend, with almost *** million dogs owned as pets in 2022. While the number of new dog registrations decreased, it was still an elevated level compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic. Dog registrations became mandatory in 2014 and dog owners have to follow up with multiple veterinarian checks. Reasons for this policy were, among others, to reduce the number of stray dogs in cities, such as Seoul, and simplify the recovery of lost dogs. Pet food market According to a survey among pet owners, the preferred type of dog food was dry food. Dry food can be easily imported from other countries and in 2023, South Korea imported most of its pet food from the U.S. The average monthly spending on other pet related items in South Korea amounted to close to **** thousand South Korean won in 2023.

.txt files

Age in dogs is associated with the risk of many diseases, and canine size is a major factor in that risk. However, the size patterns are complex. While small size dogs tend to live longer, some diseases are more prevalent among small dogs. In this study we seek to quantify how the pattern of disease history varies across the spectrum of dog size, dog age, and their interaction. Utilizing owner-reported data on disease history from a substantial number of companion dogs enrolled in the Dog Aging Project, we investigate how body size, as measured by weight, associates with the lifetime prevalence of a reported condition and its pattern across age for various disease categories. We found significant positive associations between dog size and the lifetime prevalence of skin, bone/orthopedic, gastrointestinal, ear/nose/throat, cancer/tumor, brain/neurologic, endocrine, and infectious diseases. Similarly, dog size was negatively associated with lifetime prevalence of ocular, cardiac, liver/pancreas, and respiratory disease categories. Kidney/urinary disease prevalence did not vary by size. We also found that the association between age and lifetime disease prevalence varied by dog size for many conditions including ocular, cardiac, orthopedic, ear/nose/throat, and cancer. Controlling for sex, purebred vs. mixed-breed status, and geographic region made little difference in all disease categories we studied. Our results align with the reduced lifespan in larger dogs for most of the disease categories and suggest potential avenues for further examination.

Humans do not respond to the pain of all humans equally; physical appearance and associated group identity affect how people respond to the pain of others. Here we ask if a similar differential response occurs when humans evaluate different individuals of another species. Beliefs about pain in pet dogs (Canis familiaris) provide a powerful test, since dogs vary so much in size, shape, and color, and are often associated with behavioral stereotypes. Using an on-line survey, we asked both the general public and veterinarians to rate pain sensitivity in 28 different dog breeds, identified only by their pictures. We found that both the general public and veterinarians rated smaller dogs (i.e. based on height and weight) as being more sensitive to pain; the general public respondents rated breeds associated with breed specific legislation as having lower pain sensitivity. While there is currently no known physiological basis for such breed-level differences, over 90% of respondents from both groups indicated belief in differences in pain sensitivity among dog breeds. We discuss how these results inform theories of human social discrimination and suggest that the perception of breed-level differences in pain sensitivity may affect the recognition and management of painful conditions in dogs.

The Global Small Breed Dog Food Market Report is Segmented by Product Type (Dry Pet Food, and More), Ingredient Source (Animal-Based Protein, and More), Life Stage (Puppy, and More), Health Functionality (Weight Management, and More), Distribution Channel (Supermarkets and Hypermarkets, and More) and Geography (North America, South America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and More). The Market Forecasts are Provided in Terms of Value (USD).

The global small breed dog food market size was valued at USD 23.7 billion in 2023 and is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.6% during the forecast period, reaching USD 38.3 billion by 2033. The increasing popularity of small breed dogs as pets, coupled with the rising awareness among pet owners regarding the nutritional needs of their canine companions, is primarily driving the market growth. Furthermore, the growing demand for premium and specialized dog food products tailored to the specific requirements of small breeds is further augmenting market expansion. The market for small breed dog food is segmented based on application, type, and region. In terms of application, the segments include supermarkets/hypermarkets, e-commerce, retail stores, and others. The e-commerce segment is expected to witness significant growth during the forecast period, owing to the increasing convenience and accessibility offered by online platforms. Geographically, the market is divided into North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East & Africa, and Asia Pacific. North America currently holds the largest market share, due to the presence of a large number of pet owners and the high adoption of premium pet food products in the region. However, the Asia Pacific region is anticipated to exhibit the highest CAGR over the forecast period, driven by the growing pet population and the increasing disposable income of pet owners in countries such as China and India.

The evaluation of genetic variability is a useful research tool for the correct management of selection and conservation strategies in dog breeds. In addition to pedigree genealogies, genomic data allow a deeper knowledge of the variability and genetic structure of populations. To date, many dog breeds, such as small regional breeds, still remain uncharacterized. Braque Français type Pyrénées (BRA) is a dog breed originating from a very old type of gun-dog used for pointing the location of game birds to hunters. Despite the ancient background, the knowledge about levels of genetic diversity, degree of inbreeding and population structure is scarce. This may raise concerns on the possibility that few inbred bloodlines may dominate the breed, and on its future health. The aim of this work was therefore to provide a high-resolution representation of the genome-wide diversity and population structure of BRA dogs, using the 170K genome-wide SNP array. Genome-wide polymorphisms in BRA were compared with those of other worldwide dog breeds. Between-dog relationships estimated from genomic data were very similar to pedigree relationships (Pearson correlation rg,a = 0.92). Results showed that BRA generally presents moderate levels of genetic diversity when compared with the major canine breeds. The estimated effective population size (recent Ne = 51) shows a similar declining pattern over generations as all other dog breeds, pointing at a common demographic history of modern canine breeds, clearly different from the demography of feral wolves. Multidimensional scaling (MDS), Bayesian clustering and Neighbor Joining tree were used to visualize and explore the genetic relationships among breeds, and revealed that BRA was highly differentiated and presented only low levels of admixture with other breeds. Brittany Spaniel, English Setter, Gordon Setter and Weimaraner dogs are the closest breeds to BRA. The exact reason for BRA being so divergent from other dog breeds, based on these results, is not yet clear. Further studies including additional ≪braccoid≫ breeds will be needed to refine the results presented here and to investigate the origin of the BRA breed. Nonetheless, the genome-wide characterization reported here provides a comprehensive insight into the genome diversity and population structure of the Braque Français, type Pyrénées breed.

Why Choose Dog Fingerprint? Dog Fingerprint combines expert knowledge and advanced technology to provide trusted dog breed info, training tips, and nutrition advice. Complete Breed Database Dog Fingerprint offers 362+ detailed dog breed profiles, covering temperament, size, origin, and health information. Expert Training Resources Science-based training articles written by Mikiyas Zelalem to help you train […]

The global protection dog market is experiencing robust growth, driven by increasing demand for personal and property security, alongside a rising awareness of the effectiveness of canine protection. While precise market size figures are unavailable, considering the substantial investment in canine training and the relatively high cost of acquiring and maintaining a protection dog, a reasonable estimation for the market size in 2025 would be around $500 million. This market is projected to exhibit a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 8% from 2025 to 2033, indicating significant future expansion. Several factors contribute to this growth, including the rising popularity of personal protection dogs among high-net-worth individuals and businesses, advancements in canine training techniques leading to improved effectiveness, and an increased recognition of the psychological benefits of dog ownership for security personnel. The market is segmented by dog breed, training type (e.g., personal protection, property protection), and service level. Competitive forces include established training facilities and individual trainers offering specialized services. The growth trajectory is influenced by several trends. The increasing adoption of advanced technologies like GPS tracking and specialized training equipment enhances both the efficacy and marketability of protection dogs. However, certain restraints exist, notably the high initial and ongoing costs associated with acquiring, training, and maintaining a protection dog. Strict regulations concerning dog ownership and breeding, and ethical concerns surrounding the welfare of working dogs, pose additional challenges. Market expansion is likely to be geographically diverse, with developed nations exhibiting high demand but growth also occurring in emerging economies as disposable incomes rise and security concerns increase. The sector's expansion is underpinned by a growing reliance on professionally trained protection dogs as a dependable and highly effective security measure.

The global dog sanitary pants market is experiencing robust growth, driven by increasing pet humanization, a rising awareness of pet hygiene, and the growing popularity of smaller dog breeds prone to accidents. The market is segmented by product type (reusable vs. disposable), material (cotton, nylon, etc.), size, and distribution channel (online vs. offline). While precise market sizing data is not provided, considering the involvement of numerous established players like Unicharm and the presence of numerous smaller brands indicates a sizable market. A conservative estimate, based on the involvement of major players and average CAGR growth in related pet product segments, places the 2025 market size in the range of $300-500 million USD. This substantial market size reflects significant consumer spending on pet supplies and reflects a growing willingness to invest in products improving pet comfort and cleanliness. The market's CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) likely falls within a range of 5-8%, driven by factors such as expanding pet ownership, particularly in urban areas, and increased disposable incomes in emerging economies. Key restraints include fluctuating raw material prices and the potential for consumer perception challenges around product efficacy and pet acceptance. The market is expected to witness continuous growth throughout the forecast period (2025-2033), propelled by several key trends. These include increasing product innovation (e.g., more absorbent, comfortable, and stylish designs), expanding online retail channels catering to pet owners' convenience, and growing product differentiation to cater to specific breed sizes and needs. Key players in the market are adopting various strategies like product diversification, strategic partnerships, and geographical expansion to gain a competitive edge. The market's future performance will depend on factors such as consumer buying behavior, successful marketing campaigns highlighting the benefits of sanitary pants, and the ongoing evolution of product technology to enhance functionality and comfort for dogs. Continuous research and development efforts aimed at eco-friendly and sustainable materials will also be crucial for market growth.