Human-directed social behaviour in dogs shows significant heritability.

Through domestication and co-evolution with humans, dogs have developed abilities to attract human attention, e.g. in a manner of seeking assistance when faced with a problem solving task. The aims of this study were to investigate within breed variation in human-directed contact seeking in dogs and to estimate its genetic basis. To do this, 498 research beagles, bred and kept under standardized conditions, were tested in an unsolvable problem task. Contact seeking behaviours recorded included both eye contact and physical interactions. Behavioural data was summarized through a principal component analysis, resulting in four components: test interactions, social interactions, eye contact and physical contact. Females scored significantly higher on social interactions and physical contact and age had an effect on eye contact scores. Narrow sense heritabilities (h(2) ) of the two largest components were estimated at 0.32 and 0.23 but were not significant for the last two components. These results show that within the studied dog population, behavioural variation in human-directed social behaviours was sex dependent and that the utilization of eye contact seeking increased with age and experience. Hence, heritability estimates indicate a significant genetic contribution to the variation found in human-directed social interactions, suggesting that social skills in dogs have a genetic basis, but can also be shaped and enhanced through individual experiences. This research gives the opportunity to further investigate the genetics behind dogs' social skills, which could also play a significant part into research on human social disorders such as autism.

Comparison of health care utilization of postnatal programs in Sweden.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the utilization of health care services, based on number of outpatient visits and readmissions, by mothers and newborns following discharge postnatally after having received various types of maternity care. DESIGN: The design was a cohort of Swedish women giving birth at full term. All together, 773 women and 782 newborns were followed using questionnaires, registry data, and medical chart notes. The information served as a basis for analyzing utilization of health care services during the first 28 days post-delivery. RESULTS: Of the women, 15% sought medical care and 1.7% were readmitted, whereas 17% of the newborns received medical care and 2.9% were readmitted. At 6 months, about half were exclusively being breastfed. There was no difference in need to seek health care or breastfeeding outcome owing to type of maternity care. CONCLUSION: Mothers with newborns sought care relatively frequently but rarely needed to be readmitted after discharge from the maternity care. The risk of readmission during the first month after childbirth was not greater for mothers and children who received care through the family suite or early discharge programs.