05.12.2015PhD opportunity: Working farm dog health

Massey University’s EpiCentre has a PhD opportunity in the area of working farm dog health and performance.

Working dogs are an integral, and iconic, part of New Zealand farming; indeed many sheep and beef farms could not operate without the effort of their dogs. Despite their importance there has been limited work describing what factors constitute good performance in working farm dogs either in New Zealand or overseas. Describing good performance is not merely an academic exercise. A description of the key factors that make up working dog performance is necessary if we are to evaluate an action or intervention (.e.g. neutering or changing diet) and determine the impact of disease and injuries. The need to better understand performance was also raised as a key research area by participants at Massey University Working Dog Centre Research Colloquium in December 2014.

We currently have funding for a PhD student to undertake a project that will employ a mixed methods approach to determine what makes a working farm dog a top performer.

To find out more this project please contact Naomi Cogger.