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PODCAST

The Functional Breeding Podcast

The Functional Dog Collaborative

The Functional Breeding Podcast is about how to breed dogs for function and for health, behavioral and physical. It is brought to you by the Functional Dog Collaborative, a non-profit organization founded to support the ethical breeding of healthy, behaviorally sound dogs. The FDC’s goals include providing educational, social, and technical resources to breeders of both purebred and mixed breed dogs, helping us all learn more about how to breed good companions who are fit for sports or work. You can

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All Episodes

34:46

Laura Sharkey, PhD, KPA CTP, SDC: What puppies are...

The Functional Breeding Podcast ·

2025/07/20

This week I'm talking to Dr Laura Sharkey, dog trainer turned dog breeder, who runs the Bosun Dog Project. This project produces lovely mixed breed dogs who are bred to fit well into homes as companions. This episode was actually recorded in person with me and Laura in the same room. We started talking about what we would talk about and then I realized she had already said some really interesting stuff, so I hit record and prompted her to start over, and away we went, talking about some of the

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01:01:55

Micah Halpern, PhD: Canine Genetic Testing

The Functional Breeding Podcast ·

2025/06/19

This week I'm talking with Dr Micah Halpern, a geneticist who has worked with many species including zoo animal population health, and is currently the pricipal scientist and owner of GenSol Diagnostics. Micah and I got nerdy about genetic testing for canine health and other traits - what are some of the different technologies involved, and how do we think about what "accurate" means in terms of results?I've had a long break from recording podcast episodes and I'm coming back gradually. My series

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01:03:43

Dr. Hille Fieten, Copper Toxicity

The Functional Breeding Podcast ·

2025/03/25

Dr. Hille Fieten is veterinary researcher and clinician specializing in internal medicine. She is is the coordinator of the Center for Expertise in Genetics and Veterinary Medicine at Utrecht University. I have received multiple requests to talk to her about her research into the genetics of copper toxicity in dogs. Some of her research has been used for new genetic tests, and the dog loving community is asking how to interpret these tests. Buckle up for a lot of information coming at you!

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48:53

Hekman and Stremming: New paper on prevalence of...

The Functional Breeding Podcast ·

2025/03/04

A new paper, "The prevalence of behavior problems in dogs in the United States," is getting people upset - is it true that 99.78% of owners think their dog has a behavior problem? That's not actually what the paper says, and I'm here with Sarah Stremming of Cog Dog Radio for a joint episode. We talk through the paper's findings and what it means for those of us trying to make the world a better place for dogs.Beaver, Bonnie V. "The prevalence of behavior problems in dogs in the United States."

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01:09:03

Dr. Paula Boyden: Puppy Smuggling in the UK

The Functional Breeding Podcast ·

2025/02/04

Dr. Paula Boyden is the veterinary director of Dogs Trust UK, an animal welfare organization that, among many other things, investigates illegal importation of animals to the UK. Paula and I talked about puppy smuggling - why it happens, how it happens, the animal welfare implications, how hard it is for puppy seekers to detect it, and potential solutions to stop it.You can learn more about Dogs Trust UK at https://www.dogstrust.org.uk. You can find the puppy smuggling reports that Paula and I

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57:27

Sara Reusche: Breeding Sports Lite Dogs

The Functional Breeding Podcast ·

2025/01/22

This week I welcomed back Sara Reusche (she/her)! Sara is a CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA, CVT, and owns Paws Abilities Dog Training, LLC in Southeast Minnesota and the Twin Cities metro. Sara and I talked about what we mean by the term sports lite versus sport bred, what the sports lite dogs she's bred look like - and how everyone deserves an easy dog, even those who want to do sports. To learn more about Sara's training program go to https://pawsabilitiesmn.com/ (they have online offerings so you don't have to

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01:30:37

Carm Aufderheide, CSAT, MS-CRES: How we change minds

The Functional Breeding Podcast ·

2025/01/07

Carm Aufderheide, CSAT, KPA-CTP, CTDP-KA, MS-CRES, is a dog behavior consultant with a master's degree in conflict and dispute resolution. In this episode, Carm and I talk about conflict in the dog breeding world - and in dog training, human politics, and other parts of life. Why are we as humans so likely to fall into conflict with others? Why is it so hard to convince others of your viewpoint when you're in conflict with them? How can we do things differently so we can start having meaningful

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01:24:47

Rowena Packer, PhD: How people think about...

The Functional Breeding Podcast ·

2024/12/18

Dr. Rowena Packer is a Senior Lecturer in Companion Animal Behaviour and Welfare Science at the Royal Veterinary College in London, where she studies dog breeding with an eye to maximizing physical and emotional health of dogs. She also studies how health affects canine behavior and welfare, and - the reason I asked her on for this episode - how companion animal owners make decisions about their dogs, and how to improve those decisions in line with animal welfare. Rowena and I talked about why

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30:15

Genetic Testing Cavaliers for Heart Disease

The Functional Breeding Podcast ·

2024/11/26

This episode is just me (Jessica Perry Hekman, DVM, PhD) - talking about a new genetic test for the risk of mitral valve disease in Cavalier King Charles Spaniels. Cavs are at incredibly high risk of this disease and get it at much younger ages than other breeds. What does this new test mean in terms of predicting if your Cav is at risk, and whether a particular Cav should be bred?I talk about several papers in this episode. If you want to check them out yourself, they are: Mead, Sophie E., et al

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01:18:30

Kim Kavin: The Dog Merchants

The Functional Breeding Podcast ·

2024/11/14

Kim Kavin is an award-winning freelance writer who is also passionate about better understanding where dogs come from in the United States. Her book, The Dog Merchants, is a fascinating read for anyone who wants a look at places few of us are able to go, such as a dog auction or a high volume kennel-based breeding operation. Kim and I talked about the ins and outs of the complex industry that has grown up around puppy production, including large scale breeding and rescue operations.In this

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01:01:27

Daniel Mills, BVSc, ECAWBM(BM), PhD: Pain and...

The Functional Breeding Podcast ·

2024/10/28

This week I'm talking to Daniel Mills, Professor of Veterinary Behavioural Medicine at the University of Lincoln and director of the University Animal Behaviour Clinic. Daniel is internationally recognized as an authority on companion animal behavior, cognition, and welfare. His lab studies, among other things, the association between untreated pain and behavior issues. I asked him to talk about his research and his insights into the challenges of assessing pain in dogs - and why it's so important

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01:01:10

Dr. Cat Henstridge: Unlicensed fertility clinics in...

The Functional Breeding Podcast ·

2024/10/17

This week I'm talking with Dr. Cat Henstridge. Cat, who is a primary care veterinarian in the UK, has been on several TV series, including the Pets Factor. She writes for veterinary and non-veterinary publications, and is known as Cat the Vet to her many, many social media followers. Cat and I talked about the rise of unlicensed fertility clinics in the UK - why they have sprung up, what the problems with them are, and some thoughts about how many veterinarians interact with breeder clients.You

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01:09:34

Jane Ladlow, VetMB, DipECVS, MRCVS: Brachycephalic...

The Functional Breeding Podcast ·

2024/09/30

This week I'm talking to Dr Jane Ladlow. Jane is a veterinary surgeon who is widely known as an expert on BOAS, or brachycephalic obstructive airway syndrome. BOAS is the umbrella disorder that covers a variety of different airflow obstructions in different flat-faced breeds such as the pug, French bulldog, and English bulldog. Jane developed the Respiratory Function Grading Scheme, a straightforward clinical exam which allows grading of a BOAS-effected dog. Jane works with the Kennel Club in the UK

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01:34:23

Gina Bryson and Drs O'Neill and Packer: The Doodle...

The Functional Breeding Podcast ·

2024/09/16

Today I'm talking with the researchers who recently published a paper that's been getting a lot of social media buzz. The paper's title is "The doodle dilemma: How the physical health of ‘Designer-crossbreed’ Cockapoo, Labradoodle and Cavapoo dogs’ compares to their purebred progenitor breeds." This interview was a big party featuring Gina Bryson, the first author on the paper, as well as two researchers from Royal Veterinary College, Dr Rowena Packer, and Dr Dan O'Neill, who has been a guest on the

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39:32

What is the coefficient of inbreeding (COI) and why...

The Functional Breeding Podcast ·

2024/09/09

This week you get just me (Jessica Perry Hekman) talking at you! I'm talking about the coefficient of inbreeding (COI), a measurement of genetic diversity that's commonly mentioned in discussions of individual and breed health. I talk about what it is, how to interpret it, how to get the measurement done for your own dog(s), why we care about it, and give the take-home messages from some papers with evidence for its importance in dog specifically. COI is not the only thing you should be breeding

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01:11:19

REPLAY: Jane Lindquist: Puppy Culture

The Functional Breeding Podcast ·

2024/08/27

I will have new content for you all soon - but for now, enjoy one from the archives!-- Jane Lindquist is the founder and owner of Puppy Culture, a widely used educational resource for raising and socializing puppies. She herself breeds and competes with bull terriers. As it turns out, she is very thoughtful when it comes to how to apply science to the raising of puppies. We had a wide ranging conversation, at times nerdy, at times philosophical. You can learn more about Puppy Culture at

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01:29:41

Mary Peaslee, MD, MPH: Breeding for Population Health

The Functional Breeding Podcast ·

2024/07/18

This episode I welcome back Mary Peaslee, MD, MPH, to talk about a breeder's perspective on all the advice Dr Dan O'Neill gave us in his recent episode on how to approach disorder testing. Mary works in population health and brings that perspective to her breeding practice. So what does all this stuff look like in the real world? How can breeders focus on the future health of the dog population they work with? What are some challenges they'll encounter? Mary has some great advice and perspective

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01:02:17

Jessica Hekman, DVM, PhD, on "Lifetime Prevalence of...

The Functional Breeding Podcast ·

2024/07/02

We have a flipped episode this week with Sarah Stremming of Cog Dog Radio interviewing me. We're talking about the new paper out of the Dog Aging Project, "Lifetime Prevalence of Owner-Reported Medical Conditions in the 25 Most Common Dog Breeds in the Dog Aging Project Pack." There's been a lot of buzz on social media about this paper and we wanted to dig in to its findings. For those who saw our live Q&A about the paper, this interview covers very similar ground, although we go into some more

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15:06

What's up with FDC and the podcast

The Functional Breeding Podcast ·

2024/06/19

There's a lot going on behind the scenes of the Functional Dog Collaborative and I have a lot of plans for upcoming podcast episodes. I also have had a bunch of people say they can't record this summer and so it may be a few weeks until I get the next episode out. So here's some stuff to tide you over - explanation of what's going on and what episode topics I have coming up! (If you want to suggest episode topics, or get a chance to have your questions asked during an interview, head over to join

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01:32:12

Dan O'Neill, MVB, PhD, FRCVS: Disorder Testing

The Functional Breeding Podcast ·

2024/06/07

Last episode I talked with Dr. Dan O'Neill, a veterinary epidemiologist who studies canine disorders that have an inherited component - what the rest of us might call "genetic diseases." During that interview he mentioned that he didn't think disorder testing - what most of us call health testing - has been workinig to improve canine health. I cut that section because I felt we needed to go into a lot more detail on it to understand what he meant by that, since I knew he didn't mean we should

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