SAT APRIL 27
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM LECTURE | LH2
Session II: The Science of Human-Canine Teams
Performance and Working Dogs
Eldin Leighton, PHD
CANINE GENETIC SERVICES
FOUNDER
THE SEEING EYE
EMERITUS CHAIR OF GENETICS
The International Working Dog Registry:
A Tool for Using the Power of Combined Data to Obtain Genetic Improvement In All Working Dogs
A Tool for Using the Power of Combined Data to Obtain Genetic Improvement In All Working Dogs
About
After 20 years serving as Breeding Program Manager for The Seeing Eye, Morristown, New Jersey, Dr. Eldin A. Leighton retired in 2016. For the last 14 years of his employment by The Seeing Eye, he held the endowed Jane H. Booker Chair in Canine Genetics. Prior to accepting full-time employment with The Seeing Eye, he began consulting for them in 1977. In 1980, he designed a breeding plan to genetically improve hip quality and overall trainability of dogs born into The Seeing Eye's breeding colony, which remains the general plan still being followed in 2019, with some minor modifications. About 3 months into retirement, Dr. Leighton concluded that sitting on the sidelines was extremely boring, so he began his own private consulting company, Canine Genetic Services, LLC. Today, Dr. Leighton is one of two primary developers who created and continue to maintain the International Working Dog Registry (IWDR), a world-wide accessible database for storing health and working performance phenotypes of working dogs. IWDR is currently being used by over 40 guide and service dog organizations from around the world, with police and military organizations actively considering its use. Dr. Leighton earned his M.S. (1973) and Ph.D. (1979) degrees in animal genetics and statistics from Iowa State University in the U.S.A.
