Born to Guide is a pioneering project launched by Guide Dogs in 2020 to help us better understand our dogs’ genes, to the benefit of dog breeding programmes and overall welfare.
The project involves gathering genomic data and rich phenotype data (observable characteristics of an individual) from thousands of our dogs. The data can then be used to enable us to understand more about dog genetics, health and behaviour.
The application of knowledge accrued from this project will benefit our breeding programme today and improve the health and wellbeing of generations of guide dogs to come. It could help us understand new and unanticipated diseases or behavioural patterns, too.
Not only will Born to Guide help us in breeding happy, healthy dogs, but the project may help researchers to identify complex relationships between genes, pedigrees, health and behaviour.
The benefits from this research will apply not just to Guide Dogs here in the UK, but to organisations that use working dogs worldwide, as well as being of relevance to the wider dog population and so of interest to vets, researchers into canine behaviour, health and wellbeing, and dog owners everywhere.
We are already collecting health and behaviour information on our dogs, but we are limited in what we can do with that data – we know some conditions and behaviours have a genetic link, but we don’t yet know what those links are. By using the data that we collect, we can make better breeding decisions that lead to happy, healthy dogs who can better support the people who rely on them.
If you would like more information about the project please contact us at borntoguide@guidedogs.org.uk.
Through the Born to Guide project and working with project partners, Guide Dogs has created a database of the full genome sequence of 300 of our breeding dogs, as well as collected DNA from 2,700 puppies produced by those breeding dogs. The project is a collaboration with the University of Nottingham and the Roslin Institute. By working with world-class scientists, we hope to uncover the complex relationships between our dogs’ genes and the environment to support the health and welfare of dogs everywhere.
Guide Dogs keeps extensive records of our dogs’ pedigrees, their progress throughout their lives, and we have a comprehensive system to track the health information for each dog. The work that we are doing will help us understand the complex genetic components of diseases like atopy or undesirable behaviour traits such as distraction.
Guide Dogs’ breeding programme currently relies on estimated breeding values for some health conditions and phenotypic information for others, and for behaviour traits. The use of genomic data in the future, through the development of genomic breeding values, would help us move into a breeding system that will be more reliable and improve the performance and wellbeing of our dogs.
By sharing our results and making a globally accessible resource for researchers, we hope to support the health and welfare of dogs everywhere.
Meet the people working to improve our breeding programme through the use of genetics
Tom is a quantitative geneticist and has spent over a decade in research focusing on the genetic analysis of complex inherited disease and population structure in pedigree dog breeds. With a background in animal science, he gained his PhD investigating multiple aspects of quantitative genetics at the Roslin Institute and Nottingham University. Since then, Tom has worked at the Animal Health Trust and the Kennel Club, using pedigree and health testing data as the basis of his research, including the provision of estimated breeding values (estimates of genetic risk of hip and elbow disease), for multiple Kennel Club registered breeds.
Rachel has worked for Guide Dogs specialising in research relating to dog health and reproduction since 2008. Rachel’s research interests include reproductive physiology and performance in the bitch and neonatal health and survival. Rachel completed her PhD in 2024 at the University of Nottingham, School of Veterinary Medicine and Science. Rachel's PhD research focused on the effects of neutering, and neutering prepubertally or post-pubertally, on bitch health, behaviour and development.
Becky has worked for Guide Dogs both in research and in the Breeding Programme team since 2016. Becky also has a PhD from the School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, University of Nottingham.
Professor England is the Foundation Dean of the University of Nottingham School of Veterinary Medicine and Science and is Professor of Comparative Veterinary Reproduction. Professor England is an academic clinician who undertakes clinical work and research in the field of reproductive biology, behaviour and animal selection.
Professor England is Guide Dogs’ Chief Veterinary Consultant and is instrumental in the success of Guide Dogs’ breeding programme.
Born to Guide is a pioneering project launched by Guide Dogs and our research partners to help us better understand our dogs’ genes. By working with world-class scientists, we hope to better understand how our dogs’ genes contribute to their health and behaviour, and ultimately their success as working guide dogs.
So far, we have gathered genetic data from cheek swabs from over 3000 of our dogs, and we continue to gather rich data on our dogs’ health and behaviour. Using these data, we hope to better understand the complex relationships between genes, pedigrees and how our dogs develop throughout their lives.
This project could help us to discover new genetic tests to diagnose specific diseases and stop them being passed on to future generations of dogs by informing how we choose new dogs to join our breeding program.
A better understanding of how a dog’s genes affect behaviour could also help us with training, as we could have a better idea of how a dog may react to certain environments and give them the best support.
Ultimately, it is hoped that the ability to understand the genetics of certain behavioural traits and complex health conditions will result in us breeding happier, healthier dogs that are best suited to life as a guide dog in the future. Our findings could help other assistance dog organisations and even pet owners.
By breeding dogs with a greater knowledge of their future health and behaviour, we will hopefully produce more dogs suited to guiding in a lasting partnership. We could see higher success rates of dogs in training, and fewer dogs withdrawn or retired because of health concerns. This means we would be able to partner more people with sight loss with a life-changing guide dog, and keep these partnerships together for longer.
There are already well-established genetic tests for dogs to pick up on some diseases and health conditions, and we use the appropriate ones for our breeds when they are considered for our breeding program.
However, there are some hereditary diseases that cannot be easily identified in dogs before breeding them. With the Born to Guide project, we hope to find new ways of picking up different health concerns before they are passed on to a new generation of puppies.
Learn more about our other ongoing projects
We have always been incredibly selective about the dogs we breed from, and if they are not chosen, they very often go on to become successful guide dogs without issue.
At Guide Dogs, we believe that every dog is unique. How a dog behaves is the results of a combination of their personality and everyday experiences. The environment a dog is raised in and its interactions with people and other dogs, has a big impact on their behaviour.
Nevertheless, a dog’s innate personality, which is influenced by their genes, will also affect how it reacts to different situations. Understanding more about a dog’s personality and how this combines with life experiences will help us nurture our dogs’ potential, ensuring they are happy and confident at all stages of life.
If you are one of our volunteers or service users with a dog from us in your care, you may be asked to get involved in Born to Guide by completing questionnaires to tell us more about your dog. You will be contacted if your dog has been selected. Any information we collect on your dogs will just be used in this project for understanding future generations; it will not in any way be used to determine whether he or she becomes a guide dog or keeps working.