Behavioral genetics of herding breeds: article discussion with Sarah Stremming

About this episode

The episode discusses the behavioral genetics of herding breeds, focusing on a study about border collies, featuring insights from Sarah Stremming.

This episode, I am being interviewed by Sarah Stremming about a recent scientific article about the genetics of behavior in herding breeds and specifically in border collies. I talk about the study's methods and what it all means, and Sarah grounds it in her deep practical experience with herding dogs. Sarah has been on the podcast so many times that she hardly needs an introduction but for new listeners, she is an internationally known dog behavior consultant and speaker. You can learn more about her at sarahstremming.com and I encourage you to check out her podcast, cog dog radio, where this episode is being jointly released. On a personal note I want to let you all know that while I haven't been releasing episodes, this podcast has been very much on my mind. I continue to suffer from chronic fatigue which makes this kind of effort really difficult for me - after recording this episode I was unable to work for the rest of the day. I'm improving but it's very slow going. I am deeply grateful to those on Patreon who continue to support the podcast during this hiatus - that support goes straight to the Functional Dog Collaborative and is much needed and appreciated. Jeong…

People in this episode

Guest: Sarah Stremming

Topics covered

• behavioral genetics
• herding breeds
• border collies
• dog behavior
• scientific research

Keywords

• behavioral genetics
• herding breeds
• border collies
• dog behavior
• genetics of behavior

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Functional Dog Collaborative, cog dog radio, Science Advances

Books & works: Genomic evidence for behavioral adaptation of herding dogs

More episodes of The Functional Breeding Podcast

• Jane Lindquist Part 1: Puppy Culture Revisit · May 28, 2026 · 37 min
• REPLAY: Dr. Jane Ladlow and BOAS · May 8, 2026 · 1h 10m
• Jess Sedivy Gunderson and Xan Latta: The Flat Coat Conservation Project · April 18, 2026 · 57 min
• Laura Sharkey, PhD, KPA CTP, SDC: What puppies are capable of · July 20, 2025 · 35 min
• Micah Halpern, PhD: Canine Genetic Testing · June 19, 2025 · 1h 2m
• Dr. Hille Fieten, Copper Toxicity · March 25, 2025 · 1h 4m