Estimates of genetic parameters for hunting performance traits in three breeds of gun hunting dogs in Norway

Abstract Breeding of gun dogs in Norway is partially based on field hunting tests. Dogs are tested individually and performances of seven traits are judged by scores from 1 to 6. The traits are hunting eagerness, speed, style, independence, seeking width, ability to work in the field and cooperation. In addition, number of birds found in the test is recorded. Based on between 1893 and 2602 registrations, genetic parameters for three breeds, German Short-Haired Pointer (Short-Haired), German Wire-Haired Pointer (Wire-Haired) and Brittany Spaniel (Breton) are estimated using an animal model and REML-analysis. The estimated heritabilities for the scored hunting performance traits varied from h 2 =0.06 to 0.28. The repeatabilities varied from R =0.11 to 0.48. The genetic correlations between some of the performance traits were estimated to be higher than the phenotypic correlations and were close to 1.0. It is concluded that the test is suitable as a source of information for selecting breeding dogs. However, no satisfactory expression for the important factor bird-finding ability has been found.