scaredy dogs

From my sister, who does research at UCSF. She's swabbing dog's gums to locate possible genetic markers for aggression and panic attacks in dogs:

Hello Folks!

I need your help. I'm the project manager for a canine behavioral genetics study at UCSF. We're searching for folks who have dogs that would like to contribute their dogs' DNA.

There are 2 reasons for the project:

 #1 - Collecting a large pool of dog DNA so we may develop genetic marker panels. The information from the panels will help us learn more about the canine genome.

 #2 - Looking for dogs with panic attacks, anxiety-related, and/or aggressive behaviors and their family members (i.e. siblings, parents, distand relations). From the general info of the canine genome, we would like to look for genes that contribute to anxiety and/or aggressive behaviors. Later, we hope that these same genes will be the similar to the same genes that contribute to human panic attacks and anxiety behavior.

 Also, I'd appreciate it if you can forward this email to other dog owners who may be interested in participating.

 If you have any questions or comments, feel free to email me (K9BehavioralGenetics@lppi.ucsf.edu).

 Thanks.

 Maria