Georgie (1986-1996)

The Georgie Project is a collaboration between owners and breeders of Portuguese Water Dogs and scientists at the University of Utah. The collaboration is named in memory of Georgie, a Portuguese Water Dog that died of an auto immune disease.

Georgie's death brought together the individuals who have cooperated to create this project.

GOALS

What is the Georgie Project?

It may best be described as a challenge to Groucho Marx' famous statement:

What is there within a dog
that we might wish to read?

Within the dog is the Genotype shown here by the two copies of all but the sex chromosomes (each gene is present in two copies):

as well as various Phenotypes such as the wonderful behavior which is so characteristic of Portuguese Water Dogs or a phenotype such as the anatomy of the dog shown here.

The Georgie Project measures Genotypes and Phenotypes and tries to relate them in an attempt to understand the blueprints of our dogs.

This picture also serves to remind us that the genetic material, DNA, is two things -- both an actual material which itself has a phenotype and it is the information from which the rest of the dog is built.

THE GOAL OF GEORGIE PROJECT

Determine Genotypes and Phenotypes of the PWD population

Analyze Genetics of Simple and Complex Traits

---> Breeding Decisions

---> New Genotypes

---> New Phenotypes

Another goal of the Georgie Project is to create a prototype for the collaboration between owners and scientists:

GEORGIE PROJECT TESTS COLLABORATION
Between
OWNERS and SCIENTISTS

Rewards:

For owners

healthier dogs, more informed breeding

For scientists

new system to study genetics using well cared for animals

new information and concepts

Owners often believe that scientists live in a special world,
and Scientists can believe that owners live in their special world,
the reality is that we're all ordinary folks:

This is clearly shown in this group portrait of the scientists in the Lark laboratory who work on the Georgie Project.