I'm watching it now......... and would love to be able to hear it, but my two are going beserk lol

Brilliant programme, I found it all fascinating.
I disliked the way the foxes were kept too and although the experiments seemed unnecessary, new stuff is being learned all the time that will help our understanding of so much.

Forgot to say how sad it was seeing all those boxers with cropped ears

Whenever you see a film with a dog that's playing aggressive/evil they are nearly always a cropped Dobe.

They even still do it to Affenpinshers over there, it's truly unbelievable that it is still legal!

J.

I watched it and found it really interesting, especially the collie getting the toys from the pictures.

I didn't like the way the foxes were kept either, but did anyone see the resemblance to a collie on a few of the ones that had changed colour?
The grey one in particular looked like a collie.

But what do you do with them? You couldn't release them, so what? Shoot them? Obviously I'm quite sure that the friendly ones could be re-homed but definitely not the wild, aggressive ones.

Yes, I thought some looked like Shelties

Unless I am much mistaken the original aim of the Novosibirsk Domestic Fox Experiment was to breed a tamer version of the Silver Fox so that they didn't fight so much when killed for their fur on the fur farms .This would also have made the job of those working with them easier. Once this aim was achieved there should have been no reason for the experiment to continue or to keep on breeding the foxes.

An unforeseen result of the experimental breeding programme was as the foxes became tamer they bonded with their keepers and became more like pets. The aggressive one would no doubt have still been killed for fur.
I think some of the genetically tame foxes were bred from to be sold as pets.

I understand once the original criteria for the experiment had been fulfilled it continued with a different aim, that of pursuing genetic research.

That was a amazing....to be able to recognise from a 2d drawing was incredible. I am wondering if it is due to when they started training her - with regards to her age etc....I would imagine the had already coupled the words with the toys unconciously from when she first came into the house. So many dogs do that with words anyway (Walk, food, biscuits!)...but its much easier to see with the toys!

I don't know about the Silver Foxes - I don't like how or why it was done - but I do think it is a very useful study - mainly due to the length of time it was (or has been) running.

Its nice to have proof that aggression is genetic - but I doubt that will stop many people.

It was also nice to see about the wolf pups domestication...but again - I doubt it will stop much.

Me too...how would any living creature feel being cooped up in tiny wire bottomed cages for hours on end ...I did wonder what was to become of these foxes after they'd served their purpose...fur coats me thinks

Couldn't agree more...

Just to clarify my earlier comment......while I did find the fox research really interesting (looking like a collie within 10 generations ), I did find the fox welfare poor