Background: As the number of households raising companion dogs increases, the pet genetic analysis market also continues to grow. However, most studies have focused on specific purposes or native breeds. This study aimed to collect genomic data through single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) chip analysis of companion dogs in South Korea and perform genetic diversity analysis and SNP annotation. Methods: We collected samples from 95 dogs belonging to 26 breeds, including mixed breeds, in South Korea. The SNP genotypes were obtained for each sample using an Axiom™ Canine HD Array. Quality control (QC) was performed to enhance the accuracy of the analysis. A genetic diversity analysis was performed for each SNP. Results: QC initially selected SNPs, and after excluding non-diverse ones, 621,672 SNPs were identified. Genetic diversity analysis revealed minor allele frequencies, polymorphism information content, expected heterozygosity, and observed heterozygosity values of 0.220, 0.244, 0.301, and 0.261, respectively. The SNP annotation indicated that most variations had an uncertain or minimal impact on gene function. However, approximately 16,000 non-synonymous SNPs (nsSNPs) have been found to significantly alter gene function or affect exons by changing translated amino acids. Conclusions: This study obtained data on SNP genetic diversity and functional SNPs in companion dogs raised in South Korea. The results suggest that establishing an SNP set for individual identification could enable a gene-based registration system. Furthermore, identifying and researching nsSNPs related to behavior and diseases could improve dog care and prevent abandonment.

The objective of this study was the acoustic analysis of vocalizations of domestic dogs when they want to play with humans. Using a digital camcorder and microphone, we recorded and acoustically analyzed the vocalizations of six 7-month-old dogs (beagle) when they wanted to play with humans. The vocalizations were classified into five types, namely, barking (type Ⅰ, type Ⅱ), whining (type Ⅰ, type Ⅱ), and howling, based on the shapes of waveforms and spectrograms. There was a significant difference in the fundamental frequency (p<0.01), intensity (p<0.0001), 1st formant (p<0.001), 2nd formant (p<0.0001), 3rd formant (p<0.001), and 4th formant (p<0.05) among the vocalizations, whereas the duration was not different (p<0.05). Whining type I showed high values in the fundamental frequency and 3rd formant, while whining type II showed high values in the fundamental frequency and 1st, 2nd, and 4th formant. Further, bark types I and II showed high intensity values, with bark type II having a high value in the 1st formant. Finally, whining showed high values in the 4th formant only and significantly lower values in the 1st and 2nd formants than other vocalizations. Domestic dogs mainly exhibited barking and whining with differences in characteristics of fundamental frequency, intensity, and formant dispersion when they wanted to play with humans during the experiment. Accordingly, we suggest that vocalization could be a useful method for identifying dogs’ intentions or emotional state in a non-invasive manner.