An estimated 75%, are used in pharmaceutical testing, even though many scientists have concluded that they are poor predictors of drug effects in the human body.

Dogs are also used in many other areas of biomedical research, including physiology, surgery, dental health, and to study hereditary diseases in humans, in addition to research on the health, nutrition and behavior of dogs themselves. Golden Retrievers, Labrador Retrievers, Greyhounds, Pit Bulls and Schnauzers are used as subjects at research facilities.

Dogs were used as the subjects of Ivan Pavlov’s seminal experiments on classical conditioning. They were taught to associate a neutral stimulus, such as the tone of a bell, with the presentation of food. Thus, the bell alone could elicit salivation despite the absence of food. These experiments became essential to the study of learning in psychology.

Dog genomics are powerful to understand evolution

Dogs are models for studying hepatic chemotherapy

Dogs may also help us understand auto-immune diseases.