Animal Breeding and Genetics Lectures Now Available as Online Courses

Are you a breeder or veterinarian looking to improve your skills and knowledge of animal breeding and genetics? Are animal health and welfare your primary breeding criteria? If so, my courses are designed specifically for you.

By studying my courses, you’ll gain a deeper understanding of animal breeding and genetics, enabling you to make informed decisions that will positively impact your breeding programmes and veterinary practice.

I offer flexible online learning options that allow you to complete the coursework at your own pace, from any location.

Completing my courses will not only enhance your skills and knowledge, but it will also demonstrate to potential puppy buyers and clients that you are committed to providing the highest quality of care for the animals you work with.

Enroll in a course today!

Katariina Mäki

I am Katariina Mäki, a Finnish breeding expert with a doctorate in agriculture and forestry. I am currently converting my popular breeding and genetics lectures into online courses.

Animal health and welfare is the common theme in all my lectures and courses. My lectures are based on information from scientific research. Increasing knowledge in the area of animal health and welfare also provides effective tools for breeding healthy and happy animals.

I work also as a part-time consultant for the International Partnership For Dogs. Earlier I worked as a breeding expert for the Finnish Kennel Club. My doctoral thesis was on the inheritance of canine hip and elbow dysplasia and inbreeding.

My courses are suitable for anyone interested in genetics and breeding. Although my background is in dog breeding, my courses also include many examples from cats and horses.

My first course is Genetics for Breeders and Veterinarians.

Some of the dog examples used in this course:

How are short limbs inherited? Are they linked with spinal problems? What is a retrogene? Which genes affect the length of a dog’s snout? What do we know about the inheritance of heart disease?

Genetics For Breeders and Veterinarians

In this course you will learn the basics of genetics. After this course you will understand how parental traits are passed on to offspring and how well this inheritance can be predicted. You’ll learn about the fascinating structure and function of DNA and explore many practical examples in dogs, cats and horses.

You don’t need to know anything about genetics to take this course. A desire to learn is the only requirement!

The course consists of five parts which will be released separately:

  • Part 1. Genes and how they work
    Introduction to genetic terms. What are genes and where are they needed? This part is already available (see below).
  • Part 2. How genes are passed from parents to offspring
    Germ cell formation, crossing-over and linkage, fertilisation, mitochondrial DNA, genetic relationship.
  • Part 3. Different modes of inheritance
    How can you know if a trait is heritable? Single-gene or polygenic? Threshold traits. Major genes (quantitative trait loci). Determining the mode of inheritance. Genetic correlation between traits.
  • Part 4. Qualitative (monogenic) inheritance
    Punnett square. Intra-locus gene interaction. Inter-locus gene interaction: epistasis. Autosomal and sex chromosomal inheritance. Sex-linked traits.
  • Part 5. Quantitative (polygenic) inheritance
    Continuous variation and normal distribution. Categorical traits. Genetic variation and the influence of environment on traits. Concept of heritability.

Feedback from students

Such a well-executed course!

The sections are just the right length for my type of learner who finds it difficult to concentrate for long periods of time. I love that there is a summary of the key points at the end and no silly trick questions in the exam. This would allow even a hermit like me to study for a long time 😄 although the fact that I have always been extremely interested in the subject certainly helps. Thank you for this lecture series!!

Good course!

The videos, texts, summaries and tests support each other well, and it’s easy to chew through the appropriately sized sections one by one.

I also got quick help from Katariina when I needed it. Thank you!