Walker M. Dawson Collection

Collection

Identifier: MS0543

Staff Only

Content Description

The Walker M. Dawson Collection comprises two photograph albums created by the Animal Husbandry Research Division, Bureau of Animal Industry, U.S. Department of Agriculture, as part of a project to study the intelligence and temperament of farm animals. The photos depict experiments in canine behaviors, as their shepherding skills were thought to be both indicative of intellect and important to agricultural work. Dogs were also believed to have a greater range in personalities across breeds, and experiments could therefore illuminate which traits were best suited to farming needs. The project was based at the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center in Beltsville, Maryland, from 1935 until it was discontinued in the early 1940s due to World War II.

The bulk of the collection consists of 4x6-inch, black and white photographs mounted in two leather photo albums. The photographs are numbered, but they are not captioned. There is also a copy of Dawson's bulletin summarizing the project, ARS 44-163: "Studies of the Inheritance of Intelligence and Temperament in Dogs," from 1965.

Dates

Creation: 1937-1941

Conditions Governing Access

Contact Special Collections for access.

Biographical Sketch

Walker Myrick Dawson (1902-1997) was an associate animal husbandman in the Animal Husbandry Division of the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) in Beltsville, Maryland. At USDA, his research focused on genetics and behaviors of domestic animals like dogs, horses, beef cattle, and lambs. In addition to his work with ARS, Dawson consulted on outside projects, including canine behavioral research at Hamilton Station, a research farm operated by Jackson Memorial Laboratory. By the 1960s, he was a USDA collaborator.

Project Goals

In The Yearbook of Agriculture (1937), Dawson explained the Division's plans for the test subjects:

In this project dogs of several breeds of different temperament will be subjected to certain tests to determine the range and type of intelligence and their suitability for various purposes, especially for the herding of sheep. Crosses also will be made between breeds and similar tests will be made on the offspring of the first generation and later generations following the cross. One of the breeds being studied is the Puli. Four individuals of this breed (fig. 4) were recently imported by the Department from Hungary. These dogs are noted in their native country for their sheep-herding ability. Studies on this breed and its hybrids from crosses with several other breeds are now under way.

From these experiments facts will be secured on (1) the degree to which intelligence is inherited, (2) the manner of its inheritance, and (3) the influence of intelligence, temperament, and certain other psychological traits upon certain special aptitudes of the dog. The experiments will also furnish fundamental information on the type of temperament and psychological traits that are needed in dogs for special purposes. Furthermore, information will be secured on the relation of various types of temperament to such things as feed utilization, appetite, management, and growth. The results obtained from these experiments are expected not only to furnish information on these functions in dogs but also to be of value in pointing the way for further investigations of this nature with other farm animals.

Later, in his post-project bulletin (1965), Dawson outlined the tests undertaken by the Puli and their crosses with German Shepherds, Border Collies, and Chow Chows:

(1) Learning to lead on a leash at 4 months of age; (2) reactions toward sheep, without being trained, at 6 months of age; (3) learning to lie down to one whistle signal and get up and come to the trainer at another whistle signal, in the laboratory, at 8 months of age; (4) training to herd sheep with trainer at 10 months of age; (5) reactions to a stranger in the laboratory at 11 months of age; and (6) reactions in a multiple-choice apparatus in the laboratory at 1 year of age.

Total Size of Collection

1 flat_pamphlet_box ; 28 x 22 x 3 in.

1 half_letter_document_box ; 12-1/4 x 10-1/4 x 2-1/2 in.

3 Linear Feet (2 boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Bibliography

Sources consulted in creating this finding aid:

Bolman, Brad, 2022. "Critical Periods in Science and the Science of Critical Periods: Canine Behavior in America." Berichte zur Wissenschaftsgeschichte 45 (1-2), pp. 112-134.
Dawson, Walker M., 1937. "Heredity in the Dog." Yearbook of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, pp. 1315-1349.
Dawson, Walker M., 1965. "Studies of the Inheritance of Intelligence and Temperament in Dogs." Bull. ARS 44-163, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service.