Heritability of the elk hunting traits in the Finnish Jamthund population

The aim of our study was to estimate the genetic parameters of elk hunting traits in the Finnish Jamthund population. The phenotype data included 40 402 trial observations recorded in Finland between 2012 and 2020 and the pedigree data included information of 34 495 Jamthunds. The genetic parameters of the elk hunting traits were estimated using a repeatability animal model. Season, place, and type of the trial, weather during the trial, and dog sex and age were considered fixed effects in the models, and trial judge and dog litter were treated as random effects. Variance components were estimated with the AI-REML method using the DMU-software. Heritability estimates were generally low (0.01-0.04). The highest estimated heritability was 0.04 for searching. Repeatability estimates for elk hunting traits varied between 0.04 and 0.14. Genetic correlations varied from very weak to very strong (-0.21-1.00) and were particularly strong between the barking traits.