**8. Future perspectives**

In the past fifteen years, tremendous progress has been made in dog genomics [39–41]. Several genetic aspects of cancer, heart disease, hip dysplasia, vision and hearing problems in dogs have been investigated and studied in detail. Genomewide associative studies have made possible to identify several genes associated with diseases, morphological and behavioral traits. The Dog10K project will produce 10,000 new dog genomes (20x) within five years [42]. The mapping of disease-associated genes will hopefully lead to the production of new genetic tests and improve the management of running breeding programs, which in turn will produce healthier and longer-living dogs. It will be easier to select for specific physical traits such as the size or coat color. Finally, perhaps we will be able to identity which genes are responsible for the typical behaviors of each breed.
