Are you active in dog protection sports (e.g. Schutzhund/IPO, Mondioring, KNPV etc)? Are you happy sharing pictures of your dog? We need your help with a study on the emotional life of dogs, for which we need pictures of dogs in different states. If you send us your pictures for consideration, you might win a great prize for your four-pawed participants!

What are we searching for?

For our studies on the emotional life of dogs, we need pictures of your dog in two different states:

• Playful mood: Play with your dog and take a photo, when your canine companion is showing a great play face!
• Threatening: If your dog has been trained to be defensive on cue, we would like to capture this face too. Please note, you should not scare anyone or put anyone at risk for the purposes of this photoshoot and your dog should be kept on a lead. You will probably need someone else to take the photo or video when your dog is showing a high level of arousal – baring teeth is important.

 

The pictures will form part of a research database and may be used by other researchers and scientists for non-commercial purposes, so you must own all rights to the pictures and be happy for them to be used in this way.

What you can win!

Five dogs with the best photos, judged by a panel of researchers at the University of Lincoln, will win a voucher for the online shop: Working-Dog (1 x 50 Euro, 2 x 20 Euro and 2 x 10 Euro; link to the shop: http://shop.working-dog.eu/). Additionally, we will present the Top 30 picture on the project’s homepage as a celebration of the skills of these animals (https://emometer.blogs.lincoln.ac.uk).

How do you participate?

1. Take photos:

We need high quality pictures (minimum full HD – typically 1920×1080 format) that present your dog’s face in a full-frontal view.

2. Send your photos:

E-mail your photos to the following address: DogEmotion@lincoln.ac.uk with “Snapshots for Canine Science!” in the subject field. Please include your name and the name of your dog.

In order to participate in the competition, you must agree to the conditions of participation*. Please confirm your agreement in the email with the following text: “I hereby confirm that I have read, understood and agree to the conditions of participation for the photo competition “Snapshots for Science”. I cede all rights to the images and grant the University of Lincoln that the material can be shared via an open access database for scientific purposes (e.g. research and teaching).”

If the pictures are too large to be sent via e-mail, you can use WeTransfer (www.wetransfer.com) for free.

3. Fingers crossed:

Our team of researchers will select the 30 dogs with the best pictures from whom the best five images will win one of the vouchers from Working-Dog. Those who are to receive a voucher will be informed within 30 days of the closing date. We cannot engage in any correspondence regarding winners.

Closing date:

August 15, 2020

*Conditions of participation

Organiser, closing date and prizes:

1. The photo competition “Snapshots for Science!“ is organized by the DogEmotion Lab headed Dr. Anjuli Barber (University of Lincoln, UK).
2. The closing date: August 15^th, 2020.
3. The winners of the photo competition will receive a voucher, for their participating dogs. Prizes are not exchangeable or transferable to third parties. Cash payments in the value of the vouchers are not possible.
4. The winners of the photo competition will be notified via e-mail, before September 15^th, 2020.

Participation requirements:

1. Only dog handlers aged 18 years and above are eligible to participate in the photo competition. The participant of the photo competition is defined as person who e-mails photos or videos to DogEmotion@lincoln.ac.uk.
2. Participating in the photo competition is free and you may submit photos of more than one dog.
3. Protection of animal welfare is essential. Only visual material that has been obtained under conditions of good animal welfare standards is acceptable. It is expected that all submitted photos showing dogs “threatening” are taken in the presence of a dog trainer experienced in protection dog training. The use of coercive means (e.g. spiked collar, electric collar etc.) is unacceptable and will result in disqualification.
4. Data protection is taken very seriously. Therefore, only photos that do not show human faces or their upper bodies or other potentially identifying information will be considered for the photo competition. Visual material that does not meet these conditions, will be deleted immediately and cannot be considered for the photo competition.
5. By sending your pictures, you certify that you are either the originator of the submitted material or have been authorized by the originator to participate in this photo competition, and that you have the permission of all involved to submit these images for consideration and use as described.

Use of pictures and videos:

1. By participating in the photo competition, the participant cedes all rights to the submitted photos and grants the University of Lincoln that they can be shared via an open access scientific database for scientific purposes (i.e. research and teaching). Pictures will not be used for commercial gain, sold or given away to any third party.
2. The rights of use granted in a) also include the right to edit the photos and save them in anonymised form.
3. The Top 30 winning photos will be presented (anonymised) on the website emometer.blogs.lincoln.ac.uk after the end of the photo competition. We may however list contributors, if you wish to be acknowledged, please indicate if you wish your name to be listed when you submit the photos. This will not affect your chances of winning.

Exceptions:

The University of Lincoln has the right to cancel or temporarily suspend the photo competition, if circumstances arise that endanger the integrity or make it impossible to continue the photo competition. Furthermore, the University of Lincoln has the right to reasonably amend the conditions of participation at any time. All those submitting pictures, will be informed immediately of any change and given the right to withdraw their submission at that time.

Data protection:

1. Personal data is collected for participation in the photo competition. This includes the participant’s first and last name, his or her e-mail address as well as the name of the participating dog. The personal data provided by the participants in the context of the photo competition will be treated strictly in accordance with European Regulations for data protection (EU GDPR), to which the UK is a signatory, and will be collected, stored and used by the  University of Lincoln exclusively for the purpose of carrying out and processing the photo competition (e.g. for the purpose of notification of the winners). Personal data will not be passed on to third parties. After the end of the photo competition, all personal data associated with specific images will be deleted within 14 days.

Agreeing to the conditions of participation:

Participation in the competition requires agreement to the above conditions of participation. Participants confirm their agreement via email with the following text: “I hereby confirm that I have read, understood and agreed to the conditions of participation for the photo competition “Snapshots for Science”. I cede all rights to the sent pictures and grant the University of Lincoln that the material can be shared via an open access database for scientific purposes (e.g. research and teaching).”

What if there is a problem?

If you have any concerns regarding this photo competition, you should contact the project leaders, who will do their best to answer your questions. The relevant contact details are provided at the end of this information sheet. If you are dissatisfied with anything and wish to make a formal complaint, you can contact ethics@lincoln.ac.uk.

If you believe that we have violated your information rights, please contact the Information Compliance Team (Email: compliance@lincoln.ac.uk; mail: Information Compliance, Secretariat, University of Lincoln, Brayford Pool, Lincoln, LN6 7TS). You can also submit complaints directly to the Information Compliance Officer (ICO) office. The ICO is the independent authority that safeguards information rights for the United Kingdom (Email: ico.org.uk; telephone helpline: 0303 123 1113).

Contact details:
Dr. Anjuli Barber, abarber@lincoln.ac.uk

Tim Simon, 18707692@students.lincoln.ac.uk

Prof Anna Wilkinson, awilkinson@lincoln.ac.uk

Prof Kun Guo, kguo@lincoln.ac.uk

Prof Daniel S. Mills, dmills@lincoln.ac.uk