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Your Dog’s Personality Isn’t Dictated by Breed, Study Says
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Matt Beasley
May 7, 2022, 12:36:13 AM5/7/22
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Your Dog’s Personality Isn’t Dictated by Breed, Study Says
By Renée Onque, Apr. 28, 2022, WSJ
Labrador retrievers aren’t guaranteed to be friendly, and
a French bulldog’s lifespan is more likely related to body
type than breed, according to geneticists who analyzed
variations in the canine genome. Breed was responsible for
less than one-tenth of differences in behavior among thousands
of dogs, the researchers said in a study published Thursday
in the journal Science. Based on a survey of more than 18,000
owners and genetic sequencing from more than 2,000 of their
dogs, breed ancestry wasn’t a very accurate indicator of traits
such as how easily dogs are provoked by uncomfortable situations.
Dogs such as Rottweilers might be considered more aggressive
because of confirmation bias and individual experience, but
behavior of individuals within the breed is more diverse than
people think, said Elinor Karlsson, lead author of the study &
a professor of bioinformatics at the UMass Chan Medical School.
“If you want to know about your dog’s behavior, you shouldn’t
be listening to what somebody’s telling you about that dog’s
breed and how they’re supposed to behave,” Dr. Karlsson said.
“You probably know their behavior better than anyone else.”
Dr. Karlsson’s team examined the correlation of breed and
traits including how comfortable dogs were around humans, the
way they interacted with toys, whether they liked to cuddle
with their owners and how well they obeyed commands.
Some traits appeared more strongly related to breed than others.
Physical traits were more closely linked with breed type; ear
shape had the closest connection. Howling was one of the
behavioral traits most connected to breed ancestry, the study
said, particularly in beagles, bloodhounds and Siberian huskies.
Genes shared within a breed were also somewhat predictive of
how likely a purebred dog was to listen to its owner’s
instructions, especially in border collies.
Mutts were the key to determining whether characteristics were
linked to breed. Many mixed-breed dogs that were part Labrador
retriever weren’t more friendly to humans than other breeds.
Owners suggested in their survey responses that purebred Labrador
retrievers were more friendly than other dogs.
“We’re wondering if that’s actually a situation where people’s
perceptions of those breeds and the stereotypes that go along
with those breeds might actually skew the way that owners answer
the questions when they have a purebred dog,” Dr. Karlsson said.
The results affirm the role that socialization and experience
play in dictating behavior, said Dan O’Neill, associate professor
of companion animal epidemiology at The Royal Veterinary College
in the U.K.
“It’s no different than a human family where you can have six or
10 children all born to the same two parents,” Dr. O’Neill said.
“The range of the behaviors in those 10 humans can be enormous.”
Dr. O’Neill was a co-author of a separate study published Thursday
in the journal Scientific Reports that suggested a dog’s breed can
be used to draw some conclusions about its nature. Using death
records from over 30,000 dogs in the U.K., Dr. O’Neill and his
fellow researchers showed that female dogs are likely to live
longer than males and that Jack Russell terriers appear to have
longer lifespans—almost 13 years on average—than other breeds
included in the study.
Body type seemed more predictive of life expectancy than breed,
Dr. O’Neill and his co-authors wrote in the Scientific Reports
study. Flat-faced dogs like French bulldogs had shorter lifespans
of under five years on average because they were more prone to
health problems including difficulty breathing and infections in
skinfolds. The finding supports a growing consensus that body type
is more useful than breed in monitoring dogs for possible health
problems, Dr. O’Neill said.
“Humans love the flat-faced look of dogs, but it doesn’t mean
the dogs actually benefit from this,” Dr. O’Neill said. “It’s
not conducive with maximal health.”
https://www.wsj.com/articles/your-dogs-personality-isnt-dictated-by-breed-study-says-11651168811
By Renée Onque, Apr. 28, 2022, WSJ
Labrador retrievers aren’t guaranteed to be friendly, and
a French bulldog’s lifespan is more likely related to body
type than breed, according to geneticists who analyzed
variations in the canine genome. Breed was responsible for
less than one-tenth of differences in behavior among thousands
of dogs, the researchers said in a study published Thursday
in the journal Science. Based on a survey of more than 18,000
owners and genetic sequencing from more than 2,000 of their
dogs, breed ancestry wasn’t a very accurate indicator of traits
such as how easily dogs are provoked by uncomfortable situations.
Dogs such as Rottweilers might be considered more aggressive
because of confirmation bias and individual experience, but
behavior of individuals within the breed is more diverse than
people think, said Elinor Karlsson, lead author of the study &
a professor of bioinformatics at the UMass Chan Medical School.
“If you want to know about your dog’s behavior, you shouldn’t
be listening to what somebody’s telling you about that dog’s
breed and how they’re supposed to behave,” Dr. Karlsson said.
“You probably know their behavior better than anyone else.”
Dr. Karlsson’s team examined the correlation of breed and
traits including how comfortable dogs were around humans, the
way they interacted with toys, whether they liked to cuddle
with their owners and how well they obeyed commands.
Some traits appeared more strongly related to breed than others.
Physical traits were more closely linked with breed type; ear
shape had the closest connection. Howling was one of the
behavioral traits most connected to breed ancestry, the study
said, particularly in beagles, bloodhounds and Siberian huskies.
Genes shared within a breed were also somewhat predictive of
how likely a purebred dog was to listen to its owner’s
instructions, especially in border collies.
Mutts were the key to determining whether characteristics were
linked to breed. Many mixed-breed dogs that were part Labrador
retriever weren’t more friendly to humans than other breeds.
Owners suggested in their survey responses that purebred Labrador
retrievers were more friendly than other dogs.
“We’re wondering if that’s actually a situation where people’s
perceptions of those breeds and the stereotypes that go along
with those breeds might actually skew the way that owners answer
the questions when they have a purebred dog,” Dr. Karlsson said.
The results affirm the role that socialization and experience
play in dictating behavior, said Dan O’Neill, associate professor
of companion animal epidemiology at The Royal Veterinary College
in the U.K.
“It’s no different than a human family where you can have six or
10 children all born to the same two parents,” Dr. O’Neill said.
“The range of the behaviors in those 10 humans can be enormous.”
Dr. O’Neill was a co-author of a separate study published Thursday
in the journal Scientific Reports that suggested a dog’s breed can
be used to draw some conclusions about its nature. Using death
records from over 30,000 dogs in the U.K., Dr. O’Neill and his
fellow researchers showed that female dogs are likely to live
longer than males and that Jack Russell terriers appear to have
longer lifespans—almost 13 years on average—than other breeds
included in the study.
Body type seemed more predictive of life expectancy than breed,
Dr. O’Neill and his co-authors wrote in the Scientific Reports
study. Flat-faced dogs like French bulldogs had shorter lifespans
of under five years on average because they were more prone to
health problems including difficulty breathing and infections in
skinfolds. The finding supports a growing consensus that body type
is more useful than breed in monitoring dogs for possible health
problems, Dr. O’Neill said.
“Humans love the flat-faced look of dogs, but it doesn’t mean
the dogs actually benefit from this,” Dr. O’Neill said. “It’s
not conducive with maximal health.”
https://www.wsj.com/articles/your-dogs-personality-isnt-dictated-by-breed-study-says-11651168811
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