WASHINGTON (AP) – Research confirms what dog lovers know – each puppy is truly individual.
Many popular stereotypes about the behavior of golden retrievers, poodles or schnauzers, for example, are not supported by science, according to a new study.
“There’s a huge amount of behavioral variation in each breed, and at the end of the day, each dog is truly an individual,” said Eleanor Carlson, co-author of the study and geneticist at the University of Massachusetts.
She said pet owners like to talk about their dog’s personality, as illustrated by some owners at a dog park in New York City.
Elizabeth Kelly said that her English Springer Spaniel was “friendly but also a kind of queen bee”. Sully Ortiz described her yellow lab as “really calm, lazy and shy.”
And Rachel Kim’s mixed breed dog is “very different dogs in terms of personality – super independent, really attached to me and my husband, but quite, very suspicious of other people, other dogs.”
This kind of enthusiasm from pet owners inspired Carlson’s latest scientific study. She wanted to know to what extent behavioral patterns are inherited – and to what extent are dog breeds associated with distinctive and predictable behavior?
Answer: While physical traits such as long-legged greyhounds or Dalmatian spots are apparently inherited, the breed is not a strong predictor of the personality of any single dog.
The researchers’ work, published Thursday in the journal Science, is preparing a huge body of data to reach these conclusions – the most compiled ever, said Adam Boyko, a geneticist at Cornell University who was not involved in the study.
Dogs became the best friend of mankind more than 14,000 years ago, as the only domesticated animal before the advent of agriculture.
But the concept of dog breeds is much newer. About 160 years ago, humans began selectively breeding dogs to have certain consistent physical traits, such as fur texture and ear color and shape.
Researchers surveyed more than 18,000 dog owners and analyzed the genomes of about 2,150 of their dogs to look for models.
They found that some behaviors – such as whining, pointing out and showing friendship to strangers – had at least some genetic basis. But this legacy is not passed down strictly along the lines of the breed.
For example, they have found golden retrievers that do not extract, said co-author Catherine Lord, who studies animal behavior with Carlson.
Some breeds, such as huskies and beagles, may be more prone to howling. But many of these dogs do not, as shown by both owner’s research and genetic data.
Researchers have not been able to find a genetic basis for aggressive behavior or a link to specific breeds.
“The relationship between dog behavior and dog breed is much lower than most expected,” said Jeff Kidd, a geneticist at the University of Michigan who was not involved in the study.
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AP reporter Emma H. Tobin of New York contributed to the report.
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Follow Christina Larson on Twitter: @larsonchristina
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The Associated Press’s Department of Health and Science receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Scientific Education. AP is solely responsible for all content.
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