The Labrador Retriever has reigned supreme as the more popular dog in the United States for 31 years, according to the american kennel clubwhich describes the breed as friendly, active and outgoing.
But new research suggests that it’s not wise to assume that dogs will display specific personalities simply because they’re the same breed, or to assume that the behaviors are unique to a specific breed.
in a study published Thursday in the journal Science, the researchers said they found that dog breeds are not especially useful for predicting the behavior of an individual canine. Breed type explains only 9 percent of the variation in behavior, based on a combination of survey responses and DNA sequencing, they added.
Scientists collected 18,385 survey responses from dog owners through a citizen science project called Darwin’s Ark. They also received saliva samples from 2,155 of these dogs, which allowed the researchers to sequence the dog’s DNA.
Combining the genetic and survey data also revealed that 11 regions of the dog genome are significantly associated with behavior, including how often a dog howls and how comfortable it is with people. However, none of these genetic sites is breed-specific. This suggests that most of the behaviors that are supposed to be characteristic of a certain type of dog actually predate the origin of the breeds.
Dogs emerged about 10,000 years ago, and humans began intentionally breeding dogs only 2,000 years ago. In the years before the 19th century, canines were selected for how well they could perform jobs such as hunting and herding. But a shift in thinking occurred about 150 years ago during the Victorian era: People began selecting dogs for their aesthetic traits, and breeds were invented.
The idea that specific behaviors could emerge within the short time after races emerged suggested to the study team that something was wrong with humanity’s assumptions about race-specific personalities.
“Behavior is complicated,” he said. Elinor Karlsondirector of the Vertebrate Genomics Group at the Broad Institute of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University, and professor at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.
“It involves dozens, if not hundreds, of changes in different genes,” said Karlson, lead author of the study. “It’s about the environment. The idea that behavior could be created and selected for in breeds in just 150 years just didn’t make any sense. We knew it had to be much older than that.”
This hunch that certain behaviors started earlier than dog breeds helps explain why the study team found that traits like retrieving, pointing and howling — behaviors described as motor patterns — are more heritable. The working hypothesis is that these behaviors would have helped early dogs and their owners, and selective breeding of dogs that did their job well allowed these behaviors to continue.
While no behavior is exclusive to a particular dog, there are some nuances. For example, a genetic link was found between border collies and docility, or the ease with which a dog is taught and controlled. Meanwhile, genetics were not found to play a significant role in the perception that Labradors are especially comfortable around people.
“Breed can certainly play a role in terms of predisposing a dog to certain types of behaviors,” he said. emma griggan animal behaviorist and researcher at the University of California, Davis, who was not part of this study.
“However, whether or not you see those behaviors in the adult dog depends on many factors, and the environment plays a huge role,” he said. “Many of the breed behavior stereotypes put forward by breed clubs are simply not supported by data.”
This study also challenges another stereotype: how aggressive a dog is because of its breed. The research team could find no evidence that genetics influences a dog’s agnostic threshold, or how easily triggered by a frightening or uncomfortable stimulus.
However, breed-specific legislation, such as the ban on pit bulls in certain cities, is based on the assumption that certain breeds of dog are especially dangerous. These laws are not based on science, he said mia cobb, who researches animal welfare at the University of Melbourne in Australia. Cobb was not a member of the research team for this study, but the Darwin’s Ark project sequenced the DNA of his dog Rudy.
“We now have numerous studies from different parts of the world showing that breed-specific legislation is ineffective in protecting the public or reducing dog attacks,” Cobb said. “Any dog has the potential to be dangerous, regardless of its size or breed. Because of this, dogs should not be declared dangerous based on their appearance. Instead, they should be evaluated as individuals based on their behavior.”
Looking at each dog as an individual can improve our relationship with dogs in general, Cobb said. This is especially true when selecting a pet, at which point owners often assume that a dog of the same breed will be the same as its previous companion.
Grigg agrees.
“Choose the individual, not the race,” he said. “It is important to remember that all dogs, regardless of breed or mixed ancestry, are individuals. They likely have their own strengths and weaknesses, just like humans. They will have their own likes and dislikes; they may not look much like your last dog at all.”
While this study doesn’t offer any advice for pet owners, its authors are especially interested in how the findings can contribute to human health research. Overall, the article is unique in that it includes mongrel dogs along with pure breeds, according to the first author. kathleen morrill, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. These feral dogs “added a lot of power” to the study, Morrill said, because a diverse cohort allows scientists to understand genetic influences more acutely.
This is important because scientists want to use canine genetics as a way to better study and treat human diseases. Morrill and Karlsson are especially interested in the relationship between compulsive disorders in dogs and obsessive-compulsive disorder in people. Examining how changes in the dog’s DNA are associated with behavioral changes is a step forward and may eventually lead to the development of improved treatments. in people.
“We’ll apply everything we’ve learned in this study to the research we’re doing now on compulsive disorders,” Karlson said. “We treat dogs with compulsive disorders with the same drugs that people use, and they work just as poorly. We hope to find a way to develop treatments that work better than what we have now.”
Reference-www.nbcnews.com