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Data From 17,000 Pups Reveals the Truth About "Personality" in Dog Breeds


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2019 Jan 9, 11:35am   1,331 views  5 comments

by RWSGFY   ➕follow (4)   💰tip   ignore  

It doesn’t take a scientist to tell you that golden retrievers are usually friendly and that you shouldn’t aggravate a pit bull. There are exceptions, of course, but the personality types associated with different dog breeds generally hold true. Now, an unprecedented analysis of 17,000 dogs confirms why it’s so consistent: Much of their personality is actually written in their DNA.

The lead author of the bioRxiv preprint, Evan MacLean, Ph.D., is a comparative psychologist at the University of Arizona in Tucson and the owner of two dogs with big personalities, a Labrador retriever (friendly, active, outgoing, according to the American Kennel Club), and a Yorkshire terrier (affectionate, sprightly, tomboyish). In his study, he compared the personalities of 17,000 dogs of different breeds with the genomes of around 5,700 dogs to find a relationship between DNA and their traits. He found multiple: 131 sections of dog DNA that line up with 14 personality traits, across breeds.

“Our findings suggest that there are certainly genetic influences on dog behavior, and dog owners are never working with a ‘blank slate’,” MacLean tells Inverse.


https://www.inverse.com/article/52299-do-dogs-have-personality-dna-says-yes

Comments 1 - 5 of 5        Search these comments

1   joshuatrio   2019 Jan 9, 12:11pm  

Duh, I wonder how much was spent on this study.
2   RC2006   2019 Jan 9, 1:12pm  

But oh no can't do this kind of study with humans

DASKAA says
It doesn’t take a scientist to tell you that golden retrievers are usually friendly and that you shouldn’t aggravate a pit bull.
3   Ceffer   2019 Jan 9, 2:36pm  

My dog pays for himself by doing Freudian Analysis on the side, but the couch is always ripped.
4   RWSGFY   2019 Jan 9, 2:38pm  

joshuatrio says
Duh


Duh indeed, but there are still people declaring that "breeds don't mean anything - all dogs are the same".
5   MrMagic   2019 Jan 9, 2:47pm  

DASKAA says
Duh indeed, but there are still people declaring that "breeds don't mean anything - all dogs are the same".


Definitely NOT the same. A comparison would be to a house. A breed can give you the "foundation" that you're pretty sure of, but the first and second floors will be determined by the owners, training, environment, etc.

...."MacLean points out that there are no genes specifically for any of these traits; only genes related to these behaviors. “Dogs faced natural problems that required learning, protective behaviors and predatory behaviors etc. long before humans were trying to sculpt any of those traits,” he says. “Natural variance in these types of behaviors may have provided the raw material for breeders to work with in developing dog breeds for more specific functions.”"

I have a new Lab puppy that I've put a ton of work into. I picked his "foundation" from a previous breeder who I bought two other dogs from, so I had a basic idea what I was getting. But working through all his training, responses, outside stimulus, etc. He could have been led a bunch of different directions on his final behaviors.

So, picking a breed is a starting point, but what you do with the dog will determine how it ends up.

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