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Work challenges popular idea that breeds have specific, reliable behaviors:
When Kathleen Morrill was 12, she decided she needed a puppy. [...] And so, the family ended up with its first dog—a 2-month-old pup she named Tod.
Tod was registered with the American Kennel Club (AKC), whose website describes his breed as "curious" and "friendly" with a "hardy constitution." But the puppy was shy and scared of strangers, and he developed separation anxiety as he aged. [...] "Breed can be important," Morrill says, "but it's not the full picture of a dog's behavior."
Now, she has the science to back that up. In a new study, Morrill and her colleagues show that almost none of the behaviors we associate with dog breeds—from lovable Labradors to pugnacious pit bulls—are hard-wired. Aside from a few ancient traits, environment seems to play a much larger role than pedigree.
[...] In the largest study of its kind, the team compared the genetic and survey data of nearly 2000 dogs—most of which had their entire genomes sequenced—and survey results from an additional 16,000 pooches. The pups included mixes and purebreds, with 128 breeds represented.
When it came to physical traits, such as size and floppy ears, genes ruled. At least 80% of a dog's appearance can be tied to its DNA, the team found.
[...] Behavior was another story. Less than one-quarter of the differences in personality from dog to dog could be explained by genetics. [...]
[...] And when it came to dog breeds, personality varied widely within the same pedigree.
[...] The bottom line, she says: If you're looking for a dog with a specific personality, "you shouldn't shop out of a catalog. Each dog is an individual."
Still, after decades of treating, showing, and judging countless breeds, AKC's chief veterinary officer, Jerry Klein, disputes the study's conclusions. "I think most dogs conform to the personality standard of their breed," he says. Purportedly older breeds, he says, such as Tibetan mastiffs and basenjis—few of which were enrolled in the study—may have more hardwired personalities because they've been around longer.
Klein also contends that if the researchers look beyond breed to classes of dogs—such as sporting dogs (which include a variety of spaniels) and scent hounds (such as basset hounds and beagles)—they would find their behaviors are more similar to each other than they are to other dogs. "It's not as simple as just the breeds."
For the reading-averse, there is also a nice YouTube summary of the research.
Journal Reference:
Kathleen Morrill et al., Ancestry-inclusive dog genomics challenges popular breed stereotypes, Science, 376, 2022
DOI: 10.1126/science.abk0639
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Thursday May 19 2022, @01:16AM (15 children)
It's possible that breed doesn't determine personality. But, I'll stick with my shepard dogs. Their traits and characteristics are pretty universal. Those traits and characteristics lead me to trust them with anything, including the lives of my children and grandchildren. Other people can trust their doberman, their pit bull, their silly lapdogs, or whatever. Shepards were all bred to be gentle, loyal, caring, and defensive. They will protect your little one from a bear, mountain lion, or stray dog, or even a home invader, reliably. And, when the battle is over, your shepard will lie down, and wash the child's face, and comfort the kid. Other dogs - maybe.
I can't ever trust a breed that was bred as an attack dog. Even less if the dog was trained to be aggressive. No aggressive dogs or breeds are welcome in my home. Ever.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 19 2022, @01:43AM (6 children)
What about German shepherds? They are used as police attack dogs. They are not border collies.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Thursday May 19 2022, @01:56AM (4 children)
German shepards are kinda special. They are shepards. In my experience, German shepards that haven't been trained as attack dogs remain true to shepard characteristics. If they've been trained to be aggressive, they aren't much good to me. With or without attack training, I'll concede that German shepards are going to be a notch higher on the defensive scale than most other shepards. That is, he's not likely to allow any stranger to approach his master, unless master says it's alright. Other shepards, like my current Australian shepards, are more accepting of strangers than the German shepard.
Note that 'attack dog training' applies to professional and non-professional training. Any idiot can make a dog mean by mistreating it, while claiming that he's 'training' it.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 19 2022, @02:02AM (1 child)
You've got an aus shepherd? Half dingo? I give you two thumbs up.
My neighbor got a bulldog pup a while ago, and I never knew how affectionate and friendly bulldogs can be, even with all that drooling.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Runaway1956 on Thursday May 19 2022, @03:16AM
Sorry, but no dingo genes. The Australian shepard is no more Australian than I am. They are as apple pie.
https://www.australian-shepherd-lovers.com/history-aussie-shepherd.html [australian-shepherd-lovers.com]
When I first met them, with one blue eye and one brown eye, I went along with the Australian bit. I mean, they're kinda alien, strange looking, like almost everything Australian. But, nope. No dingos involved at all.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 19 2022, @02:14PM (1 child)
German shepherds are not used as shepherds anywhere I know of. They tend to attack the sheep more than you would want for a dog that is supposed to be guarding them. They have been a police or military dog for as long as I can tell. This makes good use of their intelligence and agression.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Thursday May 19 2022, @04:59PM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AISwF8c1Cmw [youtube.com]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CC_v3ywUOQQ [youtube.com]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RgulI_ev2Y [youtube.com]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wFjI2WRJfU [youtube.com]
I watched a video a year or two ago, made on a real working ranch (as opposed to these demonstrations). The owners worked GS and border collies, exclusively. Among their reasons, the GS have stamina to equal the border collies, but they are supposedly better at defending against predators.
Sorry, I'm not finding that video in my searches, I'd like to link to it.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 19 2022, @01:59AM
Sometime last century I was a teenager and delivered the afternoon newspaper. Leash laws were either non-existent or not enforced back then. The only dog that ever bit me was a purebred German Shepherd female, it was always acting threatening and once I let it get too close. The filthy rich owners of course "couldn't believe their sweet dog would bite anyone".
I got on fine with all the other dogs, mutts were the best.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 19 2022, @02:00AM
Unless, of course, Runaway is going to the Doctor's Office. Then it's "Sic 'em, Blue!"
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Michael on Thursday May 19 2022, @03:20AM (4 children)
Dogs have been bred to conform to and integrate with their social group much longer than they've been bred for specific behavioural ranges. Longer than they've been dogs in fact. Disapproval or rejection by the social group as a whole, or the higher parts of the hierarchy especially is catastrophic to any dog's ability to function, and they'll do anything to avoid it.
Thinking that a particular breed behaves a particular way (insofar as the animal is capable of detecting that) is 99% of how it behaves. The dog is reading your expectations and reactions. Classic example of self-fulfilling prejudice.
Every one of the four sheep dogs I've known has been frantically nervous around strangers, untrustworthy with children, disobedient and prone to bite and piss inside. That's not because of the breed, it's because all four of them were owned by the same people, who chose that breed purely based on appearance. They didn't know how to train them, or integrate them into the group, or communicate with them, or provide an appropriate social structure, or understand what a dog fundamentally is.
They were never cruel, but their internal model of what a dog is was just so radically different to reality they effectively drove each of them insane.
Sure, different breeds have slightly different emotional and cognitive ranges and defaults, but all of them overlap (and extend well beyond to either side) what is generally considered acceptable. Given appropriate instruction, breed is basically irrelevant.
Every one of the half dozen 'dangerous' breeds I've known has been no problem at all. Even the one which had been rescued from an unsuitable situation - a bull terrier previously owned by adolescent males who neglected and teased it until it started attacking them, then tried to drown it in the canal. Within about a week of being in a social environment which made sense to it, and having clearly communicated expectations and a clear hierarchy it was a perfectly fine and respectful creature.
I wouldn't say it had first rate intelligence - possibly there was some brain damage from the attempted drowning - but even so it quickly internalised a set of acceptable behavioural ranges for each family member and for human beings in general.
Dogs are naturally experts at that. Certainly better than many humans.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by helel on Thursday May 19 2022, @01:31PM (1 child)
Dogs very much respond to human expectation. Often it's conditioned response but dogs are also smart enough to play the people around them. There was one woman I knew who had a pit bull that would go absolutely crazy barking and "growling" anytime anyone came near her home. She'd always have to drag him back to her room when company came by and she always apologized that he was so aggressive and protective and to be fair I'm sure he'd have taken a bullet for her if called to but...
I know dogs well enough to tell that this little guy wasn't the least bit mad when people came over. It was all a show. Any time I happened by the house and she wasn't home the dog never barked nor growled. Instead he'd leap up on me, trying to lick me and and play. His entire "aggressive" demeanor was an act for my friend and one he did so successfully she strait up never believed me when I tried to tell her how he behaved when she wasn't around.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 20 2022, @04:15AM
This was an important point in the movie My Dog Tulip. [imdb.com] The main character lives in an apartment and adopts a dog. The dog barks a lot so the owner took the dog to a vet/behavioralist who determined that it was not actually the dog's fault. The dog was reacting to the social environment and the desire to protect her pack, but not overly concerned about her own safety. I.E. it dropped its guard without the owner around, calmed down, and became quiet and friendly.
Removing the owner from the evaluation was the only way to see the dog's "neutral" social behaviors. The owner might never have been able to figure it out on their own.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 19 2022, @06:15PM (1 child)
"a bull terrier previously owned by adolescent males who neglected and teased it until it started attacking them, then tried to drown it in the canal."
"adolescent males"? i think you mean Niggers, motherfucker.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 19 2022, @06:19PM
maybe Bean Niggers...
(Score: 2) by Username on Thursday May 19 2022, @02:14PM (1 child)
IMHO large or strong dog breeds should be on gun registries and treated as one. Police find that dog roaming free, owner gets charged with brandishing/discharging etc
(Score: 2) by ChrisMaple on Thursday May 19 2022, @10:17PM
Large dog breeds tend to be more mellow. It's the little ones that nip, like Chihuahuas.