Your Dog’s Personality Isn’t Dictated by Breed, Study Says
Breed determined less than one-tenth of differences in behavior
By Renée Onque
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| Photographs by Vanessa Leroy for The Wall Street Journal
Apr. 28, 2022 2:00 pm ET
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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 and a professor of bioinformatics at the UMass Chan Medical School. |
