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The Irish wolfhound lies relaxed on the ground, watched curiously by a poodle.
Why do the dogs behave the way they do?
Photo: Catherine Falls/Getty Images
What determines whether a dog is playful, curious, lazy or shy?
From the genes - but not so much from the breed.
A research team led by the American biomedical scientist Kathleen Morrill from the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School came to this conclusion.
The study was published in the journal Science.
The breed of a dog says little about its temperament.
The differences between individual dogs are greater than the differences between different breeds.
Many behaviors are hereditary - whether a dog is particularly docile, alert or trusting depends primarily on its parents.
Modern breeds have only existed for almost 160 years
Belonging to a dog breed is of course also passed on via the genes.
However, the scientists involved point out that the modern dog breeds are less than 160 years old.
In terms of evolutionary history, this is a negligible period of time, considering that the origin of the dog is estimated to be more than 10,000 years ago.
Humans have been breeding dogs for about 2000 years, most of the time for the jobs they should do.
The dogs are selected according to their characteristics, such as whether they are suitable as herding dogs, hunting dogs or guard dogs.
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It was only much later that the focus in breeding shifted to the appearance of the four-legged friends: since then, dogs have mostly been bred according to a physical ideal and with the idea of lines that are as pure as possible.
This resulted in the breeds of dog known today, which would continue to be attributed behaviors that are also attributed to their former areas of application.
“The defining criteria of a Golden Retriever are its physical characteristics—the shape of its ears, the color and texture of its coat, its size.
And not if he's friendly," said study co-author Elinor Karlsson of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard.
The team found no behavior unique to one breed
To test this hypothesis, the researchers involved in the study collected information from 18,385 dog owners and owners on the nature and behavior of their purebred and mixed-breed pets.
They also analyzed the genetic data of a total of 2155 dogs and linked them to the dogs' reported behaviors.
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The evaluation showed: Differences in behavior between modern breeds are generally only slightly pronounced.
The team found no behavior unique to one breed.
For example, while Labradors are considered dogs that rarely howl, some of the dog owners reported that their animals howled sometimes or even frequently.
The greyhound is said not to bury its toys, but some pet owners have observed the opposite behavior.
In addition, the behavior of many dogs changes with age: puppies of different breeds were about as playful as German shepherds, which are considered particularly obsessed with toys.
Analysis of the genetic data confirmed that individual breeds have very few genetic characteristics.
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When choosing a suitable dog, looking at the breed is only of limited help, explained Marjie Alonso from the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants.
»Breed will not determine whether we are happy with a dog or the dog with us.
Appearance simply says little about how the dog will behave.”
vki/dpa
