Behavior was another story. Less than one-quarter of the differences in personality from dog to dog could be explained by genetics. Some behaviors, like retrieving objects and human sociability, were more heritable. The researchers speculate that retrieving may have helped dogs’ wolf ancestors hunt, and that humans likely selected for friendly pooches in the early days of dog domestication.

But most behaviors did not have a strong genetic component, including playfulness around other dogs and (yes, it was in the survey) whether a dog circles before it defecates. “That probably has a lot more to do with where you take your dog to poop,” says Elinor Karlsson, director of vertebrate genomics at the Broad Institute, who oversaw the study.

And when it came to dog breeds, personality varied widely within the same pedigree. Labradors could be loving or standoffish. German shepherds, easy to train—or impossibly headstrong. Just 9%, on average, of the personality differences between pups were related to their breed, the team reports today in Science.

Some breeds even defied their stereotypes. Pit bulls, for example, (though not an official AKC breed) were not more aggressive than other dogs, despite their reputation in some quarters as dangerous. The results, Karlsson says, “match what the dog world has told us”—that the behavior of these animals is shaped by their environment, not their breed.

[–] LinkOpensChest_wav@lemmy.one 17 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I've noticed this with purebred enthusiasts. They can get borderline yikes with how they see things.

I have two shiba inu who I love dearly, but I've had so many people make comments that are so hung up on the breed that they fail to see the dog. Both of them have completely unique personalities and temperaments.

I've even had people comment that it's "too bad" the one is cream colored, which is not an "accepted" coat color by whatever society blah blah blah. Like either pet my dogs or get the fuck out my face.

[–] bitsplease@lemmy.ml 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Honestly the way some people treat dogs like collectible trading cards is disturbing

Also - I just looked up a cream colored Shiba (never seen one before, as they're a rare breed where I live) and holy smokes that's a pretty dog, the fact that anyone would look at it as a bad thing is mind boggling

[–] LinkOpensChest_wav@lemmy.one 4 points 1 year ago

I'm terribly biased, but I think they're cute

[–] givesomefucks@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

Yeah, it's not like every "purebred purist" is also racist towards humans...

But both groups use the same outdated reasoning with no basis on reality.

And the human racists 100% try to use dogs as a gateway. Convince people breed determines behavior and then later it's not a huge leap to extrapolate it to other animals like humans.

[–] Nomecks@kbin.social 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I have a Pyrenees, and his temperment is largely influenced by whether or not we're in sight and if he's at home or not. This chart is insanely subjective.

[–] Jaderick@lemmy.world 0 points 1 year ago (2 children)

This is honestly a badly written article. I have a problem with the final statement of the abstract this article links:

Thus, dog breed is generally a poor predictor of individual behavior and should not be used to inform decisions relating to selection of a pet dog.

If you have a working dog breed, you need to maintain certain a level of activity or mental stimulation in order to keep that dog healthy and not bored. Many huskies are put in shelters because people cannot meet their energy demands. It’s disingenuous to disregard the breed’s physicality and how that affects their individual behaviors.

This article also states biddability was the trait linked most to breed which is an important factor in choosing a domesticated animal.

[–] bitsplease@lemmy.ml 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Funny you use Huskies as an example because I happen to own a super low energy husky who mostly just wants to sleep all day except on her walks.

The individual dog is always more important than breed when determining temperament.

It's ironic that you're going on about "Lot's of claims with no evidence" - despite the fact that you yourself are making lot's of claims and have yet to post an actual source to back it up.

Do you have a study you'd like to share that shows that breed is a stronger determinator for individual behavior than a dog's own personality? Or are you just saying what you "feel" is true and then accusing the people with actual sources of "peddling bullshit"?

[–] Jaderick@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Oh man you should publish your study with your n=1. I’m sure it will gain traction.

I mention huskies because despite your comment there a lot of huskies in shelters because people can’t meet the standard care requirements for the breed.

You wouldn’t get articles like this if all that mattered were individual traits: https://rescuedoghome.com/huskies-in-shelters/amp/

God you people are stupid lol

[–] bitsplease@lemmy.ml 5 points 1 year ago

You wouldn’t get articles like this if all that mattered were individual traits: https://rescuedoghome.com/huskies-in-shelters/amp/

I can find you loads of .com articles that say that jewish space lasers are starting forest fires, what's your point? If you've got an actual study I'd be happy to read it.

I'ts funny that you're throwing a fit about anecdotal evidence when all you've done is say what you feel is correct. The other guy posted an actual study that shows that breed is a poor predictor of behavior. If we're all so stupid and you're so obviously correct, it should take all of a few seconds to find a good source to back up your point - something a bit better than "This one shelter in bum-fuck nowhere Florida says Huskies are hard".

No one is arguing that breed has no impact on the patterns of behavior you see in large populations of dogs. But that it's a much poorer predictor of behavior than people like you tend to think, and that you're much better off taking the dog as an individual.

If you tried to make my husky drive a sled all day, she'd fucking hate it. And I've met plenty other huskies that are the same way. You claimed that

If you have a working dog breed, you need to maintain certain a level of activity or mental stimulation in order to keep that dog healthy and not bored

I only mentioned my husky specifically because you were speaking in absolutes, so anecdotal evidence is really all that's needed to refute it. If you said something like "many dogs who come from traditionally working breeds require blah blah blah", or something similarly non-absolute, I'd have probably agreed with you.

Really, all you have to do is go to your local dog park and hang out for a while to find loads of counter-examples to breed stereotypes, and that's really all we're saying here. You can't just look at a Husky, a Golden Retriever, a Cocker Spaniel, or whatever, and assume that you can determine that dogs behavior just from knowing their breed. Period. If you've got anything more productive to add to the conversation than "God you people are stupid", I'd be happy to continue to talk about this, but if you're just gonna continue being a dick, then this'll be my last comment. Totally your call

[–] givesomefucks@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Lol, your post history even has a comment complaining about how you were banned from "leftwing reddit subs" for trying to spread that "intro to racism" bullshit where you tried to "prove" genetics determine behavior.

It doesn't. Lots of actual science backs that up.

Go peddle your bullshit somewhere else

[–] Jaderick@lemmy.world -2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Lots of claims here with no evidence lol. Do you also believe the earth is flat because someone wrote an article about it once?

Looks like you just learned what quotation marks are too lmao

[–] LinkOpensChest_wav@lemmy.one 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Bruh the bar for not getting banned from r/AgainstHateSubreddits is abysmally low

You don't even have to be leftist. Just don't be a bigot and don't be an asshole, so ... which was it?

Edit: Oh wait, I see now. You were arguing that breeding determines one's traits on a subreddit that is explicitly not a debate forum. So a mixture of both.

[–] Jaderick@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

Nah I posted a response review of a book that someone recommended which was bad and had a lot of misinformation about Pitbulls.