Researchers from Harvard, MIT and the Darwin Ark Foundation found that a dog's breed is not an indicator of character. Most of what we know about the behavior of different races is based on anecdotes and stereotypes.
In the study, the genetics of 2.155 dogs were examined and 18.385 dog owners were surveyed. The results showed that behavior can be predicted only in nine percent of cases.
"What a dog looks like doesn't tell us how it will behave," says Marji Alonso, one of the authors of the study.
Origin of domesticated dogs
Dogs, before humans domesticated them, were wolves. Only when man began to breed them and mix breeds, for example, golden retrievers or pugs were created.
Kathryn Lord, who also worked on the study, says that dogs are descended from wolves that survived in the early years of human civilization by feeding on waste created by humans. When they started living closer to humans, Lord says that they most likely adopted us, not the other way around.
Humans then realized that they could benefit from dogs, for example in defense against wild animals and guarding flocks.
"Man began some form of selection, but it cannot be considered breeding in the sense that it exists today," says Lord.
He points out that the man simply rewarded those dogs that did their job well with more food and thus began to train them. This increased the chance that a dog would survive, reproduce and pass on its traits to a new generation.
Genes certainly play a role
Modern dog breeding is more focused on their appearance, but dog behavior is a product of historical adaptation to the human environment. Some characteristics, such as the tendency to bond with people, to respond to commands and the specifics of howling, can be attributed to the breed.
However, a trait such as aggression cannot be predicted by race. Scientists have determined that an aggressive dog is a product of its environment, not genes.
Prohibited race by law
In some countries, laws prohibit the ownership of certain breeds, or require owners of these dogs to pay more for insurance.
The US, for example, has numerous regulations banning certain breeds, and four types of terriers cannot even enter Germany. These are Bull Terrier, Pit Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier and Staffordshire Bull Terrier.
Based on a new study, one of the authors, Elinor Karloson, points out that such regulations do not make sense. Laws should focus more on growers.
"It is necessary to control the breeding of dogs, especially in those cases where there is not enough genetic diversity among dogs, in order to get a desired dog, but this is not healthy for them. The less diversity, the greater the chance of genetic diseases," he says. Carlson.
On the other hand, it is possible to predict certain genetic diseases that are specific to breeds.
"If you start breeding with eight dogs and one of them inherits from their parents the possibility of developing cancer, the chance will be one in eight. When the population of that breed reaches 100.000, the chance will also be one in eight, therefore there is a problem with cancer in that breeds."
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