Does breed affect behavior?
Jaylen Block
2025-06-09 12:31:14
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Dog enthusiasts have long assumed that a dog’s breed shapes its temperament. But a sweeping study comparing the behaviour and ancestry of more than 18,000 dogs finds that although ancestry does affect behaviour, breed has much less to do with a dog’s personality than is generally supposed. Data from more than 18,000 canines show that pedigree is not destiny.
Edwina Bergnaum
2025-06-01 02:29:52
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: 10
A dog’s behavior is not guaranteed by breed alone. According to one study, a dog’s breed explains about 9% of their overall behavior. Breed undoubtedly impacts aspects of a dog’s behavior—it’s part of the reason why we task Border Collies with herding and not Dalmatians. However, the study determined that breed explains only about 9% of an individual dog’s behavior. Behavior is complicated and fluid, and while a dog’s breed certainly plays a role in the development of canine personality, the ways our dogs actually behave is based a combination of factors. A dog’s overall life experience is a better predictor of the way they’ll interact with the world around them. Yes, dog personality is impacted by their genetic blueprint. But assuming that a set of breed characteristics is a guarantee of behavior does our dogs a disservice. A dog’s overall life experience is a better predictor of the way they’ll interact with the world around them than what their breed standards says.