There are some breeds of dogs that are believed to show certain personality qualities.
According to the study, dog behavior is a weak predictor of breed.
For instance, researchers looked at the American Kennel Club's directory to find stereotypical beliefs about breed personality traits.
While breed does have a slight effect on behavior, it is a weak predictor of how any individual dog will behave, according to a study.
There are 11 areas of genetic code associated with behaviors like how often a dog howls and sociability toward humans, but none of those markers are exclusive to a particular breed.
The study confirmed that some stereotypical behaviors have a genetic basis, such as the Border Collie's propensity to respond well to training.
Some stereotypical behaviors had no genetic basis, and there was no link between Labrador Retriever ancestry and sociability toward humans.
The database of owner-submitted information on 31,415 dogs was collected by researchers.
Some behaviors were associated with different breeds. The German Shepherd is a herding breed that is more engaged with its environment and is less biddable than other dogs.
Researchers said that dogs were most likely bred for functional roles like hunting and herding. The emergence of modern breeding in which dogs are selected for their appearance and ancestry happened around the middle of the 19th century. The authors of the Science study said that pets like dogs are a good place to start looking at the genetics of personality. According to the authors, dog personality traits emerged before modern breeding, and that modern breeds are distinguished by appearance rather than behavior.
Researchers said that breed had a stronger effect on behavior than size, sex or age.
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