Popular genetic tests can't tell you much about your dog's personality, according to a recent study.
A team of geneticists recently found no link between simple genetic variants and behavioral traits in more than 3,200 dogs, although previous research has shown that hundreds of genes can predict aspects of a dog's behavior and personality. This is despite the popularity of at-home genetic tests that claim to be able to tell you whether your dog's genes contain a recipe for anxiety or a love of cuddling.
This is Max, and no genetic variant can explain why he is the way he is.
Credit: Kiona Smith
Gattaca for dogs, but it doesn't work
University of Massachusetts genomicist Katherine Lord and her colleagues compared DNA sequences and behavioral survey results from more than 3,000 dogs whose humans enrolled them in the Darwin's Ark project (and completed the surveys). “Genetic tests for behavioral and personality traits in dogs are currently marketed to pet owners, but their predictive accuracy has not been proven,” Lord and her colleagues wrote in a recent paper.
So the team tested for relatively simple links between genetic variants and personality traits such as aggression, determination and affection. All 151 genetic variants examined involved small changes in a single nucleotide, or “letter,” of a gene, known as single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs).
It turns out the answer was no: your dog's genes don't predict his behavior, at least not as simplistically as popular dog DNA tests often claim.
And that can have serious consequences when pet owners, shelter workers or animal rescues use these tests to make decisions about a dog's future. “For example, if a dog is labeled as genetically predisposed to aggression, the owner may limit necessary social interactions or the shelter may refuse adoption,” Lord and her colleagues write.
