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Updated: May 30, 2025

The Other End of the Leash: An Experimental Test to Analyze How Owners Interact with Their Pet Dogs
Published on: October 13, 2017
Genome-wide study suggests inheritance of personality traits in Toy Poodles and Miniature Dachshunds
Chika Zemmoto1, Yuki Matsumoto2,3, Minori Arahori1,2
1Wildlife Research Center, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan.
Abstract:
Domestic dogs exhibit significant diversity in both morphology and personality. Recent studies focusing on large-breed dogs reported the contribution of genetic factors to personality. However, the genetic influence in small-breed dogs remains unexplored. In the present study, we investigated the personality of two small-breed dogs using a questionnaire and genome-wide single-nucleotide polymorphism data obtained from 301 Toy Poodles and 183 Miniature Dachshunds using the Illumina CanineHD 230K SNP BeadChip. The factor analysis conducted on a questionnaire consisting of 39 items identified seven factors. Among the seven personality factors, 'activeness' in Toy Poodles and 'human-directed sociability' in Miniature Dachshunds had an estimated heritability of 0.425 (SE = 0.311) and 0.514 (SE = 0.355), respectively. In addition, genome-wide association study suggested that two genomic regions possibly affect personality. The dog breeds focused on in this study are most popular in Japan, thus their information is in high demand.
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