The Amazing Adventures of Archibald Esq.
Temperament may be Skin Deep in English Cocker Spaniels
It was reported by Jennifer Viegas of Discovery News in mid-December 2006 that the colour of a dog’s fur may reflect more than a whim of nature, as a new study claims that coat colour for at least one breed — the English cocker spaniel — reflects a pooch’s personality.
Prior research had suggested that fur colour is also linked to behaviour in labrador retrievers, while the type of fur — in this case, wiry or long — may indicate temperament in miniature dachshunds. For example, it has been found that wire-haired miniature dachshunds are often more feisty than their mellower, long-haired cousins. So first impressions aren’t always skin deep, awoof!
The latest study, recently published in Applied Animal Behavior Science, determined that golden/red English cocker spaniels exhibit the most dominant and aggressive behaviour. Black spaniels in this breed were found to be the second most aggressive, while parti-colour (white with patches of colour) were discovered to be more mild-mannered.
In labrador retrievers, the colour rank from most to least aggressive was determined to be yellow, black and chocolate. Perhaps this is a clue as to why in America at least, chocoloate coloured labradors are a favourite with dog owners (and not just because Bill Clinton’s Buddy was one).
The behaviour-fur colour connection is likely due to related genetic coding that takes place during the pup’s earliest life stages, according to lead author Joaquín Pérez-Guisado.
“Maybe the link (to coat colour) is due to the fact that the ectoderm (one of the three primary germ cell layers) is where the skin and central nervous system originate in the embryo,” he told Discovery News.
Pérez-Guisado, a researcher in the Department of Medicine and Animal Surgery at the University of Cordoba, Spain (and his colleagues) measured levels of dominance and aggression in 51 seven-week-old English cocker spaniel puppies that were either full siblings or half siblings. Relatedness of the dogs helped to scientifically control for other genetic variations.
The tests looked at how quickly a person could capture a puppy’s attention, how well puppies followed the individual, how the dogs behaved while restrained, how they exerted their social dominance and what they did when they were lifted off the floor.
In many cases, golden-coloured dogs resisted human contact and even tried to bite the tester, while the particolor pups often wagged their tails and seemed to enjoy the attention.
While genes control coat colour and appear to predispose behavior in certain dogs, Pérez-Guisado said that how dogs are raised still plays the biggest role in behaviour. According to him, environmental factors account for 80 percent of dominant, aggressive personalities while genes only influence 20 percent of dogs’ demeanors.
“It is very important to give the dog an optimum and suitable environment in order to have a dog with a low dominance aggressive behavior level,” he said. “For that reason, owners are primarily responsible for this undesirable dog behavior.” A big Awoof! to that!
Canine behaviourist and trainer Wendy Volhard and professional breeder Carolyn Sisson, who is president of the English Cocker Spaniel Club of San Diego, California, both said they’re not surprised by the findings. They said that coat colour’s link with behavior has been “a well-known, old wives’ tale” for years.
In true American pass-the-buck style, Sisson said that “It’s the line breeding out of puppy mills in England that probably resulted in the dominant traits.” She added, “The very best and worst of my dogs have been spaniels. They seem to cover every behavioural extreme.” (Time to take a look in the mirror, Ms Sisson!)
Although they both think there is “some truth to the recent findings,” Sisson believes a dog’s genetic lineage, going back many generations, is a better indicator of temperament than colour.
Sisson explained that there are 29 recognized different coat colours for English cocker spaniels, and combinations other than golds mating with golds can result in a golden dog.
Pérez-Guisado and his colleagues next plan to study the English springer spaniel and English cocker spaniel genomes to pinpoint common genes associated with so-called dog “rage” and coloration.
SuperWoof! Archie
Posted 07 Mar 07
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