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Cited by 40Human-Animal Interaction StudiesGenetic and phenotypic traits in livestockGenetic Mapping and Diversity in Plants and Animals

Genetic testing of dogs predicts problem behaviors in clinical and nonclinical samples

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Zapata, Isain, Lilly, M. Leanne, Herron, Meghan E., Serpell, James A., Alvarez, Carlos E.·2022·BMC Genomics
DOI 10.1186/s12864-022-08351-9PMC PMC8819838

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Abstract

Background: Very little is known about the etiology of personality and psychiatric disorders. Because the core neurobiology of many such traits is evolutionarily conserved, dogs present a powerful model. We previously reported genome scans of breed averages of ten traits related to fear, anxiety, aggression and social behavior in multiple cohorts of pedigree dogs. As a second phase of that discovery, here we tested the ability of markers at 13 of those loci to predict canine behavior in a community sample of 397 pedigree and mixed-breed dogs with individual-level genotype and phenotype data. Results: We found support for all markers and loci. By including 122 dogs with veterinary behavioral diagnoses in our cohort, we were able to identify eight loci associated with those diagnoses. Logistic regression models showed subsets of those loci could predict behavioral diagnoses. We corroborated our previous findings that small body size is associated with many problem behaviors and large body size is associated with increased trainability. Children in the home were associated with anxiety traits; illness and other animals in the home with coprophagia; working-dog status with increased energy and separation-related problems; and competitive dogs with increased aggression directed at familiar dogs, but reduced fear directed at humans and unfamiliar dogs. Compared to other dogs, Pit Bull-type dogs were not defined by a set of our markers and were not more aggressive; but they were strongly associated with pulling on the leash. Using severity-threshold models, Pit Bull-type dogs showed reduced risk of owner-directed aggression (75th quantile) and increased risk of dog-directed fear (95th quantile). Conclusions: Our association analysis in a community sample of pedigree and mixed-breed dogs supports the interbreed mapping. The modeling shows some markers are predictive of behavioral diagnoses. Our findings have broad utility, including for clinical and breeding purposes, but we caution that thorough understanding is necessary for their interpretation and use.

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  • Aggression and fear are associated with the same genetic loci linked to small body size.

    “Aggression and fear are associated with the same genetic loci linked to small body size, as suggested by the correlation found in Zapata et al.’s studies [162,163].”

    From Ethical Concerns about Fashionable Dog Breeding (2024) · cites this paper as [163]

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Zapata, I., Lilly, M. L., Herron, M. E., Serpell, J. A., & Alvarez, C. E.
Affiliations
  • Rocky Vista University (US)
  • The Ohio State University (US)
  • University of Pennsylvania (US)
  • Nationwide Children's Hospital (US)
Corresponding author
  • Zapata, Isain
  • Alvarez, Carlos E.
ORCID
Venue
BMC Genomics
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2022-02-07
Volume
23
Issue
1
Pages
102-102
ISSN
1471-2164 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1186/s12864-022-08351-9
PMC
PMC8819838
OpenAlex
W4225988982
Cited by
40
References
4
Citations by year
2026: 8 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 1
FWCI
4.37
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • BMC Genomics (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) (acceptedVersion, other-oa)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
  • Ohio State University
  • Stanton Foundation
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Human-Animal Interaction Studies
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetic and phenotypic traits in livestock
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetic Mapping and Diversity in Plants and Animals
Keywords
genetic markers, fear, anxiety, aggression, coprophagy, body size, trainability, working dogs, mixed-breed dogs, pedigree dogs
MeSH terms
Problem Behavior, Aggression, Animals, Behavior, Animal, Dogs, Fear, Genetic Testing

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