Guess the breed of these mutts
Scientists urge pet owners to take quiz to better understand doggie behaviour
Quick: What kind of dog is Hubble?
Using his scruffy face and blondish fur as clues, you might guess Wheaten terrier. And that might lead you to think that being of the vermin-catching terrier stock, he likes to chase animals.
But a DNA test by researchers at the University of Massachusetts and the Broad Institute found Hubble is a male poodle-golden retriever hybrid known as a “goldendoodle,” plus some other breeds. This crossbreed is said to have a low “prey drive.”
The heritage of Hubble, the pet of a University of Massachusetts medical school professor, is just one slice of a study on the genetics of dog behaviour. But researchers want to know if ordinary people can guess his bloodlines — because what we think about dogs influences our expectations of them, and those in turn can influence the animals’ behaviour.
They’ve just launched an online quiz called “Mutt Mix.” If you’ve got some time — and with about 40 dogs to scrutinize, it does take time — you can test your breed guessing abilities.
“We’re pretty sure everyone is going to be wrong,” said Marjorie Alonso, executive director of the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants.
Mutt Mix (https://iaabcprojects. org/) is an offshoot of a study called Darwin’s Dogs.
Researchers led by Elinor Karlsson, a professor of bioinformatics and integrative biology, are collecting saliva samples from thousands of dogs and owner-completed questionnaires about them.
The questionnaires focus on mental disorders as well as behaviours that have been selected by humans, such as retrieving.
A third focus is on quirks that seem unlikely to have been learned or taught — such as crossing paws, tilting heads and eating grass.
Connecting genes with behaviours could make it easier to identify successful working dogs, Karlsson said, or help owners better deal with challenging pets.
The Mutt Mix quiz will help provide that data, said Karlsson, who conceded she isn’t sure what role the results will play. “Part of being a scientist is you just get to ask fun questions,” she said.
Results will be released in midJune, after Mutt Mix shuts down. Karlsson doesn’t want leaked answers to create bias in the results. (Hubble and a few other dogs are part of a sample set.)
So quiz-takers will, for now, be analyzing dogs — like Maizie, seemingly part boxer or American pit bull — for the pure fun of it.