Why is my dog like this? Current DNA tests won't explain it to you.

"A team of geneticists recently found no connection between simple genetic variants and behavioral traits in more than 3,200 dogs, even though previous studies suggested that hundreds of genes might predict aspects of a dog's behavior and personality. That's despite the popularity of at-home genetic tests that claim they can tell you whether your dog's genes contain the recipe for anxiety or a fondness for cuddles."

"University of Massachusetts genomicist Kathryn Lord and her colleagues compared DNA sequences and behavioral surveys from more than 3,000 dogs whose humans had enrolled them in the Darwin's Ark project (and filled out the surveys). "Genetic tests for behavioral and personality traits in dogs are now being marketed to pet owners, but their predictive accuracy has not been validated," wrote Lord and her colleagues in their recent paper."

"So the team checked for relatively straightforward associations between genetic variants and personality traits such as aggression, drive, and affection. The 151 genetic variants in question all involved small changes to a single nucleotide, or "letter," in a gene, known as single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). It turns out that the answer was no: Your dog's genes don't predict its behavior, at least not in the simplistic way popular doggy DNA tests often claim."

DNA sequences and behavioral surveys from more than 3,200 dogs enrolled in Darwin's Ark were analyzed for links between genetics and personality. Researchers tested 151 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for associations with traits including aggression, drive, and affection. No straightforward, predictive relationships emerged between those SNPs and the measured behavioral traits. Popular at-home genetic tests that claim to reveal predispositions for anxiety, sociability, or cuddling lack validated predictive accuracy based on these variants. Mislabeling dogs as genetically predisposed to aggression can reduce social interactions and lower adoption chances in shelters.

Read at Ars Technica