Link to the paper in Science: Ancestry-inclusive dog genomics challenges popular breed stereotypes.

Environment and socialization remain the largest determining factor.

Unsurprisingly, most stereotypes about dog breeds are pseudoscience that come from the eugenics movement. In particular, “popular knowledge” around pitbulls and bulldogs is just thinly veiled racism.

interview on the study from the verge: https://www.theverge.com/2022/4/28/23043508/dog-breed-behavior-genetics-study-stereotypes

The research did find some genes associated with traits like human sociability and howling frequency. But overall, only around 9 percent of dog behavior was explained by breed.

“Dogs are individuals,” said Marjie Alonso, a study author and executive director of the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants. “What a dog looks like is not really going to tell you what the dog acts like.”

Edit: modern “purebred” breeding literally came from eugenicists, that’s why this old political cartoon even exists. Documentary on pedigree dogs and their many issues: https://vimeo.com/166015460

    • bigboopballs [he/him]
      ·
      2 years ago

      It's empirically proven that pit bulls attack more people (and other animals) than other dog breeds

      plus they are ugly as shit so I really don't understand the love for them by anyone who isn't complete white trash

      so no, not joking, get rid of that trash breed

        • bigboopballs [he/him]
          ·
          2 years ago

          oh my god pitbulls are actually garbage no waaay not momma's little white trash doggo

          • viva_la_juche [they/them, any]
            ·
            2 years ago

            This is classist. You should rethink that

            If your hatred of the breed isn’t tied to classism and racism you should rethink how to express that without being reactionary at the very least

              • viva_la_juche [they/them, any]
                ·
                2 years ago

                White trash is literally classist shit. I’m not even saying whatever about pit bulls. Don’t like them if you want I’m just saying there’s better ways to express that then grabbing literal reactionary terms for poor people.

                  • viva_la_juche [they/them, any]
                    ·
                    2 years ago

                    imagine calling yourself a socialist and goin out of your way to be shitty about people with shittier material conditions than you.

                    Like the others pointed out, its probable that assholes seek out pits explicitly to make them mean, so it wouldn't be some inherent trait but maybe the conditions pits find themselves in that shape their behavior :soviet-hmm:

                    I suspect you dont think there's something inherent in black people that makes them to have a propensity to crime and yet reactionaries love to trot out crime statistics as an excuse to be shitty about black people

                    Regardless, theres no need to cutely portray my accusation like its about ableism or whatever, it is a classist thing, it reinforces negative stereotypes about the poor and honestly makes me feel like youre some over priviledged labor aristocracy kid or something or at the least have some unexamined classism/reactionary ideology going on and that that is actually your problem here more than anything else.

                    Otherwise, if it were me, i'd try not to talk like a reactionary when my making my points.

      • Awoo [she/her]
        ·
        2 years ago

        It’s empirically proven that pit bulls attack more people (and other animals) than other dog breeds

        This doesn't tell you whether the behaviour is created by the owners or the breed.

        It is much more likely that the reason this occurs is that bad owners are much more likely to want a Pit Bull than other breeds, and thus they raise bad dogs that are more likely to be involved in such things.