Comparing owner reported and genetic breed identification reveals high concordance in a large cohort from the Dog Aging Project
Abstract Breed is a ubiquitous classifier for both companion and working dogs, with profound implications for perceived and/or anticipated behavior, cognition, physiology, athleticism, and “temperament”. Owners, breeders, shelters and others are frequently asked to report on the known or suspected b...
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| Format: | Article |
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Nature Portfolio
2025-08-01
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| Series: | Scientific Reports |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-15095-5 |
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| author | C. L. Sexton C. Reichel A. Keyser M. D. Dunbar Dog Aging Project Consortium A. Ruple |
| author_facet | C. L. Sexton C. Reichel A. Keyser M. D. Dunbar Dog Aging Project Consortium A. Ruple |
| author_sort | C. L. Sexton |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Breed is a ubiquitous classifier for both companion and working dogs, with profound implications for perceived and/or anticipated behavior, cognition, physiology, athleticism, and “temperament”. Owners, breeders, shelters and others are frequently asked to report on the known or suspected breed(s) of their dogs in various scenarios affecting dog and human wellbeing. However, there is a paucity of research on breed reporting accuracy. Using Dog Aging Project data, we compare genetic breed results with owner-reported ancestry for 5673 dogs. We find that 80% of dog owners identified their dog’s breed as matching the genetic reports. Among those few who reported disagreement with the genetic results, the majority indicated having dogs belonging to a breed not included in the reference panel. Additional causes for the 6% of samples reported as disagreeable include a stricter owner definition of match for single-breed dogs (e.g. 99.9% vs 100%) and genetic results showing a mix of two closely-related breeds for an owner-reported single-breed dog. Our findings indicate that people are usually aware of their dog’s genetic ancestry, which is important for the validity of using breed as a covariate in population-level studies, and for managing life history outcomes for dogs relative to breed-related traits and biases. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-24b60989bcb24d0db57efa6850d030bf |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-08-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj-art-24b60989bcb24d0db57efa6850d030bf2025-08-24T11:19:31ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222025-08-0115111510.1038/s41598-025-15095-5Comparing owner reported and genetic breed identification reveals high concordance in a large cohort from the Dog Aging ProjectC. L. Sexton0C. Reichel1A. Keyser2M. D. Dunbar3Dog Aging Project ConsortiumA. Ruple4Department of Population Health Sciences, Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia TechDepartment of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Washington School of MedicineCenter for Studies in Demography and Ecology, University of WashingtonCenter for Studies in Demography and Ecology, University of WashingtonDepartment of Population Health Sciences, Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia TechAbstract Breed is a ubiquitous classifier for both companion and working dogs, with profound implications for perceived and/or anticipated behavior, cognition, physiology, athleticism, and “temperament”. Owners, breeders, shelters and others are frequently asked to report on the known or suspected breed(s) of their dogs in various scenarios affecting dog and human wellbeing. However, there is a paucity of research on breed reporting accuracy. Using Dog Aging Project data, we compare genetic breed results with owner-reported ancestry for 5673 dogs. We find that 80% of dog owners identified their dog’s breed as matching the genetic reports. Among those few who reported disagreement with the genetic results, the majority indicated having dogs belonging to a breed not included in the reference panel. Additional causes for the 6% of samples reported as disagreeable include a stricter owner definition of match for single-breed dogs (e.g. 99.9% vs 100%) and genetic results showing a mix of two closely-related breeds for an owner-reported single-breed dog. Our findings indicate that people are usually aware of their dog’s genetic ancestry, which is important for the validity of using breed as a covariate in population-level studies, and for managing life history outcomes for dogs relative to breed-related traits and biases.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-15095-5 |
| spellingShingle | C. L. Sexton C. Reichel A. Keyser M. D. Dunbar Dog Aging Project Consortium A. Ruple Comparing owner reported and genetic breed identification reveals high concordance in a large cohort from the Dog Aging Project Scientific Reports |
| title | Comparing owner reported and genetic breed identification reveals high concordance in a large cohort from the Dog Aging Project |
| title_full | Comparing owner reported and genetic breed identification reveals high concordance in a large cohort from the Dog Aging Project |
| title_fullStr | Comparing owner reported and genetic breed identification reveals high concordance in a large cohort from the Dog Aging Project |
| title_full_unstemmed | Comparing owner reported and genetic breed identification reveals high concordance in a large cohort from the Dog Aging Project |
| title_short | Comparing owner reported and genetic breed identification reveals high concordance in a large cohort from the Dog Aging Project |
| title_sort | comparing owner reported and genetic breed identification reveals high concordance in a large cohort from the dog aging project |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-15095-5 |
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