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Specialized dog strains are not special after all


For centuries, humans have selectively raised dogs for specific tasks such as grazing, guarding and hunting.

While many assume that these strains are uniquely suitable for their roles due to structural adjustments, a new study has challenged this long belief.

Search, published in the magazine Science progress117 skulls of 40 local dog strains and 18 species of wild canid using 3D reconstruction techniques were analyzed.

The results revealed that the shape of dog skulls through different strains shows a remarkable level of overlap, indicating that some strains, at least in terms of biting and smell, may not have distinctive material features that enhance their capabilities after all.

Nine dogs of different breeds sit on a bench in a garden under a clear blue sky.

Cynoclub/Getty

“During the past 200 years, humans have invented hundreds of dogs that seem really different and specialize in some tasks such as grazing, protecting and discovering odors,” said Lindsay and the paths, who participated in the study in a statement.

“We have assumed that these dogs seem different because they are structurally specialized in these tasks, but our study shows that, at least for their skulls, is not specialized in tasks that involve the skull, such as biting tasks and work.”

Newsweek Contact the authors of the study via email for more comment.

The study results also have significant effects on the stereotypes of reproduction. For example, strains associated with strong mystery, such as bulls, are often classified as dangerous due to their material features.

However, the research did not find any structural differences in its skulls that would make it more dangerous by its nature than other strains of similar size.

And Waldar said: “There are many news stories about dogs that attack people badly and often there are specific strains that are goals for this report.” Some people claim that these dogs will bite more power than other dogs of the same size, or they have special features such as a “jaw lock” that makes them particularly dangerous for people.

“Our study shows that this is not true; dogs that have been raised in the bite of things are not differently different from the dogs that have been raised to do other things.”

Likewise, the strains that were raised historically for scent work did not show distinctive illegal modifications in the skull morphology compared to other strains. These results are in Lockstep Previous research He explains, for example, that Pugs outperforms German sponsors in the work of the smell, despite the common assumptions on the contrary.

If the skull shape does not determine the dog’s ability to perform specialized tasks, what does it do? According to researchers, factors such as individual personality play a much larger role in the dog’s suitability for some functions of physical formation.

“I was surprised by the general similarity that we see in most of the dog skulls,” said Nicholas Hayron, another leader of the study.

“Humans have made a lot of reproduction work to change the visual appearance of these animals, which I expected to see, I would really see not noticeable groups of what kind and we have not seen much.”

Difficulty with wild canids

The study also studied how local dog skulls compared to wild cans, such as wolves and foxes.

Unlike household dogs, wild species have shown skull shapes that are closely in line with their natural career needs.

Wolves, for example, improved channels have been prolonged to detect hunting and smell.

Interestingly, the fox skulls overlapped with some local strains, such as Terriers, which were raised for a small prey.

Do you have advice on a scientific story? Newsweek Do you should be coverage? Do you have a question about dog breeds? Allow us to know via Science@USADailyTrends.com.

Reference

Hall, NJ, Glenn, K., Smith, DW, & Wynne, CDL (2015). The performance of the clay, the German sponsors, and the familiar Canis Lupus in the task of distinguishing the smell. Comparative Psychology Magazineand 129(3), 237-246. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0039271

Hebdon, N., Ortega, A., Orlove, A., Wheler, N., Pham, M., Nguyen, V., Gladman, J., & Waldrop, LD (2025). The dog skull has formed the challenges of assumptions of performance from selective education. Science progressand 11(5), eadq9590. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciaadv.adq9590

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