I dunno about the other breeds, but by breed's placement seems wayyyyy off. I'd classify Brittanys as low calm, high trainable, medium sociable, and medium to high bold. My boys are both quick to learn new things and are problem solvers (unfortunately, as "problem" to them is frequently "closed door" or "something I'm not supposed to get to."); maybe Germans have a stupider strain of this dog? My older one loooooves other dogs and will get along with just about anything that isn't trying to run him over, and fits with most other Britts I know, though our younger one shows some leash reactivity/aggression towards other dogs.

Please keep in mind that my opinion is only from observing other people's dogs for short periods of time, not from having one.

I find it interesting that there are three terrier breeds in Cluster 1 which is shown as High Calm. I've not met any terrier that could be considered calm. Perhaps none have been any of the three terrier breeds mentioned here.

I'll be really interested to see subsequent comments to this article.

You are right. Having had, still have, and been around terriers for a lot of years, I would not consider them calm. However, this misleading article defines calm as "behaviour in stressful/ambiguous situations." In that regard, I can see how terriers could score "high calm." Most have a high curiosity/intrigue about their surroundings coupled with a "bring it on!" attitude that allows them to enjoy adventure and daring more than some other breeds--and gets them into a heap of trouble on a regular basis.
A breed with their charms for sure but never do I describe them en masse as "high calm" and only certain parts of the day is the individual labeled "calm." :)

Cluster 1 seems strange. I wouldn't classify some of those breeds as high in the calm category.

And what happened to clusters 2 and 3? I don't even see my breed of choice (Border collie) on there. Surely Germans have BCs! They did, after all, invent triebball.

Please!!! This is one of the more bogus things I have read and am disappointed to find it put out under the PetMD label. What on earth did you see that makes this study believable or something you would wish to hang your credentials on - for good or bad?

The study is, at best, anecdotal observations by owners of various breeds. From the information given we do not know if the owner is a first time dog owner, first time owner of a breed, had ever trained a dog before, source of the dog (backyard breeder, small show breeder, large breeder who has multiple litters a year, etc.),and so on.

And what German magazine would omit the Great Dane, which some describe as a breed originating in Germany. (I disagree, but that is neither here nor there.)

To use this as a basis for any decision on breed is beyond my comprehension.

I find some of the definitions odd. For example, "dogs that scored low regarding the trainability trait are described by their owners as uninventive and not playful, whereas dogs that scored high on this trait are regarded as intelligent and playful." I have terriers. They are not the easiest to train, but I would call them very high on inventiveness, playfulness, and intelligence. Some people confuse intelligence with trainability, but they aren't the same thing. I have also known dogs that are aloof and bold (not fearful).

Some also confuse the perceived eagerness to train as intelligence and being more trainable. Many have classified Great Danes as less than easy to train and not quite bright. Wrong! By and large, Danes are not into repetition. I remember my first time training a Dane. (Before, training of the dogs fell to my parents.) I was doing the repetitions as described in so many books on dog training. The look I got said: "Look, if I am doing something wrong, then tell me what it is. Otherwise, lets move on to something else." Danes get bored with constant repetition and will shut off -- not unlike some children. This does not mean there is a lack of trainability or intelligence. This means that the same method does not work on all in the same way. Retrievers will fetch a ball for you all day long. A Dane might do it once or twice but then give you a look that says: "If you wanted the ball, then why did you throw it away?"

Where are groups 2 and 3? Also, I wanted to look at the original paper but the AABS journal is not open access. Many of the other comments are relevant and access to the whole research report would be helpful for assessing its validity. Closed journals benefit only the publishers. and not the researcher or the public. It is likely the research was supported by public funding, but one can't even tell that without paying a premium to the publisher.

Where would a Flat Coated Retriever be?

The U of Texas did the same research. All six clusters appear on p.66 of this doc: Trainability and boldness traits differ between dog breed clusters based on conventional breed categories and genetic relatedness


Flat-coated retriever is with GSP in Cluster 4.

Dunno about this categorization ... seems a funny way to slice the behavioral pie.

Where does the American Pitbull Terrier fit in? I have three male rescues - one was ignored and left outdoors, one was headed to the pound once he got too big to carry around and started getting into things (like puppies do) and the 3rd was a "bait" dog. I got them about 2 years apart and they get along great. They are affectionate, all have their own little personalities and are great dogs. Why aren't they included?

I was disappointed not to find my German - the Giant Schnauzer or Riesenschnauzer: high calm: high trainability, medium socialable, high bold? And there are lots of dogs that seem to be miscategorized, esp. the Irish Setter which is the furthest from calm! And I've know lots of them!