That’s right! Being a dog lover is rooted deep in your genes.
This could be possibly broken down into multiple aspects:
– love dogs, would always own
– like dogs, wouldn’t own
– don’t like dogs, wouldn’t own
Not sure where cat people (and cat people who own dogs) would fall into the mix.
Perhaps this also lends towards which breeds/types of dogs you prefer and size thresholds you enjoy. There are terrier people, herding people, companion dog people, people who prefer big dogs, people who prefer medium or small dogs, others prefer dogs with long coats, fluffy coats, or short coats. There are the purebred people and the mutts for days people.
Growing up there were a couple dog influences in life, most living with relatives or friends. Papa Jim, my stepdad, had a pair of labs – Matt & Diz – that my sister and I called dibs on and entertained ourselves and them as we ran and played on Papa Jim’s retired farm. When my parents moved into town to the current house the dogs were not brought with us. I vaguely recall something about not having dogs in town because it wasn’t fair to them. (Dogs have lived in towns for eons… so… hmmm…?)
The move into town was just before second grade age for me. Instead of the dogs, we had a pair of cats.
The cats were good friends, though frequent birthday and Christmas lists of mine requested puppies (horses & ponies showed up too haha!). In the TONS of books I would check out from the library, there would often be books on dog breeds. There never was a puppy nor a dog introduced into our family, despite the numerous birthday and Christmas lists (also no ponies or horses…). Aside from the cats there were a couple of anole lizards as pets.
Dogs didn’t arrive in my life until I was in college.
To break down the people in my family:
- Mom – cat owner, possible dog owner, likes dogs
- Sister – cat owner, never dog owner, tolerates dogs
- Boyfriend Kris – lived/lives with dogs, never dog owner or cat owner, likes dogs
- Me – dog owner, ALWAYS dog owner, never a cat owner, loves dogs
Seems I carry the dog loving gene while my sister carries the one for cats!
How do we know it is related to genetics?
Swedish researchers used a databased of 35,035 identical and fraternal twins born between 1926 and 1996 and alive in 2006. The researchers gathered & studied the information on the dog ownership of the twins from government and kennel club registries.
The study, in Scientific Reports, found that if one identical female twin owned a dog, there was a 40 percent likelihood that her twin would also own a dog, compared with a 25 percent likelihood with fraternal females. When an identical male twin owned a dog, there was a 29 percent likelihood that his twin did, compared with only an 18 percent likelihood for fraternal males.
The scientist found the additive genetic factors largely contributed to dog ownership, with heritability estimated at 57% for woman and 51% for men. There was this finding: genetic variation may have contributed to our ability to domesticate dogs and other animals. (There is another finding but I have no idea what “pleiotropic effects” are – but it alludes to the fact that this should be considered in studies examining the health impacts of dog ownership.)
Additionally the unexplored genetic variation could explain both the preference for people to keep dogs as pets as well as why some people prefer small dogs over small dogs. Heck the unexplored gene could also be what makes one person love fluffy dogs and the next prefer a shorter coat! The exact genes involved with dog ownership aren’t known, but they could be related to personality traits that are polygenic (multiple genes) in their inheritance.
Which lands us on the nature vs nurture question.
Did you inherit the gene for being a dog lover? (Nature)
Or did you simply grow up with a dog and own one in adulthood? (Nurture)
For me, I feel like I inherited the gene. Why?
My mom grew up with a dog, then a cat and has owned cats in her adult life. My biological dad owned cats with my mom but didn’t have any pets later. I grew up with cats. As much as I appreciate cats, I LOVE dogs.
I won’t own a cat as an adult (I appreciate them) but I will ALWAYS own a dog.
Do you think being a dog lover is in your genes—or is it all about growing up with pups? I’d love to hear your story! Are you a lifelong dog person like me, or did a special furry friend win you over later in life? Share your dog-loving origins in the comments below!
