Associated data files and scripts for 'Ancestry-inclusive dog genomics challenges popular breed stereotypes'

Behavioral genetics in dogs has focused on modern breeds, isolated subgroups <200 years old with distinctive physical, and, purportedly, behavioral characteristics. We interrogated breed stereotypes by surveying owners of 18,371 purebred and mixed-breed dogs, and densely genotyping (~45 million markers) a subset of 2,155 dogs. Most behavioral traits are heritable (h2>25%), and admixture patterns in mixed-breed dogs can reveal breed propensities. However, breed poorly predicts an individual purebred dog’s behavioral phenotype, explaining just 9% of variation. Using genome-wide association, we identify 11 loci significantly associated with howling and other behaviors, and show characteristic breed behaviors are genetically complex. Behavior-associated loci are not unusually differentiated in modern breeds, but breed propensities do align, albeit weakly, with ancestral function. We propose behaviors now perceived as characteristic of modern breeds likely derive from thousands of years of polygenic adaptation predating breed formation, with modern breeds distinguished primarily by aesthetic, not behavioral, traits.