title: Owner perceived differences between mixed-breed and purebred dogs.
abstract: Studies about the behaviours of mixed-breed dogs are rare, although mixed-breeds represent the majority of the world's dog population. We have conducted two surveys to investigate the behavioural, demographic, and dog keeping differences between purebred and mixed-breed companion dogs. Questionnaire data were collected on a large sample of dogs living in Germany (N = 7,700 purebred dogs representing more than 200 breeds, and N = 7,691 mixed-breeds). We found that according to their owners, mixed-breeds were (1) less calm, (2) less sociable toward other dogs, and (3) showed more problematic behaviour than purebreds (p < 0.001 for all). Mixed-breeds and purebreds were similar in trainability and boldness scores. However, twelve out of 20 demographic and dog keeping factors differed between purebred and mixed-breed dogs, and two factors showed considerable (> 10%) differences: neutering was more frequent among mixed-breeds, and they were acquired at older ages than purebreds (p < 0.001 for both), which could result in the observed behaviour differences. After controlling for the distribution of the demographic and dog keeping factors, we found that mixed-breeds were (1) more trainable than purebreds, (2) less calm, and (3) showed more problematic behaviour than purebreds (p < 0.001 for all). We discuss that these differences at least partly might be due to selective forces. Our results suggest that instead of being the "average" dogs, mixed-breeds represent a special group with characteristic behavioural traits.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ethology, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary.|Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary.
authors.forename: Borbála
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Turcsán
authors.affiliation: Department of Ethology, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary.|MTA-ELTE Comparative Ethological Research Group, Budapest, Hungary.
authors.forename: Ádám
authors.initials: Á
authors.lastname: Miklósi
authors.affiliation: Department of Ethology, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary.
authors.forename: Enikő
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kubinyi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D001947:Breeding; D004285:Dogs / Q000235:genetics / Q000523:psychology*; D004644:Emotions; D005858:Germany; D001841:Human-Animal Bond; D006801:Humans; D015588:Observer Variation; D010067:Ownership; D057805:Pets / Q000235:genetics / Q000523:psychology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013045:Species Specificity; D013245:Sterilization, Reproductive / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000662:veterinary; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires