Natural Born Detourers Modern Utility Dog Breeds Show Ancestry-Based Superiority in Social Learning Capacity in a Detour Task

Abstract

Behaviour has crucial importance in dogs' adaptation to the anthropogenic environment. Functional breed selection, a relatively recent evolutionary event, resulted in strong differences regarding dogs' capacity for observational learning from humans. However, genetic distance among dog breeds has thus far not been connected to their social learning performance. Here we show first evidence that ancestry-based clustering of dog breeds can result in biologically relevant phenotypic differences in their capacity to learn from humans. We analysed a large database of spatial problem-solving (detour) tests, where a representative sample (N = 174) of cooperative and independent working dogs were sorted into 8 ancestry groups based on a genetic cladogram. We analysed whether ancestry would affect individual and social learning-based spatial problem-solving of dog breeds. Our results showed that ancestry groups with today's utility dog breeds performed this task best. Social learning was also prevalent in the ancestry group that collects English herding breeds and sight hounds as well—showing that genetically closely related cooperative and independent working dog breeds can possess similar sociocognitive traits. These results strengthen the notion that the behaviour of dog breeds can provide ecologically valid research opportunities both for proximate and ultimate evolutionary events.