The K9 Comparison--What Dogs Tell Us About Humans

The K9 Comparison--What Dogs Tell Us About Humans

By Frank Miele


We share about 97% of our genes with chimpanzees. But when Francis
Crick, co-discoverer with James D. Watson of the double helix
structure of DNA, was asked what unraveling the chimpanzee genome
would tell us about human differences he replied: "I wouldn't waste
any American money on the chimp".

The dog genome, Crick went on, would be a better target--because dogs
vary so widely in appearance and behavior that unraveling their DNA
would reveal much more about the influence of genes.

Canine evolution, because of dog breeding, has been run in fast forward
--in some cases, before our very eyes.

In an informative experiment, Dmitry Balyaev selectively bred foxes
[PDF] to show neither fear nor aggression when approached by humans.
But the foxes changed in more than just their behavior. They developed
floppy ears, short or curly tails, an extended reproductive cycle--
successive generations literally becoming more dog-like before the
experimenter's eyes--probably the result of changes in hormone levels.

And a recent study by the Max Planck Institute has demonstrated that
that in certain cognitive tasks our canine best friends are more like
us than are our simian nearest relatives. Fourteen-month old humans
and almost any dog, but not even the brightest chimp, can use human
pointing as a cue to find a food reward. Researchers Brian Hare and
Mike Tomasello concluded [PDF] that this ability is heritable and due
to recent selection, since wolves cannot do it.

Dog breeds provide the classic case study of within-species
differentiation. Those who would dismiss race and race differences
regularly point out that DNA differences between races are minimal.
But , as Vincent Sarich demonstrated in Race: The Reality of Human
Differences (pp. 170 - 173) human racial differences in morphology are
greater than in any non-domesticated species. They are around ten
times the difference between the sexes within each race and larger
than the differences that distinguish the two species of chimpanzee.
Despite minimal genetic differences, human physical racial differences
are clearly observable.

Likewise for dogs. But only recently has genetic analysis been able to
distinguish between breeds--or even between dogs and wolves.

All the differences in body shape, size, color, internal chemistry,
and behavior between the hundreds of breeds recognized by the American
Kennel Club, the Kennel Club UK, and the Fédération Cynologique
Internationale (the World Canine Federation) are based on very few
genes.

But while it's OK to talk about differences among dog breeds, not so
for human races. Unfortunately, this has been true even in scientific
circles. And that in itself is instructive.

The classic study was carried out by Daniel G. Freedman for his
doctoral dissertation. Freedman spent every day and evening rearing
four dog breeds--Beagles, Wire-haired Fox Terriers, Shetland Sheepdogs,
and Basenjis--from age two to twelve weeks.[See Constitutional and
Environmental Interactions in Rearing of Four Breeds of Dogs D. G.
FREEDMAN, Science March 14, 1958 (Pay archive)]

He noticed that as soon as their ears and eyes opened, the breeds
differed in behavior. Little Beagles were friendly from the moment
they detected him. Shetland Sheepdogs were the most sensitive to a
loud voice or the slightest punishment. The Wire-haired Fox Terriers
were so tough and aggressive, even as clumsy three-week olds, that
Freedman had to wear gloves in playing with them The Basenjis,
barkless dogs from central Africa, were aloof and independent.

Many of today's breed differences are cosmetic. But originally breeds
were selected to excel in certain elements of the basic wolf-dog
ethogram [behavioral repertoire] and reduce or eliminate others. All
of these differences, including the barklessness of the Basenji, make
perfect sense in terms of what we know about the traits for which the
different breeds were, or were not, selected.

Beagles are scent hounds. They run in packs and use their sense of
smell, which is better than that of almost all other breeds, to track
fox and other small game.

They have been selected not only for increased olfactory tracking
ability, but also diminished aggression. Beagles are a band of
brothers (often literally). They all have a job to do. They are
usually kenneled together, and howl to other members of the pack when
finding a scent or needing help.

Fox hunting is sometimes called "riding to hounds" because that is
what one does, mounted on horseback and following the pack as its
members pick up the fox's scent.

Fox Terriers come in two varieties, Wire-haired and Smooth-haired, but
this is largely a cosmetic difference. Like Beagles, they were bred
for fox hunting, but their job is quite different. The Fox Terrier
literally gets a free ride in the hunter's saddlebag--at least, that
is, until the fox, as they say, "goes to earth". No fun that for the
hunters because it ends the chase and their chance to bag the fox.
Game to the fox...or so it would seem.

But this is where the terrier earns his seemingly free ride and free
lunches. The hunter grabs him by his short tail and hurls him to the
ground. His job is to run into the den and convince the fox to resume
the game by "making him an offer he can't refuse".

No beagle in his right mind would want any part of this. Terriers, on
the other hand, are born scrappers. There is a reason why we have the
expression "a pack of hounds", but not "a pack of terriers". Rather
than a peaceful assembly the latter would quickly become a canine
gladiatorial.

Even the smallest terrier, like the Jack Russell (made famous by the
TV shows Frasier and Wishbone) thinks nothing about taking on a
Rottweiler or a Pit Bull. Hence another dog saying: "It's not the size
of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog".

Among terriers, "two's company, three's battle royal". Many people
have purchased Jack Russells, thinking they'll have a companion like
the one on TV, only to find they've brought a canine Mike Tyson into
their house. (With its recent popularity, breeders have started to
select for less aggressiveness in the Jack Russells. Dedicated
fanciers of any breed will tell you the worst thing that can happen is
for it to become popular overnight because of some movie or television
show. The heightened demand is met by the unscrupulous "puppy mills".
And even a dog from a reputable breeder can end up with an owner or
family totally unsuited for him.)

The third breed in Freedman study: the Shetland Sheepdog, often
affectionately termed "Shelties", or incorrectly, and to the great
annoyance of their owners, "Miniature Collies". They are indeed sheep
herding, not sheep protecting, dogs.

The Sheltie motto is "herd ' em, don't hurt 'em". They have been
selected for being very responsive to commands from humans and for
inhibiting the part of their wolf ancestry that says "look at all that
nice mutton, here for the taking".

Shelties are excellent dogs for obedience training and competition.
When I took my Great Dane, Payce, to K9 obedience school he was the
second-best pupil in the class. A Sheltie was Number 1.

One of the most basic behaviors taught in obedience school is for the
dog to walk alongside the handler and stop and sit as soon as the
handler halts, its front paws parallel with the handler's toes.

Payce had no trouble learning to sit. At 127 pounds and over 6 feet
tall when he gets up on his hind legs, however, it wasn't that easy
for him to put on the brakes and stop on a dime. The Sheltie almost
always stopped and sat dead even with her handler.

Then one time the Sheltie goofed and ended up about six inches out in
front. She looked around, and quickly backed up until her front paws
were dead even with her handler toes, hoping he wouldn't notice--very
much as I had in basic training, hoping to avoid the gaze of the drill
instructor.

Everyone in the obedience class noticed the Sheltie's miscue and
attempted cover-up. The instructor--quite unlike my DI--pointed to it
gleefully as an example of just how much the dogs can learn. Shelties
been selected for both canine IQ and canine conscientiousness.

Fourth in the Freedman study: the Basenji.

Basenijis are more recently domesticated than most of the better-known
breeds. Like wolves, they have never added barking to their behavioral
repertoire. (Barking may be an exaggeration of the pup calling to its
mother which human selection has enhanced as a means of dog-master
communication).

With their tails carried up in a corkscrew, Basenjis belong to a group
called pariah dogs, which includes semi-domesticated breeds around the
world. (When humans cease selective breeding of dogs, the distinctive
breed traits disappear, the surviving dogs take on a pariah-like
appearance and the full wolf-canine behavioral repertoire resurfaces.)

Basenjis do not lack canine IQ, but they are at the opposite pole from
the Shelties in conscientiousness. They don't like taking orders from
their owners. They are born canine scofflaws.

In another classic study, experimenters put some dog chow out for the
pups and told them "No!" Then they would leave the room to observe the
pups through a one-way mirror to see if they would go for food. If
they did, the experimenter would go back into the room and scold them
"No!" while also swatting them on their backside, painlessly, with a
newspaper. [Genetics and the Social Behavior of the Dog, By John Paul
Scott and John L. Fuller]

Shelties are so given to inhibiting, they wouldn't touch the food.
Some of them even had to be hand-nursed back into feeding again.
Basenjis, on the other hand, started to chow down the minute the
experimenter turned his back, before he even left the room.

A third study compared the same four breeds in getting through a
series of increasingly difficult mazes. The breed differences were not
in the ability to master the mazes (a rough measure of canine IQ) but
in what they would do when placed a maze they couldn't master.

The Beagles howled, hoping that another member of their pack would
howl back and lead them to the goal. The inhibitory Shelties simply
laid down on the ground and waited. The pugnacious Fox Terriers tried
to tear down the walls of the maze. The Basenjis saw no reason to play
by the rules and began jumping over walls of the maze.

But what does this have to do with humans? Professor Freedman wrote
that

"I had worked with different breeds of dogs and I had been struck by
how predictable was the behavior of each breed. A breed of dog is a
construct zoologically and genetically equivalent to a race of man. To
look at us, my wife and I [Freedman is Jewish; his wife Chinese], my
wife and I were clearly of two different breeds. Were some of our
behavioral differences determined by breed?" [Human Sociobiology: A
Holistic Approach]

Freedman and his wife set about designing experiments to test that
hypothesis. Their story is interesting not just for its scientific
results and for the different receptions they received in even the
most prestigious scientific journals.

The Freedmans decided to observe the behavior of newborns and infants
of different races using the Cambridge Behavioral and Neurological
Assessment Scale. Unlike the typical reflex tests performed by
pediatricians, these tests, called the "Brazelton" after their
developer, measure social and emotional behavior. [The Manner Born:
Birth Rites in Cross-Cultural Perspective, Chapter 13, Ethnic
Differences in Babies]

The Freedmans found that European American and Chinese American
newborns reacted differently even though hospital conditions and
prenatal care were the same.

White babies started to cry more easily, and once they started, they
were more difficult to console. Chinese babies adapted to almost any
position in which they were placed. When placed face down in their
cribs, they tended to keep their faces buried in the sheets rather
than immediately turning to one side, as did the Whites.

In a maneuver called the "defense reaction" by neurologists, the
baby's nose was briefly pressed with a cloth, forcing him to breathe
with his mouth. Most Caucasian and black babies fight the maneuver by
immediately turning away or swiping at the cloth with their hands. Not
surprisingly, this is listed in Western pediatric textbooks as the
normal, expected response.

But not so the average Chinese babies in the study. They simply lay on
their back, breathing from the mouth, "accepting" the cloth without a
fight.

There were other more subtle differences. While both Chinese and
Caucasian infants would start to cry at about the same point in the
examination, especially when they were being undressed, Chinese babies
stopped crying immediately, while Caucasian babies quieted only
gradually.

The Freedman noted that the film of their finding left audiences
awestruck by the group differences.

They then tested Navajo babies. Anthropology, linguistics, and DNA
agree that Amerinds have a relatively recent Asian origin. And the
behavior of the Navajo babies was indeed like that of the Chinese-
Americans, not the Whites.

Freedman submitted the paper on racial differences in neonate behavior
to Science, the most prestigious scientific journal in the U.S. It had
published his study behavioral differences in pups of different dog
breeds without any problem or controversy.

The paper on race differences, however, was rejected by a split vote
of the reviewers.

Freedman then submitted it to Nature, the British analogue to Science.
It again received a split decision from the judges. Fortunately, the
editor broke the deadlock by casting his deciding vote in favor of
publication. [Behavioural Differences between Chinese-American and
European-American Newborns D. G. Freedman & Nina Chinn Freedman,
Nature December 20, 1969]

Freedman's studies are important because they used a comparable
experimental design for humans and dogs. And although our society does
not automatically consider being more or less active as being better
or worse, unlike IQ, differences, race differences in behavior among
humans were viewed even by scientists as too hot to handle.

Group differences can be a life or death issue in which ideology
should have no place. Take pharmacogenetics, the study of genetic
differences in the tolerance and effectiveness of medicinal drugs.

Breed differences are taken for granted in the Veterinary Drug
Handbook (analogous to the Physician's Desk Reference). Two examples
bullet Ivermectin

The active ingredient in the most commonly prescribed medicine for
prevention of heart worms, it is quite safe used in the proper dosage,
killing the parasites without having any adverse effect on the dog--
except for Collies, Collie-like breeds, and Collie-mixes. For them,
the same amount of Ivermectin that wouldn't faze a Chihuahua can be
fatal.
bullet Thiopental

This ultra-short acting tranquilizer is potentially lethal for
greyhounds, whippets, and similar breeds. The lightly-built coursing
and racing dogs carry more muscle and much less fat than other breeds.
Fat is able to take up more barbiturate than muscle. Coursers take
much longer to metabolize the drug in their system. Veterinarians use
different tranquilizers

Does race have any place in human medicine? The answer increasingly is
"yes".
bullet Hypertension

African American patients, on average, do not benefit as much as
whites from ACE (Angiotensin Converting Enzyme) inhibitors, a standard
treatment for heart failure.

This is probably because of race differences in nitric oxide, which is
produced by the cells that line our blood vessels and dampens
contraction of the muscle cells, relaxing the vessels and lowering
blood pressure. Blacks are more likely than whites to have nitric
oxide insufficiency. Why, no one currently knows.

Jay N. Cohn, a professor of medicine at the University of Minnesota
School of Medicine, has patented a drug called BiDil which is a
combination diuretic and vessel dilator that replenishes nitric oxide.
The Food and Drug Administration authorized the testing of BiDil, the
Association of Black Cardiologists has recruited patients, and the
Congressional Black Caucus has supported the project. And with good
cause--Blacks have twice the rate of heart failure as whites, and those
afflicted are twice as likely to die.
bullet Tuberculosis

Isoniazid was introduced soon after the end of WWII to combat
tuberculosis. It was soon found that the drug was not very effective
in Eskimos because they have a variant enzyme which metabolizes the
drug so rapidly that it never has a chance to be effective.

At least in medicine, humanitarianism and common sense are
increasingly trumping ideology for humans as well as for dogs.

The take-home lessons from our brief look at ourselves, our best
friends, and our nearest relatives are:
bullet Small DNA differences can produce large and significant
differences in body shape, size, internal chemistry, and even behavior
and cognition.

bullet Changes in all three are often linked because of the action of
a small number of "regulator" (master) genes.

bullet When the selection pressure is high enough, changes can take
place in a very short time--the stronger the pressure, the less
evolutionary time required

bullet These differences can be of vital importance in both human and
veterinary medicine--and in human behavior.

One can only hope that we can learn to handle group differences in
humans as intelligently and humanely as we do those in dogs."<<


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