American Kennel Club Study Reveals Surprising Link Between Dog Brain Size and Trainability
A study involving the American Kennel Club (AKC) has explored the relationship between a dog's relative brain size and its trainability, revealing unexpected findings. Dr. Ana M. Balcarcel and her team investigated how relative brain size varied across 172 different dog breeds and if this correlated with behavioral traits. They measured the endocranial volume of 1,682 adult dog skulls and used the AKC's body mass averages to calculate relative brain size. The team then cross-referenced this data with behavioral traits from the Canine Behavioral Assessment and Research Questionnaire (C-BARQ), which includes evaluations from approximately 50,000 pet dogs. Surprisingly, smaller dogs, such as toy breeds, were found to have the largest relative brain sizes, while larger dogs had smaller relative brain sizes. Despite this, larger dogs with smaller relative brain sizes demonstrated greater trainability, often considered a measure of cognitive sophistication, particularly in breeds from the Working Group.
