Acta Vet. Brno 2017, 86: 273-283

https://doi.org/10.2754/avb201786030273

Personality consistency analysis in cloned quarantine dog candidates

Jin Choi1, Hong Bum Kim2, Young Ung Kang2, Min Jung Kim1, Sang-im Lee3, Hyun Ju Oh1, Geon A Kim1, Young Kwang Jo1, Eun Jung Park1, Jin Yong Park2, Yun Gyu Choi2, Byeong Chun Lee1

1Department of Theriogenology and Biotechnology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Seoul National University, Seoul, 08826, Republic of Korea
2Quarantine Detector Dog Training Centre, Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency, Incheon, 22356, Republic of Korea
3School of Undergraduate Studies, Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology, Daegu, 42988, Republic of Korea

Received May 15, 2016
Accepted October 2, 2017

In recent research, personality consistency has become an important characteristic. Diverse traits and human-animal interactions, in particular, are studied in the field of personality consistency in dogs. Here, we investigated the consistency of dominant behaviours in cloned and control groups followed by the modified Puppy Aptitude Test, which consists of ten subtests to ascertain the influence of genetic identity. In this test, puppies are exposed to stranger, restraint, prey-like object, noise, startling object, etc. Six cloned and four control puppies participated and the consistency of responses at ages 7–10 and 16 weeks in the two groups was compared. The two groups showed different consistencies in the subtests. While the average scores of the cloned group were consistent (P = 0.7991), those of the control group were not (P = 0.0089). Scores of Pack Drive and Fight or Flight Drive were consistent in the cloned group, however, those of the control group were not. Scores of Prey Drive were not consistent in either the cloned or the control group. Therefore, it is suggested that consistency of dominant behaviour is affected by genetic identity and some behaviours can be influenced more than others. Our results suggest that cloned dogs could show more consistent traits than non-cloned. This study implies that personality consistency could be one of the ways to analyse traits of puppies.

Funding

This study was supported by IPET (#316002-05-2-SB010), RDA (#PJ010928032017), Research Institute for Veterinary Science, the BK21 plus program and Cargill Agri Purina Korea.

References

23 live references