A Basset hound.
Why Are Dogs So Friendly? Science Finally Has an Answer
Our pet canines have alterations in their genes that make them more sociable than wolves, a new study says.
To Bridgett von Holdt's 11-month-old English sheepdog Marla, the entire world is a friend she has yet to meet.
“She’s hypersocial. I even had her genotyped,” von Holdt admits, somewhat sheepishly (sorry).
Von Holdt’s interest is no casual curiosity. The Princeton evolutionary biologist and colleagues have spent the last three years studying the underlying genetic basis for social behavior in dogs and wolves. (Read why dogs are even more like us than we thought.)
Studies have shown that dogs are more sociable than wolves raised in similar circumstances, generally paying more attention to humans and following our directions and commands more effectively. (See "Can Dogs Feel Our Emotions? Yawn Study Suggests Yes.")
Von Holdt’s background in evolutionary genetics made her
