Behavior and personality analysis in cloned working dog candidates

Abstract

Cloning specific individuals is the way to produce targeted animals. This makes newborns without surplus animals which should be adapted to new families afterwards or supported by institutions for whole life. Cloning excellent dogs had been started from this point. Many cloned dogs have been produced since the first cloned dog SNUPPY was born. Production of seven drug detection dogs (named Toppy) by cloning has been reported in 2009. Cloning rescue dogs, and quarantine dogs were also successful, however their behavioral similarities were not examined yet. Although their genetic identity was confirmed, characteristics in their behavior and detecting ability are the important reason as well. This is the reason why I conducted this research on the cloned puppies. Therefore, this study is the attempt to examine their behavior. I conducted the Puppy Aptitude Test (PAT), which is commonly used to evaluate the tendency of dominance when the puppies are seven weeks old. The Puppy Aptitude Test consists of 10-11 subtests: Social Attraction, Following, Restraint, Social Dominance, Elevation Dominance, Retrieving, Touch Sensitivity, Sound Sensitivity, Sight Sensitivity, Stability, and Structure. The Structure subtest evaluates the puppys stance and body balance, and the other 10 subtests are used in this study to score its temperament. The two cloned puppies were classified as being the same type in rescue dog study.<br/> 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, I 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 seven-ten and sixteen 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 control group were not. Scores of Prey Drive were not consistent in either the cloned or the control group. Therefore, it suggested that consistency of dominant behaviour was affected by genetic identity and some behaviors could be influenced more than others. My 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.