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  • Hi, this is Kate from MinuteEarth.

  • Ever since rich British folks invented dog shows as a spectator sport in the late 1800s,

  • people have been parading pooches around with the goal of taking the top spot in their dogs'

  • so-calledbreed group.”

  • These breed groups are based on the historical jobs dogs were bred to do, with game-retrievers

  • like labs and spaniels in the sporting group, guard dogs like dobermans and mastiffs in

  • the working group, and herding dogs like collies and sheepdogs in, well, the herding group.

  • And although most dogs today are just butt-sniffing layabouts, their breed group still influences

  • how we think about them.

  • Which is why dog breed organizations describe dogs in the sporting group as attentive, dogs

  • in the herding group as smart, and dogs in the working group as courageousbut perhaps

  • unsuited for families with young kids.

  • However, two decades of canine research have revealed that while dogs in a given breed

  • group often share certain skills, they don't really have that much else in common.

  • In one study in Sweden, researchers ran more than 13,000 dogs of 31 different breeds through

  • a course full of sounds, surprises, and random humans attempting to snuggle.

  • They found that levels of playfulness, curiosity, sociability, and aggression did not differ

  • among breed groups.

  • Even weirder, it turned out that golden retrievers are more similar to Rottweilers than they

  • are to their fellow sporting dogs, and Boxers are more like Labs than they are like other

  • working dogs.

  • In fact, most dogs act more like breeds outside their group than they act like other breeds

  • within their group.

  • What's more, dozens of canine intelligence studies have shown that, when it comes to

  • skills like solving mazes and following commands, all breed groups perform about the same, even

  • though some individual dogs are definitely smarter than others.

  • So have dog enthusiasts somehow been imagining all of these differences among breed groups?

  • Maybe...psychology research suggests that once we begin to see something in a particular

  • way, we naturally seek out evidence that strengthens that image, and ignore evidence that undermines

  • it.

  • But the truth is that you can't judge a bark by its cover.

  • Hey, it's Kate - and this is my adorable rascal, Watson.

  • Hopefully, you enjoyed watching this video - we had a ton of fun making it.

  • Come join us in the comments section, where we can chat about dog breeds, and confirmation

  • bias, and you can share your dogs with us!

  • Also, if you like what we do, please consider joining our Patreon community at Patreon.com/MinuteEarth.

  • Our patrons help us continue making videos about the weird and wonderful planet we call

  • home - and they get access to some pretty cool exclusive perks along the way.

  • If you can't support us, no worries - just make sure you subscribe to MinuteEarth to

  • get access to all our latest videos.

  • Thanks, and we'll see you next time.

Hi, this is Kate from MinuteEarth.

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