Also, high-risk Labrados tended to plague their owners more frequently due to food. On the other hand, dogs with low genetic risk scores remained slim, regardless of whether their owner paid attention to how and how they were fed.
However, other findings were less obvious. “For a long time, we’ve known chocolate-colored Labradors are prone to overweight, and we often hear that toddlers and dogs who throw food on the floor are really popular as pets for young families who don’t pay much attention,” says Rafan. Data from her team showed that chocolate Labradors actually have a much higher risk of genetic obesity than yellow or black ones
Some of the Labradors, particularly prone to obesity, were guide dogs that were included in the first group. Training guide dogs in the UK usually takes about two years. During that time, dogs will learn multiple skills, including avoiding obstacles, stopping at curbs, navigating complex environments, and dealing with emergency scenarios. As not all dogs can successfully complete this training, guide dogs are often kept selectively with other guide dogs, and hope that offspring will provide a better opportunity for them to do the same training.
However, this selective breeding among guide dogs may have had unexpected results. “Our results raise the interesting possibility that they may have mis-chosen a dog that is prone to obesity, a dog that really likes their food. They do anything for the biscuits,” says Rafan.
This study found that the genes that cause obesity in dogs are also responsible for human obesity. “The high genetic risk of dogs’ impact on dogs leads to increased appetite, which makes them more interested in food,” says Rafan. “The exact same thing can be said in humans. If you have high genetic risks, you are essentially not inherently lazy or garbage about overeating. That’s why you’re more interested in food and get more rewards from it.”
Science, 2025. Doi: 10.1126/science.ads2145
