Doubly amusing because in nearly every social animal (dogs, cats, horses, pigs, primates, etc) it’s universally accepted that intelligence, curiosity, sociability, aggression, territoriality, impulsivity, problem-solving, persistence, reward motivation…

… are all highly heritable.

Humans are miraculously, according to the experts, the sole and unquestionable exception in the animal kingdom.

Academia has been claiming otherwise actually. There have been a bunch of studies trying to overturn the idea that dog behaviour is genetic, and turn it into a purely environmental thing. My guess is they’re worried that if we accept it’s true for animals , there’s not much of a leap to assuming it’s true for humans.

I don’t know enough about it to say whether the studies are BS or not, but as an experienced animal keeper, claims that it’s not heritable goes so heavily against my lived experience that I can’t reconcile it with reality.