Golden Retrievers aren’t necessarily good at fetching and Border Collies aren’t necessarily affectionate, according to a new study that’s thrown out the idea that a dog’s breed shapes its temperament. Scientists at Cornell University interviewed dog owners and cross-checked their responses against genomic sequencing data to conclude that behaviours like howling or friendliness to strangers aren’t strictly passed down along breed lines. “It’s kind of luck of the draw,” said co-author and biologist Elinor Karlsson. While dogs became domesticated thousands of years ago, it was only recently that people began to selectively breed dogs for physical traits like coat texture and colour. However some traits were more common in certain breeds, for instance German Shepherds are easily directed and beagles can be a bit silly. And on an individual basis, some think they’re people, so go figure.