Ethologists at Eötvös Loránd University published a study in 2025 examining how head shape relates to behavior in short-nosed dog breeds, finding that while skull shape is linked to traits such as calmness and boldness, low trainability appears driven chiefly by small body size and lack of training rather than head shape. Dog breed influences certain behavioral traits to a limited extent, accounting for about 9% of behavioral variation, while individual factors like age and experience play larger roles. Additional coverage of this same incident.

The paper is based on questionnaire data collected in Germany covering about 5,000 dogs and focuses on brachycephalic breeds including French Bulldogs and Pugs, which owners often describe as interactive, friendly and playful. What percentage of dog breeds have short noses, and how does this compare to long-nosed.

Researchers said the results separate two threads: a direct association between compact skull shape and several behavioral traits, and a separate pathway in which small body size and owner treatment explain poorer responsiveness to training. Owners influence their pets’ behavior through training methods and care practices. Aversive techniques are linked to increased aggression and anxiety, while positive reinforcement fosters better trainability and reduces problem behaviors.

“We found that the low trainability of short-nosed dogs is mainly due to their small body size and lack of training — not their head shape,” said Borbála Turcsán, a member of the MTA-ELTE ‘Momentum’ Companion Animal Research Group, summarizing the study’s key finding. This highlights the importance of the owner’s role in shaping a dog’s behavior.

Enikő Kubinyi, head of the Department of Ethology at Eötvös Loránd University, framed the anatomical side of the research by pointing to measurable differences in brain shape and activity. “The brains of short-nosed dogs are more rounded, and their patterns of brain activity differ from those of other breeds, so it’s easy to imagine that their brains regulate behavior differently,” she said.

The study situates those behavioral links alongside broader observations about the breeds themselves: short-nosed dogs remain popular in many countries even as they commonly suffer from breathing difficulties, allergies, and skin or eye problems, and owners frequently characterize them as playful companions.

Authors on the paper include Sara Bohm of Eötvös Loránd University alongside Turcsán and Kubinyi. The team used statistical controls to account for background factors when isolating the influence of head shape on traits such as calmness, boldness, and recall response.

Behavioral connections to skull form reported by the researchers include a tendency for short-headed dogs to show less jumping and pulling on leash and to react differently to other dogs and guests, patterns that remained significant after accounting for some confounding factors.

At the same time, the analysis identified that apparent deficits in trainability among these breeds diminished once body size and training history were taken into account, a distinction the authors stressed in interviews and in their press materials.

The findings align with related work from the same research groups exploring how head shape and age shape olfactory brain networks; additional coverage of that line of inquiry is available at Study-In-Hungary.

Independent summaries and context for breed-linked behavior appeared in outlets such as Barkandwhiskers, which have reviewed similar large-scale studies on canine personality and how owner practices contribute to observed differences across breeds. This further underscores the relevance of understanding the detailed relationships between breed characteristics and owner dynamics in training contexts.

For owners and veterinarians, the research reframes how to interpret certain behaviors in brachycephalic dogs: some tendencies may be tied to cranial form and neural differences, while trainability may respond to changes in handling, size-appropriate expectations, and training effort.

The study was published in 2025 by researchers at Eötvös Loránd University and draws on the questionnaire data collected in Germany that underpins its behavioral analyses.

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