STUDY: Dogs do resemble their owners

Dogs really do resemble their owners – but not in the way you’d expect

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | It turns out that dogs really do resemble their owners. Genes from the dog gut ‘microbiome’ – the community of vital bacteria that support digestion and metabolism – show many similarities to those of humans, scientists have found.

They also discovered that dietary changes had a similar effect on the gut bacteria of both dogs and humans, irrespective of dog breed.

Lead scientist Dr. Luis Coelho, from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg, Germany, said: “The results of this comparison suggest that we are more similar to man’s best friend than we originally thought.”