Melbourne, May 26 (ANI): Thanks to their floppy ears, they seem like one of the most innocent-looking breed of dogs, but a new study has found that English cocker spaniels are actually world's most aggressive canines.

The Spanish study found that English cocker spaniels tend to be more hostile than other breeds-a discovery indicating that aggressiveness is an inherited characteristic.

It suggests that genes and breeding practices can both help determine how a dog will behave.

"In our country and according to our database, the English cocker spaniel is the breed that shows more aggression problems," ABC Online quoted lead author Marta Amat, a researcher in the School of Veterinary Medicine at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, as saying.

For the study, researchers analysed 1040 cases of canine aggression brought to a nearby veterinary teaching hospital from 1998 to 2006, out of which majority were attributed to English cocker spaniels, Rottweilers, Boxers, Yorkshire terriers and German shepherds.On further research, scientists discovered that English cocker spaniels were more likely than other dogs to act aggressively toward their owners as well as unfamiliar people.

In contrast, dogs with reported behaviour problems from other breeds tended to act aggressively toward other dogs.

And among the English cocker spaniels, golden varieties and males were found to be the most hostile.

The findings confirm an earlier study, which also found that males and golden English cocker spaniels were more aggressive than females or those with black and mixed-colour coats.

The study is published in the latest Journal of Veterinary Behaviour. (ANI)