Tag: personalities

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That Old Adage About Dogs Resembling Their Owners? New Research Suggests It’s True

Dog personality may share similar characteristics to that of human personality.

It’s well known that human personalities change as we age. Now a detailed study of dog personalities indicates that our canine companions often go through remarkably similar changes during their lives—and our own personalities may be a key factor.

Psychologists at Michigan State University published a paper this month in the Journal of Research in Personality that examined dog personalities and found some evidence to support the old adage that dogs resemble their owners. “Dog personality may share similar characteristics to that of human personality,” the study said in summarizing its findings.

“When humans go through big changes in life, their personality traits can change. We found that this also happens with dogs—and to a surprisingly large degree,” William Chopik, a Michigan State professor of psychology and the study’s lead author spoke to Sciencedaily

“We expected the dogs’ personalities to be fairly stable because they don’t have wild lifestyle changes humans do, but they actually change a lot,” Chopik said. “We uncovered similarities to their owners, the optimal time for training, and even a time in their lives that they can get more aggressive toward other animals.”

As reported by Fortune.com, the study surveyed people who owned 1,681 dogs belonging to 50 breeds and aged between a few months and 15 years. The owners were asked to evaluate their dogs’ personalities and behavioral history, along with their own personalities.

Chopik found that the “sweet spot” for obedience training came well beyond puppihood, at around six years old, when dogs have outgrown their excitable puppy ways but before old habits settle in. That’s also the age when dogs are most likely to show aggressiveness to humans or other animals.

The study also indicated that personality traits that can emerge in dogs over time—excitation, aggression, fear, and anxiety—can be amplified by the behavior of their human companions. Overall, the people who were most satisfied with their dogs were the ones who invested in obedience training and who offered their dogs an active and playful life.

 

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Dog Personalities Change Over Time

1,600 dogs spanning 50 different breeds were included in a recent study.

Not only in love and compassion dogs are more like humans in other aspects as well. If a recent study is to be believed, canine personalities aren’t set in stone and, just like humans, they can go through dramatic personality changes based on life events.

The research, which was published in Journal of Research in Personality, is the largest study of dog personality ever conducted. Over 1,600 dogs spanning 50 different breeds were included in the work, which surveyed pet owners and attempted to draw links between life events and changes in the behavior of the animals and their caretakers.

“When humans go through big changes in life, their personality traits can change. We found that this also happens with dogs—and to a surprisingly large degree,” William Chopik, lead author of the study, said in statement.

“We expected the dogs’ personalities to be fairly stable because they don’t have wild lifestyle changes humans do, but they actually change a lot. We uncovered similarities to their owners, the optimal time for training and even a time in their lives that they can get more aggressive toward other animals.”

The researchers found that the old adage that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks does have some basis in reality, with older animals being harder to train once they are set in their ways. But what was particularly interesting to the scientists was how the personalities of dogs tended to follow that of their owners.

Active and outgoing individuals tended to be matched with dogs that were the same, while dogs that were anxious or hostile had owners that were more negative. Pets that were more excitable and happy were also shown to be easier to train, while the fearful and anxious animals didn’t respond as well to direction.

“There are a lot of things we can do with dogs—like obedience classes and training—that we can’t do with people,” Chopik explains. “Exposure to obedience classes was associated with more positive personality traits across the dog’s lifespan. This gives us exciting opportunities to examine why personality changes in all sorts of animals.”

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