Pets should be matched with their owners on the basis of similar personalities
Posted on 02/22/2005 9:46:42 AM PST by yankeedame
Last Updated: Tuesday, 22 February, 2005, 10:21 GMT
Test for canine personalities
By Paul Rincon
BBC News science reporter, in Washington DC
Dogs show huge differences in personality, according to a US scientist who has developed a test to assess canine character.
Dr Sam Gosling, of the University of Texas, rates the dogs on four key traits with positive and negative extremes.
He adds that his work suggests pets should be matched with owners who have similar personalities.
The work was presented at a major science conference in Washington DC.
Personality traits
"We used approaches used to assess human personality and applied them to dogs," said Dr Gosling.
"You do find personality differences between breeds. Indeed, many have been bred on that basis. But you also find enormous [personality] differences within the breeds themselves."
Dr Gosling first asked pet owners to rate their pet on the four personality traits and then asked strangers to rate the animals on the same characteristics.
"We used approaches used to assess human personality and applied them to dogs," Dr. Sam Gosling.
The four dog personality factors were energy levels, affection-aggression, anxiety-calmness and intelligence-stupidity.
Anxiety-calmness was assessed by studying a dog's reaction as its owner walked away with another dog.
The ability to retrieve a biscuit from beneath a cup was used as a measure of intelligence.
These traits were adapted from the five-factor model; used to assess human personality.
And the University of Texas psychologist is a firm believer that pets should be matched with their owners on the basis of similar personalities.
"If you can make a breed-based judgment that's fine. But you can also do behavioural tests. And one of the places that are very interested in this are dog homes.
"They have very high incentives to find out what these animals are like and how well-matched they are to their owners."
The results were presented to the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Get over here. Sit. Stay.
>>>Dogs show huge differences in personality
I have two dogs whos personalities are so completely different that you'd think they were different species instead of breeds.
This sounds like: Leo owners and Scorpio dogs blah blah blah.
Duck and run away. :)
My german shepherd, Tiny very timid. I have had her her whole life so she has never been abused, has been treated with love and affection, she has never got over her timidity. She is very bright though and can work solutions to little puzzles I make her go through for treats.
Now my other dog (a catahoula leopard dog) is very playful, runs headlong into everything, completely unafraid and dumb as a sack of wet mice.
"Dogs show huge differences in personality"
Duh! :-o
At least she's intelligent - - ;-)
"My german shepherd, Tiny very timid. I have had her her whole life so she has never been abused, has been treated with love and affection, she has never got over her timidity."
Alot like my current GS. Her basic problem is fear of ghosts (inorganic objects should not be moving!) and a high anxiety about her submissive nature. I think sometimes her over-the-top "happy" (think: tornado) greetings for people and dogs is mostly desparation to prove she is no threat to them. Cuz w/dogs, she'll bend over and lick their mouths, esp. if they're large. (Conversely, she bullies smaller dogs and other animals.)
But she does have a basically happy cheerful personality - and while she can be active, from babyhood she was perfectly willing to lie around like a slug.
The happy cheerful part is just like my last GS, plus the same size, build, and all. But Shana was dominant and virtually fearless (she had *some* couple fear neuroses - the opposite of Tara, full of them), yet never aggressive about it. She simply was the boss of dogs (and people if she didn't have a strong master. ;-)). My sister's male GS mounting her unawares got him a HUGE lesson in manners. Dogs dare not take her toys, and she didn't like them taking her food (picky eater, but jealous of it, even of the cat when she caught him eating her food). Tara will give it all up instantly, tho. Very submissive. By herself she'll show her tummy to you. Shana didn't like rolling over, and generally she'd never do it just for the heck of it.
Whew. Now that we have that one figured out, what's going on with that whole nuclear fusion thing?
My dog is a scavanger, has a constant runny nose, will eat cardboard, and is dumb as a rock. I love her with all my heart, but I'm glad to say we're nothing alike. I hope.
That explains this...
No wonder my dog thinks I'm a genius....
You guys are all VERY silly.
You guys are all VERY silly.
My 9-year-old greyhound is extremely calm unless a big noisy truck whooshes by when we're out on a walk - then she gets very scared. She's quite intelligent but like all sighthounds, very independent. Her sedateness and friendliness with people can make the fact that she is very alpha with dogs quite a shock to people who don't know her well. She's not the least bit aggressive (no biting, no attacking, no initiation of fights), but she will not tolerate other dogs' bad manners. Other doggies must be polite to her or leave her alone!
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