Posted on 02/10/2006 10:18:31 AM PST by girlangler
News Release March 29, 2004
Study Reveals That Dogs Resemble Their Owners As a Result of Selection
Do people really resemble their pets? A resemblance in a movie or on TV between a pet and its owner has occasionally tickled our funny bone. The results of a recent study suggest that a resemblance between owner and dog may be actually determined by the pet lover's selection.
The research, by Michael M. Roy and Nicholas Christenfeld, both of the University of California, San Diego, found that when people pick a pet, they seek one that, at some level, resembles them. These findings will be published in the May issue of Psychological Science, a publication of the American Psychological Society.
The study investigated two possible scenarios that could produce similarity between people and their dogs. One would involve some convergence in features over time, meaning the similarity had grown with the length of ownership. The other would involve people selecting dogs that are like them. (This second situation suggests greater similarity between people and their purebred dogs than between people and their mutts, because a mutt puppy's final appearance is unpredictable, and its selection might also involve less foresight and deliberation.)
Forty-five dogs (25 purebreds and 20 mutts) and their owners were separately photographed. Owners were photographed from the waist up, wearing whatever clothes they had chosen that day and whatever facial expression they chose for the picture. Dogs were photographed facing forward, with the whole dog visible. (The dogs also made whatever facial expression they chose, though often with more emphasis on a steadily lolling tongue.) Judges were shown a picture of one owner and a picture of that owner's dog and one other dog, with the task of picking out the true match.
The judges were able to most often able to properly match the owner and dog. The judges found no resemblance between mutts and their owners, providing evidence that owners tend to choose a dog that looks like them, rather than owners and dogs grow alike over time.
For more information, contact Christenfeld at nchristenfeld@ucsd.edu, or for a complete copy of this article, visit the APS Media Center at www.psychologicalscience.org/media.
Psychological Science is ranked among the top 10 general psychology journals for impact by the Institute for Scientific Information. The American Psychological Society represents advocating science-based research in the public's interest.
LOL! That would of been my second guess
Awesome photograph!!!!
I'd like to send that one to some dog trainer friends.
Gotta link?
Come home Bo. I've learned my lesson. You can have the Rib Eyes and I'll eat the hamburger...
LMAO!
Hey, if I drive him down, can I have a rib eye?
Now there's an idea, BEER BREAK! Thanks for the idea. I just opened a cold one. MMMMM, this is better than coffee.
http://www.bofunk.com/video/1829/kitty_litter.html
This has NOTHING to do with the subject at hand...
Oh shut up.
NOTHING is better than coffee.
N-O-T-H-I-N-G!!!!
Running, ducking for cover. Outta here......
I just didn't feel like adding Crown Royal to my coffee, yet.
"It's five oclock somewhere."
Alan Jackson & Jimmy Buffet
Crown Royal? Did someone say Crown Royal?
:)
Hey,
Here's my girl.
And her alter (sp) ego behind her.
Trick photography, obviously.
No, these two own me. My Lucy is about the most beautiful creation on earth, in my opinion.
Rules: Crown Royal Special Reserve is never to be contaminated by coffees, sodas or even ice. Common Crown Royal is OK to be blended with other liquids.
BTW...the last rib eyes we got at Costco are special!
Hmmmmmmmppppphhhhfffff
Where did you get it? I have been wanting one. Currently have 2 bichons, one is 11 months the other 12 years...gonna (shhhhhshhh don't tell him) replace the old fella with a Porteguese Water Dog. Is it true they have no doggy smell (best point about the bichons)...and tell me what is the height at the shoulders of your dog?
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