It’s a safe bet that most dog owners love their dog, but that pooch may not always stay so perfect over time. Well, it turns out, a new study finds that just like adults, dogs have personalities, and they can change based on what’s going on in their lives.
The dog personality study, one of the largest ever conducted, looked at 1,600 dogs from 50 different breeds, looking at links between life events, and changes in the behavior of not only the animal but the owner as well. What researchers found that “to a surprisingly large degree,” dog's personalities can change when big changes in life happen.
“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,” the study’s lead author,William Chopik,shares. “ 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 study also finds that excitable and happy dogs were easier to train, as opposed to fearful and anxious dogs, which don’t take direction well. In addition, it seems to be true that you can’t teach old dogs new tricks, since once they are set in their ways, older dogs are less trainable.
- And if you think your pet is just like you, there’s a good chance that’s true. The study finds that owners tend to match with dogs that have similar traits to them. Like anxious and hostile dogs tend to be with more negative owners, while active and outgoing dogs likely have similar owners.
Read more --> New York Post
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