Does Your Dog Have Personality? You Betcha!
Dog behavior has been shaped by millennia of contact with humans. So it shouldn’t surprise us that they have personality traits similar but not identical to our own.
I was having coffee with a friend a while back and somehow the conversation wandered into how smart our dogs are. Like proud parents, we regaled each other with stories about our respective dogs’ personalities. I asked, rhetorically, whether dogs really have a personality. Like most dog owners, we confidently answered was “Of course!”
But the easy answer bothered me. The fact that millions of dog owners believe it to be a fact doesn’t make it so. Strictly speaking, that simply makes it millions of anecdotes. And anecdotes, however numerous, do not constitute proof. At best it amounts to a bunch of observations by loving owners, and thus, it is inherently highly biased.
What is personality?
Psychologists who study this subject describe five components that together make up a personality.
Openness to experience includes several dimensions. These include characteristics such as
- active imagination (fantasy)
- aesthetic sensitivity
- attentiveness to inner feelings
- preference for variety
- intellectual curiosity
This trait implies being thorough and careful. It is manifest by a desire to complete a task and do it well.
Extraversion tends to be manifested in outgoing, talkative, energetic behavior, whereas introversion is manifested in more reserved and solitary behavior.
This personality trait manifests itself in individual behavioral characteristics that are perceived as kind, sympathetic, cooperative, warm and considerate.
This trait is characterized by anxiety, fear, moodiness, worry, envy, frustration, jealousy, and loneliness.
Each of these traits has a wide spectrum. Individuals can fall on one extreme of a trait, such as openness to experience or in the middle of the spectrum of agreeableness. They could also perhaps be on the lower scale of extraversion, such as being a…
