Why Study Personality In Dogs?

Why Study Personality in Dogs?

There has been an increase in interest in the study of animal personality, as well as in personality in dogs, during recent decades. It seems that this change is driven by a parallel increase in interest in other areas. One of them is animal welfare. If different individuals appraise threats or other stressful events differently, some individuals will be better able than others to cope with a certain life situation. One example in dogs is the capacity to cope with temporary separation from family members, or social isolation. To ensure that dogs may cope with this situation, which is a very common for pet dogs, it is important to take each dog’s personality into account. Some dogs may be more easily trained to cope with loneliness, whereas others may suffer more in such a situation.

Another issue is prediction of behaviour. Knowledge of future ways of acting in different situations is valuable in selection of potential working dogs, such as guide dogs, dogs that are used for search tasks (explosives, drugs, etc.), guard dogs, hunting dogs and herding dogs. Behavioural signs in a dog that predict success or failure before the dog is trained, or in the early phases of the training period, bring great advantages. Time and money can be saved, and the welfare for dogs and trainers may be improved. Behavioural prediction in dogs may also be important for pet dogs. Early signs in the puppy may help the breeder to match the dog with an appropriate owner. Furthermore, in several countries there are extensive rescue dog programmes. Dogs that otherwise would be put down may be transferred to a new home after a stay in a shelter. An assessment of the dog’s typical behaviour in certain situations when it is in the shelter may increase the chance of a good match between the dog and the new home. Behavioural problems may be avoided, or at least diminished, by taking preventive steps. Furthermore, the value of early signs of behaviour that may cause problems for the owner, the surroundings and/or the dog itself may be extended to all pet dogs. Knowledge of the young dog’s typical behaviour may help the owner to take appropriate steps, such as training programmes, that make life more pleasant for all parties

A third issue is evolution or, in the case of the dog, domestication. What traits are favoured during selection, and why? In dog breeding, there is – consciously and unconsciously – a selection for wanted traits and against unwanted traits. If we assume that these traits have a genetic base, the type of selection that dominates will decide the typical behaviour of the dogs in future generations. Thus, methods that are useful in assessing the personality in breeding dogs as well as the offspring are of great interest for successful directed selection. For example, standardized behavioural tests have been used as tools in breeding programmes in breed clubs and in selection of working dogs. In addition, it is relevant to understand how other, more unconscious, selection criteria influence the ongoing domestication of dogs. Dog personalities differ in their adaptiveness in different life situations and contexts. A certain dog personality might be highly adaptive in one setting, whereas the same dog might give another owner problems in everyday life due to its typical behaviour. . A shyness–boldness dimension has been detected in dogs in a standardized behavioural test (Svartberg and Forkman, 2002). This trait is related to everyday life – playful, explorative and fearless behaviour in both social and nonsocial situations – as well as to success in working dog trials (Svartberg, 2002, 2005). Depending on the goals of the owner and the breeder, different dogs will probably be favoured during selection. The bold dog might be favoured if the major goal is some kind of working performance, whereas less bold dogs, although not shy, may be more easy to handle for pet dog owners. This assumption is supported by correlations between the typical use of parents in different breeds, and breed-typical personality (Svartberg, 2006). Breeds where breeding dogs have a high number of merits from working dog trials are in general more playful than breeds with parents less often used as working dogs. Furthermore, ‘show breeds’ are shyer than breeds where show merits seem to be less important.