Correlations Between Dog Types & Owners Personality Traits

This may sound mysterious, but this is true. It is possible to discover much about a persons nature by analyzing his behavior, what he does and how he carries himself. It is also possible to determine much about the personality and nature of a person by knowing exactly the dog breed he likes. Yes, the dog breed you choose reflects your personality traits to a great extent, suggests an extensive  research on human psychology.

Live Science was told by Lance Workman, a researcher and psychologist at Bath Spa University in the UK, “we go for dogs that are a bit like us, just as we go for a romantic partner who is a bit like us.” Research has suggested that owners of small or toy dog breeds exhibit unique personality traits like calmness, openness of mind, intellectually curious about new experiences. Moreover, they usually turn out to be appreciative about art and culture. Sir Isaac Newton’s dog Diamond was a small breed (not many and reliable records could be discovered as to what breed exactly Diamond was). Sir Newton was passionate about animals and loved Diamond very much. Diamond might have been his one of the closest companies! Newton once told one of his friends that Diamond helped him discover TWO very important theorems one morning, although, according to him one of those theorems had an error and the other had an exception. One evening Diamond accidentally knocked down the lamp over the scientist’s big pile of papers which consequently burned his years’ of research works. Sir Newton, without losing his cool on his beloved companion said, Oh, Diamond, Diamond, thou little knowest the mischief thou hast done”. This is not just a story, but a real incidence, that gives an indication about Newton’s nature and characteristic traits. Sir Newton was “intellectually curious about new experiences”!

Researcher Lance Workman and his team was interested about studying how actually personality traits use to influence a person’s social behavior. It was earlier noticed that there had been huge differences in personality traits between doggie people and non-doggie people. Doggie people here mean people who stay closely with dogs. It has been noticed that dog owners are more agreeable as compared to non-dog owners. It has also been noticed that certain dog breeds is associated with certain types of people which means that types of dog (pure breed) could be matched with the people who like that particular breed.

Researches made in conjugation with the Kennel Club turned out to be quite successful and ended up with offering immensely important information about human psychology and behavior traits. Kennel Club has categorized the dog breeds into 7 broader groups, as follows:

1. Gun dogs group: Labrador, Golden Retriever
2. Hound dogs: Greyhound, Beagle, Afghan hound
3. Pastoral dogs: German Shepherds, Collies
4. Terrier group: Staffordshire bull terrier;
5. Toy breeds: Chihuahuas
6. Utility breeds: Bulldogs
7. Working groups: Doberman pinscher

As part of this research the Workman and his team formulated an online questionnaire that included a set of questions to be asked to 1000 dog owners, where all dog owner owned purebred dogs. The questionnaire was formulated with an intention to measure what according to psychologists are Big Five personality traits. The “Big Five” traits to be measured are:

1. Openness
2. Conscientiousness
3. Extroversion
4. Agreeableness
5. Neuroticism (measure for the degree of mental anxiety)

Result of the research work: The evaluation of correlations between the dog breed types and the personality traits of the people who like the particular dog breed.

Enthusiasts of pastoral and utility dog breeds - Most extroverted of any dog owners - socially confident people who can do a lot for their friends.
Enthusiasts of gun dogs - Most agreeable
Enthusiasts of hound dog breeds – Emotionally most stable
Enthusiasts of toy dog breeds – Most agreeable as well as most open and imaginative

Related read here: LiveScience - Like Dog, Like Owner