Does a Human's Personality Rub Off on Their Dog?

In an excellent essay by Psychology Today writer Dr. Stanley Coren called "Why Some Bad Dog Behaviors Are Hard to Fix" summarizing a recent study by Dr. Lauren Powell and her colleagues, we're told that an owner's personality can affect the success of dog training via behavior modification.

I agree, given what we know about the strong bond that some humans form with their canine companions and numerous stories I've heard over many years from humans who note something like "how similar their dog has become to themselves." We also know that dogs watch us carefully and read our faces very well. They also mirror our stress.

These reflections cover what most people would call "positive" behaviors and engaging personalities as told to me by human Harry about his dog Marnie: "Oh, Marnie is just like me and loves everyone." However, they may also refer to behavior patterns and personality characteristics—so-called quirks—that most people don't especially want their dogs to express. Many things humans don't like about dogs are entirely dog-appropriate but not "human-appropriate," such as being bossy, being obnoxious, sniffing butts and groins, humping, and "barking excessively," and this is entirely understandable.

Generally, when dogs do something positive, humans are proud to say that their dog is just like them. However, when people tell me about their dog, especially about how their "bad dog" does things that they and other humans typically don't like, I want to ask them if they've looked in the mirror recently, but I refrain from doing this for any number of good reasons. Calling a dog a "bad dog" very often displays a lack of knowledge about dog behavior and the nature of the particular relationship a human has with their dog and perhaps others.

Dogs differ, humans differ, and dog-human relationships differ

Stan Coren's piece nicely covers the ground, but what caught my eye—and this is not a blanket criticism of the solid study under review—is the researchers' discussion of the limitations of their study. This is not to say their work isn't important, because it surely is. I simply want to focus on what they have to say about possible limitations because of my interest in making studies of animal behavior more reliable and figuring out what the results of different studies of dogs really mean. The upshot of these concerns is that there really is no "the dog" or dog-human relationship, and even the most careful studies have limitations.

Along these lines, Dr. Powell and her colleagues write, "This study is subject to several limitations. A lack of information was available regarding the final disposition of dogs who did not complete the study meaning that there may have been differential dropout rates based on the dog's response to clinical treatment. It is possible that dogs whose behavior improved rapidly did not complete the study as their owners did not feel the need for ongoing veterinary support."

They go on to list some other possible limitations including small sample size, "respondent fatigue," and missing values on some C-BARQ subscales—the scale used to assess personality characteristics—"particularly dog rivalry, unfamiliar dog aggression, and fear." They also note some dogs may have been euthanized or rehomed during the study, human personality characteristics may have played a role in their deciding not to complete the study, the dog's own history may have played a role in treatment outcomes, or the dog didn't change their behavior.

Concerning possible limitations, they also note, "Finally, the association between human and canine variables, and some behavioral treatment outcomes differed between 3- and 6-months. This may reflect true differences in the canine response to veterinary treatment between the two-time points, although the instability in the results means further research is needed to confirm our findings." I agree and this highlights that it's essential to focus on the individual dog, their human, and the particular relationship they have with one another.

Once again, this is not at all a fatal flaw in the study—indeed, the researchers themselves tell us what may limit the robustness of their data—but rather highlights that we need to be very careful in drawing general sweeping conclusions from a given research project and accept that strong trends do not necessarily mean that all dogs respond in a given way. While this is obvious to most people, popular headlines in media coverage of this and other studies can be misleading to a non-critical eye.

I fully realize that headlines can't capture all of the nuances in any given study, but I also know that people often draw conclusions from headlines and often don't pay attention to the nitty-gritty details. To wit, I got a bunch of emails about this study from knowledgeable people who didn't pay attention to the researchers' own realization that their study had limitations that require further study.

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For example, Miranda wrote, "I saw a short essay in New Scientist with the headline, 'Owner's Personality Rubs Off on Their Dog,' but for all of the dogs I've lived with this didn't happen. Do you know why?" Along the same lines, Eddie noted, "I read some essays on how dogs reflect their owners' personalities, but mine never have. Do you think it's because I'm not giving my current dog buddy, Eddie II, enough attention?" I wrote back that while I really can't answer questions about his relationship with Eddie II or his other canine companions, it's not a 1:1 association, as the researchers themselves acknowledge.

Individual variability in dogs' personalities and the relationships they form with other dogs and humans is what makes studying them so exciting. This information is central to giving them (and us) the best lives possible. Stay tuned for further discussions of ongoing research on dogs and dog-human relationships. There's still a lot to learn and as we gather more information and pay careful attention to existing nuances, it'll be a win-win for all.

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