Dogs Are Always Good: Study Finds Owner's Personality Determines Canine Training Success

Whether it's excessive barking, aggression, or any other canine behavioral problems, these can be addressed with proper training. New research suggests that the trick to successful canine training depends on the owner's personality and their bond with the pup.

Dog Training and Bond

Dogs are man's best friends, but sometimes they need a little helping hand to integrate with society. After all, dogs are animals with instincts, thoughts, and emotions, and as an owner, the duty to train your dog rests on your shoulders.

In the United States, dogs are the most common companion animal, with an approximate population of 77 million dogs. Although most owners report high satisfaction with their dog attachments, roughly 3.3 million dogs are relinquished to animal shelters annually in the U.S.

Meanwhile, 670,000 dogs are euthanized yearly in the US. Although several factors are involved in relinquishment from communities, behavioral disorders contribute to the premature mortality of privately owned dogs.

Lauren Powell, the lead author of the study and a postdoctoral researcher from the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, says, "Almost nothing is known about how the owner's characteristics influence treatment success."

To understand the link between canine training, owner characteristics, and man-and-dog bond, a team of researchers from PennVet, recruited roughly 130 dog-owner pairs to attend a six-month veterinary behavioral program.

Owners were then asked to fill out a personality assessment questionnaire and a canine behavioral questionnaire at the beginning of the study. The same dog behavior questionnaire was to be filled out again at the three month and sixth month period.

Owners were asked to rate their dog's aggression, fear, separation anxiety, excitability, trainability, and energy level. While humans were asked to rate their extroversion & introversion, conscientiousness, neuroticism, agreeableness, and openness to new experiences.

Researchers considered the dog's age, size, and sex as factors affecting behavioral therapy. A dog's age has been linked with behaviors, trainability, and sociability. Male dogs are gound to exhibit higher levels of separation-related behavior and aggression than female dogs that tend to exhibit greater fearfulness.

By the end of the program, large dogs with aggression problems showed significantly more improvement than smaller counterparts. Powell explained that the findings might be due to the owner's focusing more on large dogs since they pose a greater safety risk than smaller breeds.

"Extroverted owners are more likely to see improvements in dogs' fearful behaviors than introverted owners," says Powell.

The study published in the journal Frontiers in Veterinary Science on January 22nd aimed to display the demographics and influences on canine behavioral medicine cases.

Within six months of veterinary consultation, trainability increased while energy levels decreased. The results of the research show the association between both canine and owner variables.

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