Dog personality

[aira]

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Do you think dogs have personality traits like humans? 

We are doing a study about the personality in dogs.  We want to find out whether there is a relationship between your dog’s experiences as a puppy and its personality as an adult.  This is part of a MSc dissertation project at University of Lincoln. For this purpose we have developed this questionnaire, and, with your help, we can improve our knowledge on this topic and potentially help people in the future with more tailored advice which may help prevent behaviour problems from developing.

This questionnaire is aimed at dog owners who have had their dog since puppyhood (adopted before 16 weeks of age) and whose dogs are currently more than one and a half years old and less than five years old. All the information gathered in this questionnaire is completely anonymous and confidential and will only be used for the purposes of this research project.

For more information visit the web link; https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/puppyhood-and-personality

Here is an article on the topic. http://wayosi.no/images/Filer/Personality_in_dogs.pdf

Do you agree that they are personality traits of the dog or is it something only humans have?

 

[gypsysmum2]

Your criteria does not apply to my current dog but would apply to several of my previous dogs. Would you like me to answer with those dogs in mind?

 

[leashedForLife]

of course, individual dogs have personality -
i can state with considerable experience of many reptile species that herps have individual personalities, & as a phyllum, they have far-more simplistic brains than dogs, avoiding here the concept of 'mind' but sticking to anatomy only.  
Surely if my little insectivorous / invertebrate-eater Salmon-Bellied Snake had a distinct personality, when her brain wouldn't fill half the volume of my pinky-tip & had far-fewer cognitive structures, a dog must be presumed to have a personality, even if U'd never met one but only "knew" them based on canine brain dissections?
Similarly for turtles & tortoises - i taught my F box-tortoise to come when called by name, a feat some pet-owners struggle to teach their own dogs, & while Wanderer couldn't be described as 'brilliant', she was  interested in the world around her, an intelligent observer, & friendly to me, while avoiding my pesky little sister & scary sire.

I was both disappointed & slightly shocked that my favorite Biology instructor was a big proponent of labeling 'anthropomorphic' everything that allowed nonhumans to have emotions, fears, memory, thoughts / opinions, etc - he favored Descartes' "biological machine" model, which should have been buried with Descartes, in my opinion. 
Nonhuman animals are sentient beings & can learn - via experience; they feel pain & pleasure, & even the simplest exhibit anticipatory fear / anxiety in threatening situations.
I was very happy when later research PROVED the existence of animal emotions, memory, cognition, etc - Descartes was glaringly wrong, nonhumans are no more 'biological machines' than humans are. //  Unfortunately, my teacher died before this groundbreaking change in our knowledge & understanding of nonhumans, still convinced that 'animals have no emotions'.
As humans are animals, altho we like to think of our species as 'different' from all other animals & 'better than' any nonhuman, he was wrong there - WE have emotions, & the walls we keep trying to build around sacred humans-only turf in cognition & behavior keep toppling. [Numbers concepts, language skills, monogamous, tool-using, altruistic, etc.]

So far, in over half a century of direct personal experience, i haven't met a single mammal that did *Not* have an individual personality - including mice [domestic & wild], rats [domestic only, no exp of wild rats], & bats, Guinea pigs, rabbits [domestic & wild], or ferrets [domestic only]. These are all small creatures with appropriately-small brains, but as individuals, they've been shy, bold, gregarious social butterflies & extremely-choosy with a short list of trusted friends, lively experimenters & cautious sticks-in-the-mud, depending.

just got on-line, it's been a day or two, but i'll defo take the survey.
 - terry

Terry Pride, certified Vet's Asst. / wildlife rehabber
member Truly Dog-Friendly