New Scientist, UK: DOGS with certain behavioural issues are more likely to improve during training if their owners are extroverts and open-minded.
Traits like introversion and close-mindedness are linked to fewer changes in some types of undesirable dog behaviour, like aggression and fearfulness.
Knowing this could help vets identify dog-owner pairs that may need more help in training, says Lauren Powell at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine.
Over a six-month period, Powell and her colleagues followed 131 dogs and their owners attending training sessions with a vet. The dogs had various issues, such as aggression towards people.
Owners underwent personality testing and provided information about their dogs. The most important factor affecting success was how bad the dog's behaviour was to start with, says Powell, possibly because they had so much to gain from the training.
However, the research also revealed that human personality plays a role in corrective training for some behaviours. For example, dogs that were fearful made more progress if their owners were extroverted.
This makes sense, says Charlotte Duranton of Ethodog, a canine behavioural research facility near Paris. "When dogs are confronted with a new stimulus – like an unfamiliar human, dog or object – they're going to watch the reaction of their owner to know how they themselves should behave," she says.
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