Humans and dogs have a way to attract other people. Some dogs tend to captivate other dog owners or pet lovers with their cute furs, some for their aggressive instincts that help protect their “hoomans” as they call it. But how much of them actually mirrors their owners?
In a study published in Applied Animal Behaviour Science, researchers had pet owners assess both their own personalities and those of their dogs using “The Big Five” personality dimensions: neuroticism (anxiety and fear tendencies), extraversion (sociability), conscientiousness (organization and responsibility), Agreeableness (friendliness and compassion), and openness (creativity and openness to new experiences). The study aimed to understand how owners perceive personality similarities or differences between themselves and their pets based on these traits.
According to the study which tested nearly 400 dog owners, it showed that dogs and their owners often have similar personalities in terms of the traits like nervousness, sociability, responsibility, friendliness, and openness to new experiences.
It noted that this similarity wasn’t just because owners saw themselves in their dogs—when someone else rated the dogs, the results were similar. The length of time an owner had the dog didn’t seem to make a difference, but there were differences between them.
To better understand the similarities researchers divided the samples into two, specifically in Austria and Hungary.
The study said dogs from the Hungary sample tended to have stronger connections with their dogs’ personalities than those dogs in the Austria sample. In homes with more than one dog, each dog had different personality traits, suggesting they play different roles.
These findings show that dogs can be similar to their owners in personality, which could help us understand how people and animals bond and even how people interact with each other, it said.
“We found considerable analogies between human–human and human–dog social relationships and pointed out a possibility why people consider keeping multiple dogs,” the researchers said
Highest dog ownership in Asia
True enough, the Philippines is one of the countries with high dog ownership in Asia.
Based on the 2021 Rakuten survey in Asia, the report indicated that in the Philippines, dog ownership stands at 67 percent, the highest in the region, while cat ownership is the second highest at 43 percent.
In a separate data, Germany-based market research platform Statista revealed that in 2021, the Philippines had an estimated 17 million pet dogs, showing an increase from the previous dog population recorded in 2016. Projections suggest the country’s pet dog population will grow to about 21.1 million by 2026. percent.
