Dog personality depends on breed

Are all golden retrievers friendly and trainable? Well, the title gives away the answer to the age-old discussion about whether a dog's breed predicts its personality. A new scientific study found that dog breed was important but age and early environment were as well.

How the study was conducted:

The researchers analyzed personality traits including insecurity, training focus, aggressiveness/dominance, energy, human sociability, dog sociability, and perseverance (aka stubbornness) in over 11,000 dogs in 52 breeds or breed groups.

The main results of the study:

Breed: The most important variable related to dog personality differences.
Age: Young dogs had the highest energy level (as any puppy owner can attest) and more insecurity. Eight-10 year old dogs had the highest level of aggressiveness, and older dogs had more training focus.
Sex and sterilization status: Female dogs were more insecure and focused on training than male dogs, whereas males were more aggressive/dominant, dog sociable, and energetic. Neutered dogs were more insecure and less focused on training than intact dogs.
Puppyhood socialization was the most important environmental variable. Poorly socialized dogs were more likely to be insecure and show more aggressiveness/dominance. They also had less training focus, dog sociability, and human sociability than well-socialized dogs.

A main finding of the study is that while the breed of the dog was the most important factor related to personality, there was a broad range of personalities across individuals in each breed. Thus, personality may be related to the genetic background of the dog - but life experiences also play an important role.

Want to know more? Check out the publication and related news item:

Breed, age, and social environment are associated with personality traits in dogs, published in iScience 2023.

Breed Has A Big Influence On Dog Personality, But It's Not A Predictor by Rachel Funnell for IFLS, May 2023.