We like the fact that our furry friends resemble us. We often talk about our pets as if they were our kids. We like to brag about what they have done and how they have surprised us in certain situations. And above all, we pride ourselves with the fact they share our living habits and can understand us and comfort us in times of need. Now, it has been scientifically proven that our pets, dogs specifically, share our personality features.
The University of Michigan has conducted a research among 1,681 dogs and have come to some interesting conclusions. The most important being the fact that dogs’ personalities change extensively over time, just like in humans, depending on the change of lifestyle and situations surrounding them. So far, this was believed to be a feature reserved for humans only.
It appears that our dogs resemble us more than we know. It also appears that dogs influence humans to great extent, and that in time they can become more aggressive toward other animals while growing closer to humans.
Regardless of the breed, the optimal time to train a dog is around 6 years of age. Researchers believe this is the age when a dog is no longer a puppy whose attention is hard to catch, and it has not yet reached the age of fully-grown untrainable dog.
Whichever way you decide to train your dog, and whatever the breed is in question, it will be more active if your personality is extroverted. Likewise, if you are closed and turned to introspection, your dog will become less aggressive over time, and more withdrawn. Therefore, it seems that although there are certain traits that relate to certain breeds, dogs relate to traits of its owners on a higher level.
The next step in research would be to study how environment affects dogs. One thing is for sure: both species, human and canine, share deep connection with the world that surrounds us. We are swamped with articles from around the world proving dogs help kids and adults in hospitals, for example. There are places where dogs are allowed to spend time with seriously ill people in order to raise their chances of getting better. Have they taken the dominant role in dog-human relationship? Do you think that people can have the same effect on dogs?
A word of advice at the end: before you decide to keep a dog, you should spend some time together to see whether you make a good pair. Your pet can be interested in basking in the sun in your back yard while you entertain your friends and deal with barbecue, and it may all seem fine. However, keep in mind that dogs obviously adjust their behavior to ours, and ask yourself whether you would be able to handle another “you” on bad days.