Press Release

Grumpy Fido? It's all in the personality

19 June 2006

If you always thought your dog was an extrovert, you could be right. A Monash University study has found dogs can be grouped into personality types that parallel human traits.

Dr Jacqui Ley, from the Animal Welfare Science Centre at Monash, found that dogs fit into five personality dimensions -- extroversion, trainability or cleverness, self assuredness and motivation, amicability with other dogs and people, and cautiousness.

In a study of more than 1000 dog owners across Australia, Dr Ley found there were 40 common words that people used to describe their dogs and those words could be grouped into the five dimensions.

"We found that when people described their dogs they tended to describe them along five personality dimensions, which have parallels with human personality models," she said.

"All of these traits go together to make up the dog, so we can describe a dog as being 'friendly' or 'grumpy', just as you would a person."

Dr Ley is now planning to test this model further to determine whether dogs act according to their personality traits in different circumstances and whether others describe dogs in similar terms to the dogs' owners.

She is looking for dog owners who can help test the dog models by filling in a questionnaire and getting a second person in the household to complete the questionnaire. Two surveys will be sent, six months apart, to determine whether personality traits remain consistent.

Dr Ley said that understanding personality traits in dogs could help people select the best type of dog for them.

"For instance if we know a dog is self-assured and highly motivated, it could be well suited to a life as a working dog," she said.

"Whereas families with small children may want to steer clear of a dog that has a cautious or scared personality."

Anyone wanting to take part in the study should contact Dr Ley at jacqueline.ley@med.monash.edu.au.

For more information contact Ms Diane Squires, Media Communications, on +61 3 9905 9315 or 0417 603 400.

The Animal Welfare Science Centre was established by the University of Melbourne, Monash University and the Department of Primary Industries, Victoria. The Centre focuses and coordinates the research and academic resources of the three collaborating organisations, providing the animal industries, animal users, the farming community, Government, the general community and the academic community with an internationally competitive research, teaching and training resource in animal welfare.