A university study has proved dog owners really do look like their pets. But the similarity ends there, as the research concludes owners and their dogs do not share personality traits.
A university study has proved dog owners really do look like their pets. But the similarity ends there, as the research concludes owners and their dogs do not share personality traits.
A group of 70 people who do not own a dog were asked to match photos of 41 dog owners to three possible breeds - Labrador, poodle or Staffordshire bull terrier.
Researchers Charis Hunter and Dr Lance Workman from Bath Spa University found owners were correctly matched to their breed of dog above the level of chance.
Dr Workman, head of psychology at the university's School of Social Sciences, said: "This suggests certain breeds of dogs are associated with particular kinds of people. The non-dog owners used stereotypes to match dogs to their owners. These stereotypes persisted into judgments of the owners' personalities: non dog owners considered the owners of each breed to share certain personality traits, such as level of conscientiousness and emotional stability.
"But when we tested the owners' personalities, we found no strong links between any particular personality trait and choice of dog breed, so any shared qualities are only skin deep."
Caroline Kisko, from The Kennel Club, said: "The findings confirm what has always been suspected - that owners often look like their dogs - and there could be a simple reason for this.
"Pedigree dogs, which were focused on in this study, have a breed standard that predicts the likely characteristics of the dog such as the size it will grow to or the amount of grooming and exercise it will need.
"It follows that if you are looking for a breed that will suit your lifestyle and assessing the needs and the physical characteristics of a dog, they may well be similar to your own.
"For example, you might be small and choose a small dog because it is not too powerful, or you might have a short haircut because you don't choose to spend too long styling it and so opt for a short-haired dog that requires minimal grooming, for similar reasons.
"This is actually a sign that people's choice of dog is motivated by a deeper desire to make a responsible choice that will lead to a happy and fulfilling relationship, and this is obviously a positive result."
The Kennel Club said it was worried people have preconceptions about the behaviour of a breed.
"We are concerned that people still think an owner's personality can be predicted by the type of dog they own, especially as these preconceptions are based on false assumptions about the nature of many breeds, such as the Staffordshire bull terrier.
"The study showed that people believe the breed to be unintelligent and to have an aggressive nature, when it is in fact highly intelligent and affectionate."
