Do you have an awkward dog? Well you might be the reason for that according to a new study conducted by Michigan State University.
As the Detroit Free Press reports, Dr. William Chopik and Dr. Jonathan Weaver, assistant professors from the Department of Psychology, oversaw the study that was published last month in the Journal of Research in Personality. The research concludes that canine personalities are influenced by their owners. Is your dog lazy? Well if you are slacking on your house chores, it might be your fault too.
Over 1,600 dogs from over 50 breeds were part of the research. The owners answered questions about their dogs’ personalities and their own.
“We found correlations in three main areas: age and personality, in human-to-dog personality similarities and in the influence a dog’s personality has on the quality of its relationship with its owner,” Chopik told Science Daily. “Older dogs are much harder to train; we found that the ‘sweet spot’ for teaching a dog obedience is around the age of six, when it outgrows its excitable puppy stage but before its too set in its ways.”
Cat lovers shouldn’t feel left out for much longer. Chopik said his next study will focus on feline behaviors.
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