Poster 23

This study tracked development of dog-owner relationships in 93 individuals for the first month after adopting a dog from one of two local animal shelters, in an attempt to find personality/temperament trait matches. Participants completed surveys that included: a) two personality inventories, b) ideal rating inventory for dog behavior, c) measures of level of attachment and commitment to the new dog, d) rating of the new dog's behavior in the home, and e) series of questions about experience with owning and caring for pets. Surveys were completed at adoption and 30 days post adoption.

There was a positive correlation between gregariousness in people and aggression in dogs, a negative correlation for trust in people and separation anxiety in dogs, and a negative correlation for warmth and dog-directed aggression. A discriminant analysis was unable to predict successful placements from human personality and dog temperament. However, people who returned their dog indicated different priorities in desired traits and levels of those traits than people who kept their dogs.

Although the results did not reveal any significant effects of human personality matching with dog temperament, there was a significant positive correlation between both openness and conscientiousness with level of attachment, and a significant correlation between attachment and keeping the dog. This implies that these traits may be important in maintaining the pet-owner bond.