Extroverts have better results than introverts when they work with an animal behaviorist to help their dogs get over various fears, according to new research from the veterinary school at the University of Pennsylvania.
Investigators followed 75 people and their pets through several months of training with animal behavior professionals. The research suggests that people who are open to experience have more success than less adventurous or retiring types when working with a professional behaviorist to help their dogs learn not to fear other dogs.
It’s not simply that outgoing types are more likely to project confidence and thereby impart that confidence to their pets. The researchers hypothesize that perhaps “introverted owners seek greater companionship from their dogs and may be more resistant to detaching themselves from the dog.” That in turn could potentially hinder a dog’s ability to work past her fears.
The research opens up the possibility that animal behaviorists will at some point be able to work with different people in different ways to optimize their dogs’ behavior modification.
I’m pretty much an introvert personality-wise. I am owned by a 4 year old rescue Belgian Malinois mix who we adopted after she escaped from her previous owner’s yard, was hit by a car, and lost an eye.
She came to us totally freaked out by cars (she would literally cower when one passed us as we were walking) and people (she would hide behind me and shake like a leaf). It took 7 months of patient, loving encouragement, but she’s no longer terrified of either (wary, most certainly. But if a person allows her to make the first move, she will actually go sniff them).
She actually gets upset when people are loud and will totally shut down.