Housing for an older dog: how dogs' personalities change over the years of their lives

Dogs' personalities change over time, but these changes occur unevenly throughout the dogs' lives, and each trait develops in a different age trajectory.

From: Ettoss Laurent University (ELTE), Budapest. Translation: Ziv Adaki 

The personality of dogs changes over time, but these changes occur unevenly throughout the dog's life, also, each trait develops in a different age trajectory, according to a study published by researchers from the ELTE University in Budapest and the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna in the journal Scientific Reports . The researchers also identified that some of the older dogs had defects, which are potentially age-related, and these dogs showed very mild difficulty in orientation and very high levels of activity.

Scientists studied the personality of 217 Border Collie dogs in a wide age range (from 6 months to 15 years). Credit: Kubinyi

A person's personality is characterized by a unique duality: it is both stable and changeable, depending on the point of reference. If we compare ourselves to our friends, stability stands out, because our personality ratings in relation to others remain constant over time. However, changes in personality are clearly visible if we compare ourselves to ourselves over time, because people become more conscientious, more mentally stable, and more agreeable as they age.

But what about stability and change in the personality of dogs? "Although the personality of dogs is a very popular topic in the literature, nevertheless there are knowledge gaps regarding long-term stability, as well as regarding the dynamics of personality development. For example, if a personality rating remains consistent for several years, at what age do personality changes occur most prominently and how much do dogs actually change throughout their lives," explains Borbála Turcsán, lead author of the article (ELTE, Department of Ethology).

To answer these questions, the scientists examined the personality of 217 Border Collie dogs in a wide age range (from 6 months to 15 years) using a comprehensive series of tests, known as the "Vienna Dog Personality Test" (VIDOPET). And four years later, the scientists invited the owners and their dogs to return to the laboratory and tested 37 of the dogs again.

Prof. Friederike Range (Clever Dog Lab) explains why the dogs were tested again. "Longitudinal studies in which dogs were tested with the same methods at both time points are very rare in the research literature. Following the same dogs after about four years allowed us to deal not only with questions of personality stability, but also to examine if there are individual differences in personality development, for example, if dogs with certain personality profiles change more than others."

The personality of dogs changes over time, but these changes occur unevenly during the dogs' lives, and each trait develops a separate age trajectory, according to a study published by researchers from ELTE University, Budapest, and the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna in the journal Scientific Reports. Credit: Kubinyi

The scientists showed that dogs' personalities also have a "stable" component, with ratings for all five personality traits tested remaining fairly consistent throughout the test periods. And so, for example, the most active dogs remained the most active even four years later. And yes, the dogs with the more "mature" personality (who were less active, less curious and more problem-focused) changed less in these traits than others - similar to the findings among people.

Specific dynamics for each personality trait

To test the general age-dependent changes in personality, the researchers compared the personalities of dogs in seven age groups. "We found that the personality of dogs changes with age, and that these changes occur unevenly throughout a dog's life, just like in people. Crucially, however, the dynamics of change appear to be specific to each personality trait," says Zsofia Viranyi (Clever Dog Lab. "For example, the problem-focus trait changed greatly during early life, increasing greatly until around the age of six, and then further changes in this trait were negligible. The novelty-seeking trait, on the other hand, did not change markedly throughout the younger stages of life, but around the age of three the dogs' curiosity about new objects and situations began to wane, and this wane continued into old age."

Dependence on activity also decreased continuously throughout the dogs' lives, but in this characteristic the most significant decrease occurred in the transition from being puppies to teenagers (at the age of one or two years). Not all features show such a clear change with age. For example, dogs showed only a slight tendency to be more patient towards frustrating situations as they got older, and the level of sociability of the dogs seemed to remain constant throughout their lives.

In addition, the scientists identified that some of the older dogs with potentially age-related defects showed very few problems with orientation and very high levels of activity. "By describing in detail the normative patterns of personality development during different life stages, our research helps identify age-related defects," explains Enikő Kubinyi, a scientist in the Senior Family Dog Project (ELTE), supported by an ERC grant. "Dogs are already recognized as a natural model for human cognitive aging, and our results show that a similar validity governs age-dependent changes in personality in both humans and dogs."

Reference: "Individual and group level personality change across the lifespan in dogs" by Turcsán, B., Wallis, L., Berczik, J., Range, F., Kubinyi and E., Virányi, Zs, 14 October 2020, Scientific Reports.

for the scientific article

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