Individual and group level trajectories of behavioural development in Border collies.

ABSTRACT: In order to assess dogs' personality changes during ontogeny, a cohort of 69 Border collies was followed up from six to 18-24 months. When the dogs were 6, 12, and 18-24 months old, their owners repeatedly filled in a dog personality questionnaire (DPQ), which yielded five personality factors divided into fifteen facets. All five DPQ factors were highly correlated between the three age classes, indicating that the dogs' personality remained consistent relative to other individuals. Nonetheless, at the group level significant changes with age were found for four of the five DPQ factors. Fearfulness, Aggression towards People, Responsiveness to Training and Aggression towards Animals increased with age; only Activity/Excitability did not change significantly over time. These changes in DPQ f

SUBMITTER: Riemer S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5295634 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature