Wallis Lisa J, Szabó Dóra, Kubinyi Enikő
Department of Ethology, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary.
Front Vet Sci. 2020 Jan 14;6:493. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2019.00493. eCollection 2019.
The dog has been suggested as a possible model for personality development over the lifespan, however, we know little about how aging may shape their personality or the magnitude of age-related changes. Previously we established that aging influences multiple dog demographics, which could also affect how personality traits change across different age periods. A demographic questionnaire and the Dog Personality Questionnaire were completed for a cross-sectional sample of 1,207 adult dogs living in Hungary (M = 7.71, SD = 4.12), split into six different age groups. Results revealed three of the five factors showed significant age effects. Activity/Excitability decreased with age, and whilst Responsiveness to training also decreased, only dogs older than 12 years differed significantly from the other groups. Aggressiveness toward animals showed a quadratic trajectory peaking in dogs aged 6-10 years. The greatest magnitude of age-related change was detected between late senior and geriatric ages, likely caused by compensatory behavioral changes to biological aging and owner attitudes to aging. When the models were re-run including the other explanatory variables, age group was no longer significant for the Responsiveness to training trait. The amount of time spent interacting/playing with the owner partially mediated the relationship between age and this trait, implying that interventions to increase play and training motivation may alleviate the negative effects of aging on dogs' trainability. Fifteen out of 28 explanatory variables were significantly associated with at least one of the five factors [weight, breed (pure/mixed breed), sex, off-leash activity, diet, previous trauma, age of dog when arrived in the household, play, dog training activities, number of known commands and dog obedience tasks]. Similarly to humans, dogs that had previously experienced trauma scored higher in fearfulness and aggression. A higher level of basic obedience was linked to some desirable dog personality traits (lower Fearfulness and Aggression, and higher Activity/Excitability and Responsiveness to training). Regardless of the direction of this relationship, obedience is an important aspect contributing to dog personality questionnaires and the dog-owner relationship. This study is unique in that it considered a wide variety of demographic variables which are influenced by aging.
狗已被提议作为研究整个生命周期内性格发展的一种可能模型，然而，我们对衰老如何塑造它们的性格或与年龄相关变化的程度知之甚少。此前我们已确定衰老会影响多种狗的人口统计学特征，这也可能影响不同年龄阶段性格特征的变化方式。我们对居住在匈牙利的1207只成年狗（均值 = 7.71，标准差 = 4.12）的横断面样本完成了一份人口统计学调查问卷和狗性格调查问卷，这些狗被分成六个不同年龄组。结果显示，五个因素中的三个呈现出显著的年龄效应。活动/兴奋性随年龄增长而降低，虽然对训练的反应性也降低，但只有12岁以上的狗与其他组有显著差异。对动物的攻击性呈现出二次曲线轨迹，在6 - 10岁的狗中达到峰值。在老年后期和老龄阶段之间检测到与年龄相关的最大变化幅度，这可能是由生物衰老的代偿性行为变化以及主人对衰老的态度导致的。当重新运行模型并纳入其他解释变量时，年龄组对训练反应性特征不再具有显著性。与主人互动/玩耍所花费的时间部分介导了年龄与该特征之间的关系，这意味着增加玩耍和训练动机的干预措施可能减轻衰老对狗的可训练性的负面影响。28个解释变量中有15个与五个因素中的至少一个显著相关[体重、品种（纯种/混种）、性别、无绳活动、饮食、既往创伤、进入家庭时狗的年龄、玩耍、狗的训练活动、已知指令数量和狗的服从任务]。与人类类似，之前经历过创伤的狗在恐惧和攻击性方面得分更高。更高水平的基本服从性与一些理想的狗性格特征相关（更低的恐惧和攻击性，以及更高的活动/兴奋性和对训练的反应性）。无论这种关系的方向如何，服从性都是影响狗性格调查问卷和狗主关系的一个重要方面。这项研究的独特之处在于它考虑了受衰老影响的各种各样的人口统计学变量。
